Tony James' photos with the keyword: 1988

The rail trip down the Urabamba Valley in the "Gringo Coach" produced superb views along the river. On the left is the well-known "Inca Trail" which many back-packers have walked all the way down to Machu Picchu.

Over the Andes by road from Cuzco we go into the upper reaches of the Urabamba Valley. In this stitched-together scene is the small town of Pisac, which is a Spanish-created town, after the Incas were conquered.

Our coach in front of some of the Pachacamac Ruins.

A trip from Lima took us to the pre-Inca ruins on the Pacific coast. Pat was looking around when I snapped her here.

A road trip down the Urabamba Valley from Pisac town, ends in this fortress town which dominates the valley from a high vantage point. High at the top in the fortress, there were huge blocks of stone keyed together almost seamlessly. It leaves you wondering how the blocks of stone were manouvred into place and joined so closely hundress of feet above the valley bottom.

It is almost impossible to really portray the amazing scenery here as you sit and look at this amazing city built on a ridge with the deep Urabamba River Valley winding its way almost around it a thousand feet below. This is part of a stitched sequence of photographs which covers about half of the view.

Pat and I taken from the top of the terraces looking back towards the main ruin area. We were only there for about 4 hours exploring the ruins, and the scenery was constantly changing with weather differences. It is a very atmospheric place when you sit on the terraces and wonder about the people who lived here before the Spanish arrivals.

A view to the terraces from the ruins of Machu Picchu.

Boarding the "Gringo Coach" (right) for our return journey to Cuzco. Bearing in mind that this is on a through railway, passengers just had to negotiate the track as best they could to get on their train.

A major thoroughfare outside the front of the hotel produced continuously changing traffic pictures. The Volkswagen "Beetle" was a very popular car in Lima, as they were being manufactured locally. How many can you count in this traffic snapshot?

From our hotel in Lima, we had a view out to one of the main roads. Periodically there were sirens going and armoured water-cannon vehicles could be seen patrolling.

A very early morning coach trip to the Pachacamac Ruins passed us through the Lima outskirts. Considering it was just after dawn, this Flower Market was a bustle of activity, but low light made it difficult to get decent pictures.

Taken from our "Gringo Coach" crossing the Cuzco plateau on our way to Machu Picchu, the colours and scenery was breathtaking, and it was a constant surprise that families were getting a living from the high altitude soil.

Our very early morning flight to Cuzco was a bit of a challege, not least of which was the fact that 3 DC8 planes of Fawcett Airlines were all being serviced from the same departure lounge. We had boarding passes for seats, but there was no direction which plane to use, and no-one seemed concerned about directing passengers. Our group just chose the nearest one, and there wasnt any seating dispute, so maybe we were just lucky. Like many of the small airlines of South America, Fawcett had 4 DC8's, one of which was cannibalised to keep the other three flying.

The soft purple colour of the local stone is reflected in the town buildings made from the local resources..

Flying up to Cuzco from Lima, the Andes foothills appear through the cloud layer, often following deep river valleys.

A view down to the Machu Picchu station from the terraces.

A deep valley on the way to Otavalo.