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Ruins around Cusco

Bill and I decided to explore the ruins around Cusco to get us ready for Macchu Picchu.  We headed out on foot along an old Inca road and within a few kilometers, ended up at Sacsayhuaman (remembered as "sexy woman").  It is both a religious and military fortress left by the Incas.  The Quechua name means "satisfied falcon".  The Incas envisioned Cusco in the shape of a puma - a very important earth symbol to them.  Sacsayhuaman is the head of the puma with the 22 zig zag walls forming the teeth.  It is a very impressive site with the huge zig zag wall made of massive blocks of stone that fit together perfectly!  The walls were architected to withstand earth quakes.  The Incas made the base of the walls out of little stones before they added the huge blocks (weighing over 300 tonnes).  They also would lean the walls slightly to correspond to the natural angle of the earth based on the latitude lines.  Very smart people! 

The site is made up of 3 areas different areas - the magnificent, three-tiered zig zag wall fortification, the royal throne area, and the flat parade ground found between the other two.  They found some mummies at this site within the last 5 years, so archeological digs are still occuring.  This was the site of one of the most bitter battles between the Spanish and the Incas.  In a bloody, last ditch effort, the Spanish overtook the Incas forcing Manco Inca to retreat to Ollantaytambo (which we saw later).

Sacsayhuaman sits high above Cusco and allows for some fantastic views of the city.  Also sitting on the hill is a huge, white statue of Christ.  Most of Peru is Catholic, but the Incas have been successful in mixing in their religion which worships the sun, moon, earth, air, and water.  Many of the crosses have sun and/or moon symbols surrounding the intersection of the cross.  Unfortunately, most of the public and private schools teach some sort of religion which hampers the "freedom of religion".  October is the month of Christ of Miracles, so there are lots of parades and people wearing purple all over Peru.

We continued up the hill and came upon the Quenko ruin.  It was very tiny in comparison to Sacsayhuaman, but still impressive.  It was a large limestone rock that was riddled with niches, steps, cave-like passageways, and ritual/ceremonial platforms.  Quenko means zig-zag, so the passageways probably gave it its name.  There are also etchings and stone figures representing three important Inca symbols - puma, condor and llama.  The snake is also very important.  The puma represents the earth, the condor the sky and the snake the underground.  The llama was a common sacrificial animal and food source. 

All of the ruins had intricate rock carvings that would cast shadows at certain times of the day or year to create figures or patterns (i.e. head of puma in rock with shadow making the body).  They used this shadow technology to tell time in accordance to Pacha Mama - Earth Mother.  Brilliant and sophisticated.

We were on our way to a couple of other ruins, but found out from others they were not worth the hike.  So, instead, we stopped at an outcropping of rocks only to find a labyrinth of passageways and caves - many cut out by the Incas.  Don't know why these were carved - maybe they were for the women and children to escape to during battles?

After hiking through the countryside, we decided to explore Cusco a little more.  We went to several museums, which were rather disappointing, before going to dinner.  We went to one restaurant that Pollo, a friend of Paola's, recommended to meet her friend, the owner Martha.  Martha wasn't in yet, so we went down a few doors in the Plaza de Armas to have a drink and 2nd story view of the plaza.  While we were there, another couple from the UK came in and we struck up a conversation.  Bill and Paul were so much alike in their interests while Lesley and I were very alike.  It was uncanny!  We had such an enjoyable evening that we never made it back to the La Retama restaurant, but made plans to meet there the next night.  We did have dinner there, but never met Martha since she ended up ill.  The food was great (had alpaca), though, and they had some great entertainment (Peruvian music and dancing).  I am sure we will be friends for a long time!

The Plaza de Armas in Cusco is one of the most beautiful I have seen!  The center has a huge fountain surrounded by lovely gardens and benches with people wandering and street musicians playing.  The streets along the square are lined with restaurants with 2nd story balconies and shops.  Two of the sides have some of the most magnificent cathedrals I have ever seen.  The Inca walls mixed with colonial Spanish architecture make the square awesome - especially at night when the cathedrals and bell towers are lit.      

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