Cusco and all those Inca Constructions!!!!

We arrived in Cusco about 4am and us being so clever, had a guy to meet us at the bus station and take us to a hostel with an awaiting bed!! Down town Cusco was in full swing when we finally ventured out refreshed. It being a day with an ¨a¨ it, the locals were all engaging in a bit of parading. We did the sensible thing and found a juice bar to settle in and make our plans for the next few days. Picture on the left is the road beside our hostel.

We decided to take an afternoon city tour which brought us to a few different sites including Q´enqo, Tambomachay( thought to have a religious function related to water and now sold as a fountain of youth!), Pukapukara (a complex of small buildings thought to be where the groupies stayed when the head Inca visited Tambomachay) and Saqsaywaman( a walled complex overlooking Cusco in the shape of a pumas head) . All are ruins of Inca civilizations. Their construction from tightly fitted large stones is a feat of engineering and many suggestions of how they were constructed are available. In Saqsayhaman some of the blocks are as big as a van, but have flat faces and are nestled against their neighboring rock. Pictured on the left. When we returned to town, it being May the 26th I donned my “ I danced at Joe & Sue´s wedding” badge and we went out for a nice dinner together.

Left: Zig zag wall of Saqsaywaman.

The next morning, being determined to drown ourselves in Inca ruins we visited Pisaq (a small Inca village) had lunch in a town called Urubamba and then arrived in Ollantaytambo which was the last village inhabited by the Incas as they were chased from Cusco and is shaped like a husk of corn. On the hills above Ollantaytambo the Incas built a large fort including a temple and huge agricultural terraces. On the cliffs facing there is a mans face in the cliffs, natural or formed by the rock loving Incas I do not know. We left the tour in Oyallantambo and having filled ourselves with a nice pizza we wandered the town until it was time for our train to Aguas Calientes.

Left: Face in the cliffs

The train was mainly full of gringos off to visit Machupicchu and I think we could have walked faster than it travelled. However when I saw the tracks later I was grateful that the driver had not gone faster. We arrived in Agua Calientes and were again met at the station. Sunsan being the name on the sign. They seem to find my name easier than Joe or Hoey or Yoseph! However Sunsan was a new one. We had a brief stroll in the town before heading to bed. Joe did however have a lemonade. One which would wake him in the night and churn his tummy like rolling knives for the whole of the following day!!

Above: terraces at Pisaq.

Right: Joe in his fancy shoes with some trapizoidal windows(that you cant see through!!) Below: building at Pisaq.

Well Aguas Calientes is Gringo central and at 5.30am we were joining a gang in the main square, meeting our guide for the day. We boarded a bus to take us up the endless switch backs to Machupiccu. Yes we are here to hike, but a bus ticket was included in our package! So, with hundreds of others we entered Machupiccu, our first views being on a hill above, looking down across the old settlement. During a brief talk from our guide we enjoyed the sun rise as it crept above the peak of easterly hills. Joe clenched his stomach and wondered would he make it. Macchupiccu was built in the fifteenth century and its construction was lead by Inca Pachacutec. When it was found by Hiram Bingham in 1911 it was covered in undergrowth. A massive operation has cleaned it up to what we see today. Also, I suspect, a bit of reconstruction has been carried out. However, many building are standing with all walls and odd protrusions of rock in place. Our guide offered a few suggestions as to what was what. I was very taken by the whole place, beautifully nestled in the hills. However I did begin to wonder that if the Incas were so great at working with rock why didn´t they move on to greater things! Like developing a type of writing, or inventing the wheel!!! They managed to organize thousands of people to spend years hitting rocks into nice shapes but nothing more that we see today. Perhaps their communication was all wireless, a technology we our only embracing ourselves today!! If so they were truly a great civilisation. Below Left: View across Macupiccu from the terrases. Right: Granville on Huayan Piccu with Machupiccu in the background.