Another guide showed up and walked us over to the Qorikancha Convent of Santa Domingo where we would start our tour. Romulo was our guide –and he proved to be very informative and humorous. We wandered through the convent, looking at pre-Incan objects and various sacred rooms. This convent is an example of three different periods of architecture – pre-Incan, Incan and Spanish. We learned how the Inca’s developed a unique style of building – the trapezoid. They would build structures with wider bottoms and narrower walls – which made them extremely sturdy and virtually earthquake proof. They also set the stones together with an interlocking mechanism that further improved the strength of the structure. The tenacity of this unique building technique is evident from the damage wrought by the earthquake of 1950, which brought down most of the Convent building, except the Incan built areas.
After this fascinating lecture and tour, we left the convent and walked around the Convent to board our buses down below the back lawn. The size and scope of the convent can be seen from this angle – it’s huge with a beautifully landscaped lawn. On the way to the buses we bought some bar type candy. We started calling it our granola bars – they were quite good – don’t know what they were made of – maybe Quinoa and honey? But they were tasty and helped keep our energy up during the next couple of days! (We hoarded them!!).
Next stop on our tour was the Cathedral on the main square, Plaza de Armas. This place was magnificent. Huge, built over an Incan temple (everything seems to be built over an Incan temple!), there were altars upon altars, Gold leaf, fantastic sculptures, huge parishioner areas and choir rooms. Plus, a statue of a black Jesus which is very unique. The whole thing was a really stunning example of religious architecture. And we got an earful about the Opus Dei convention of the current Catholic church and how one of the local archbishops who is revered in the community for his good works cannot be buried in the church due to some issue with Opus Dei. Politics. Always politics.
Back on the bus we head up to the beginning of the Sacred Valley and Sacsayhuaman (pronounced like Sexy Woman). This place marks the beginning of what remains of the Incan “house of sun” (not a fortress as the Spaniards originally thought). As we pull up (with all the other tour buses), there is another and daughter opposite the entrance with llamas. Everyone rushes to take their pictures –for the first time without paying! The mom is in traditional dress and it’s a great photo opp! We just took pictures from the bus, wanting to get into the ruins in front of another large group. We troop to the entrance, which is little more than a gate with people standing in front of it. We proffer our tickets and they punch a hole in the Sacsayhuaman box (the tickets are cool – they are for virtually all the museums and ruins in and around Cusco. Each location has a photo creating a border around the outside edges of the ticket which is hole punched when you enter. Neat souvenir!
Dating back to the early 1400s, the Sacsayhuaman structures are built into the hillsides of the Andes and look like a slithering serpent from above. All the stones are perfectly placed together with no mortar, just fitted together in a way to withstand the winds of time. The rock structures are said to form the head of a puma – the body and tail of which are Cusco when seen from above. So I ask you – did the Incas do this on purpose? And how would they have known the shape, size and placement? They certainly wouldn’t have been able to see it from the air in the 1400’s. Some of the stones are said to weigh over 140 tons. How in the world did the Incans move them? Place them? Figure out how to place them exactly right so that they wouldn’t be disturbed all these centuries later? Astonishing! Just more mysteries that add to the sheer mind boggling scope and size.
The weather is turning cold and dreary now. There is rain in the air – and we are all bundling up as much as possible. The wind whips through Sacsayhuaman as we wander through many of the different plateau levels while heading back to the bus on the other side of the ruins. What must it have been like to live here in the 1400’s? What did the Spanish Conquistadors think when they found these structures? We know that they raided these sites for the stones and took them off to build their own structures in Cusco (this is a recurring theme virtually everywhere we go in the region – stones being carted off from Incan temples and structures to build the churches and monuments that now stand atop original Incan land). But what must have gone through their brains at the site of these massive stones so perfectly placed? It is all a little much to take in – and we’re not even to the main event of Machu Picchu yet!
Next on our sacred valley tour is Pukapukara, a large red fort high above the valley. This was the entrance to the Inca trail in the 1400s. It is thought that a market was held here, where the Machu Picchu inhabitants would come to trade wares with those living in and around Cusco. Anyone going to Machu Picchu would have to pass through this area on their way into the Andes.
Tambomachay is our next stop – in the cold and now the drizzle. Here there is actually a little guard house with facilities – well – bathrooms that none of us have the courage to use! These ruins are located a few thousand yards up a hard packed trail. At the end of the main trail are the baths – three levels of running water where ritual baths were taken. Because of the stonework, it is commonly thought that these baths were reserved for higher nobility. It is also here, right past the baths, that the actual Inca Trail begins. Although most treks begin past Ollantaytambo, hearty soles can leave from here for a trek (longer than the typical 4 days trail hike) over the highest peak at 4200 meters, on their way to Machu Picchu. No thanks – not that the hike and the views wouldn’t be worth it – but sleeping out for 4 days – nope – not even a remote possibility.
Last is Q'enqo. This is a temple dedicated to the puma, which has a special meaning to the Inca people as it represents “power”. It is said that the Puma was a symbol of self-leadership in those times. This temple gets its name because it is a labyrinth, with stones placed in a maze, and a cave meandering under the temple. We walk through the cave in the wet and the cold, and Cathy steps in a big puddle. Not so good with her water shoes on – even with socks. Ick! Outside of the cave/tunnel, there are spectacular views of Cusco and the Andes.
Now, it’s finally time to head back down into Cusco – we’ve whet our appetite for what we’ll see tomorrow in Machu Picchu – and we’re ready to relax a little before our big Cultural show and dinner tonight! But of course, there’s one stop left! Shopping!!! How can there be a tour of any sort without shopping? We stop at an artisan’s outpost, right near Sacsayhuaman – amazing! Well, it wasn’t that bad, really. Lots of Alpaca – sweaters, scarves, hats, gloves, you name it. And jewelry and figurines. It was a nice store, but the prices are still pretty high for Alpaca – so we all passed on that. Richard did find a beautiful necklace however, and bought it for Maggi! So all was not lost!
Back into town, we all hop off at Plaza de Armas and wander around the main plaza a bit. It’s getting dark and cold, so we don’t dawdle too much, but head back to the San Agustin – a 10 minute walk at best. Rested and refreshed, we meet downstairs in the lobby at the appointed time to rendezvous with Alan for dinner. We figure we’ll be going with the rest of the group, but no, it’s just us. We get dropped off at the Don Antonio restaurant. Alan walks us in – confers with the maitre’d and we’re seated at a nice table towards the back. Good views of the stage, but not so close that it’s overwhelming.
The place is packed – and not just with the requisite tourists, there’s a huge group of locals celebrating what appears to be an elder gentleman’s birthday. 40 or 50 people – a lot of them young men (with no dates) in suits. Business? Family? Both? They were toasting and crying and celebrating. It was quite fun to watch. Dinner was a buffet – that was out of this world. Huge salad buffet with anything and everything you could imagine. The huge, corn on steroids with a great mustard type sauce, regular salad, beet salad, meats, alpaca carpaccio (which we were told not to eat), bread, you name it. Also had a table for olives, cheeses and those damn addictive corn nuts. Then the main event – quinoa soup, alpaca, trout (which is very salmon-ish here), rice, beans, and yes, even cuy! We finally get to have cuy (that is guinea pig for those of you who aren’t familiar with Peruvian cuisine)! And it’s GOOD. This was marinated, and already cut up into pieces, so we didn’t have to deal with looking at the poor thing on a skewer. That helped a lot! It was disturbing with the little bones though, gotta tell you that – but overall Cathy, Ed and Richard enjoyed it very much to their surprise! (Of course I’m cringing because if they could put that cute little guinea pig on a spit, I’m betting they wouldn’t have any problem sticking me over the fire. I’m happy hiding out in my little pack pouch and making sure I don’t end up as the main course somewhere here in Peru!)
All during the gorging, the show has been going on. It’s actually quite good – with traditional dances and costumes. The music is interesting, and not overpowering from our seats. Even though we were all hesitant, and not really much into the idea of this, it turned out to be a great evening – entertaining, fantastic food, and great people watching! As usual, beer is included, wine is not, so we wait for the check and Maggi goes to smoke. Nicotine fix handled, check paid, right on schedule in walks Alan – and off we go to the hotel again. Alan gives us our marching orders for the morning: 5:30 in the lobby for our transfer to the train station. Maggi is hating us, we know, but – hey – it’s Machu Picchu. It’s the Vista Dome, it’s a once in a life time thing. Yeah, she’s still hating us!
Quick night cap, and all the sleepy heads hit the hay!
No comments:
Post a Comment