Getting a taste for Machu Pichu...

So while we´ve been anxiously awaiting our Inca Trail departure, we have been hanging around the city of Cusco, aclimatizing, site seeing and avoiding the 15 individuals who try to sell us massages everytime we walk back to our hostal.

We are staying in a small little hostal about a 10 minute walk up small cobbled walkways surrounded by collonial houses (some of which use original Inca stones) and artisan shops. Once inside the walls of the hostal the courtyard has a fantastic view of the city below, which is only surpassed by the fact that we are not actually staying in the louder city below.

Yesterday we forked out the 70 soles each for our Bolletos Turisticos (tourist tickets) wish give us 10 days to visit 16 museums, archeological sites and monuments around the city. Ofcourse this is the only way to visit any of the sites, even if we were only interested in one. So far the tickets have been worth it. We set off yesterday on a minibus to the site of Tambomachay, and then walked the 8 kilometers back to the city, visiting 3 other sites as we went.

Tambomachay is an Inca site where water has been diverted and flows through channels for the likely religious purpose of regeneration of the land. It was a small site, but it was nice to walk around admiring the Inca masonary without having to follow a guide in a big tour group.

The next site was across the road, Pukapukara, another Inca site, thought to have been a small rest or lodging area for travelers walking between cities. We explored the old rooms and pathways and found many similarities to some of the sites we saw in Ecuador and northern Peru.

We took a shortcut to the next site, avoiding the road, and ended up at a Huaca del Luna (moon temple) which we had thought was 1.5 kilometers out of the way. What looks like another large rock outcrop sitting amoung the grass hills, is a pre-Inca temple where they worshiped the moon and the sun. The inhabitants used the caves created in the limestone outcrops and added small rooms and altars where food and animals were offered as sacrifices. We would have kept walking had it not been for a guide at the site who showed us these two caves and explained some of the history of the site. Both caves used to be lined with walls of gold (which was later pillaged by the Spanish) and he showed us the pumas, falcons and snakes which were carved on the walls. In the cave dedicated to worshiping la luna, the moon rises from a certain vantage point on the horrizon only on one day of the year, and as it rises, the moon light shines through a small hole in the roof of the cave illuminating the altar below (and what would have been the golden walls of the cave). Must have been a pretty impressive sight.

Qenko was the next site, yet another rock outcrop with a few tunnels winding beneath. The site was used for ceremonies worshiping the sun, moon and stars. We stopped for a pb&j sandwich break on the top of the site sitting infront of what looked like a sacrificing block. One currious spot on the top was a small pool with a zigzag leading away from it all carved into the rock. We decided that it muct have been to direct the flow of water (or blood!) into another pool. Some old ruins of building s and walls surrounded the site as well. Thunder started to threaten our trip, so we bundled into rain jackets and headed off to our last site before Cusco, Sacsayhuaman (pronounced sexy woman...heh heh).
This site is a huge fortress that sits on a hill overlooking the city of Cusco. The walls of the fort are huge, and the stones used to construct it were carved from nearby limestone outcrops and are 90 to 120 tonnes! Many of them are twice as tall as me. What was even more impressive is the precise fit of the stones. Not all of the stones are rectangular (one stone in Cusco has 12 edges), yet each stone fits exactly with the ones next to it. There is no more than 2mm between one stone and the next. The fortress´s wall was zigzaged so as to expose the flanks of attacking enemies and has three different levels. Outside of the fortress, across the field, was the burrial grounds, and after exploring the walls and staires, we found a cave. We started down and within seconds we couldn´t see the slimy rocks surrounding us. Colin lead us through the passage, using the camera and its flash as a light source. I was a little worried that each photo would reveal a skeleton or something scarrier...heh. We soon emerged into the sunlight, and ran off to find more tunnels (we found some, but none quite as impressive as the first).

Another 20 minutes of walking and we were back in the small cobbled streets of Cusco. We leave tomorrow on the Inca Trail at 6am. We are incredibly excited, and are crossing our fingers for some good weather for the next 4 days. No worries Marcus and D., batteries will be charged, and yes we plan on taking lots of photos!


The cave mentioned above. It kept going for about a minute after this video ends... creeeepy.


Temple of the Moon, gives you a good idea of what it would be like on a full moonlit night...creeeeeepy!