Today began a little later as we were doing tours in and around Cusco. One glance out the window proved the forecast to be true as the sky was a stunning blue. Our new friend Tammy showed up with Adelki and we walked down the street to Qorikancha the Convento De Santo Domingo Del Cusco. This place is very special as it is where the temple of the sun is and also the centre of the Incan Empire. The holy places radiate out from it. The original temple had been pillaged by the Spanish which the Incans must have known was coming as the huge golden symbol for the Sun God was never found. It is still a subject dear to treasure hunters hearts. The Spaniards built a church and houses, etc over the site and plastered over the Incan stone walls, those that weren’t destroyed. I don’t remember what year but there was an earthquake that rattled off the plaster and lead to the discovery of massive walls, including a keystone that holds three walls together perfectly and would have been made at a quarry and brought to the site for a perfect fit! There was one room that our guide did not love as it was the history of the church. I said it was part of their history but not their culture and he agreed. He also does not like that he is green eyed as he would rather be brown eyed like the Incans. I told him about my friend Chris White, the blue eyed indian and he loved both the blue eyed part and the fact his last name was White. I think he felt in good company.
When we left there our bus was called for and we headed to Saqsayhuaman. This settlement is incredible if for nothing but the size of the stones. The fit is amazing considering they were all cut in the quarry and brought there on ramps covered with clay and water was used to get them moving, or rollers. If a stone was damaged in transport others were made to fill in the spaces so there was a perfect match. There are even stone nails hammered in to adjust the levels. We were shown a sort of bas relief snake carved on one stone and the images of two llamas just in the placement of stones in the walls. There is also evidence of running water coming down and then up hill so there had to have been a syphoning system created.
From there we stopped at a real Alpaca products store and I purchased a few Christmas gifts and for myself out of Vikuna which is the expensive really soft wool. It was so hard to choose! And then there is the how much will fit in my suitcase issue…..
The last stop was at Qengo which people say has a stone sculpture of a Puma but Adelki says they may have been on Coca leaves as that is a stretch to imagine. The most interesting part of this ruin was that we were in brilliant hot sun and walked into a passage between the rocks which was a burial site and the air was cool and the big rock was actually very cold to the touch.
We headed back to the hotel and were all sad to say good-bye to Adelki as we had had such a good time and learned so much from him.
Nury was waiting for us in the lobby and we all decided we wanted to go to Jack’s Cafe again as the food was quick, reasonably priced and good! When we arrived it was busy but they took us as a group of 5 in first and took the orders of the others while they were waiting at the door so that by the time they sat down all of our food arrived. That’s the way to do it!
After lunch Nury lead us to the locals market through an area she told us to watch our purses and cameras, etc. I had so much fun tagging behind and handing out sheets of stickers to small children. Almost without exception it went over well. There was only one father who said no. When kids said no as they have probably been told not to accept anything, their Moms saw what it was and said Si! Gracias and the kids echoed the same. It was such a simple thing as I had stopped at the dollar store on advice from a lady at work and picked up about 10 packs of stickers which hold 3 to 5 sheets each of Cars, Tonka, Toy Story, Princesses, Dora, Happy Faces, etc. The people here are so surprising. They don’t smile much it seems but when you smile at them or be silly they, men, women and children break into the biggest smiles, their whole faces change! And they have no grey hair until very very old and perfect teeth! It is something to do with the water, I think.
We arrived at the market to find it closed due to being the monthly cleaning day so we just stopped at the grocery store to pick up supplies as no time for breakfast tomorrow. From there we went to the Museum of Cacao! It was just as good as that sounds, imagine everything chocolate including Axe spray and Condoms! I figure if you use the first you will need the second. I bought chocolate tea to bring home, zero calories and tastes like chocolate! As we were walking I heard Celia (USA) tell Tammy (Aus) that Canadians were the greatest people on the planet, so friendly and polite and the whole world thought so!
From there we were heading back to the Hotel when Dave suggested we take the Doubledecker tour bus. Only Celia, he and I went and for 20 Sols it was so worth it. We followed much of the same route as we had walked but it was such a different perspective from up there. We also went to the White Christ on the top of the hill which is a replica of the one in Rio. Sitting up there in the wind was the first time I was cold this whole trip. There was a funny moment when Dave had to duck as a tree branch was aiming to take him out of the bus. We were all giggling at that. Once we returned each of us set off on our own. I enjoy puttering through the shops and talking as much as possible with the workers.
At 615 we all except CA who is not feeling well, were led by Nury to the Centro Qosgo de Arte Nativo where there was an hour long show of dances. There was an emcee between each one who explained in Spanish and English what the next one was representing and they were amazing. The costumes were spectacular and so were the dancers. We made a quick stop in the market next door where I picked up an Alpaca wall hanging which I plan to use as a rug beside my bed.
Back to the hotel by 9 to get completely organized and an overnight bag packed as tomorrow night will be spent in Aguas Calientes (Machu Picchu town), the bigger suitcase will be stored here. I am barely fitting my stuff in… may have to buy a bigger carry on and be careful with my weight allowance.
It has been another lovely day and I am sure there is much I have left out as there is just so much info. It is the end of our first full week and I am the biggest fan ever of GAdventures. The quality of everything and everyone so far has been above anything I could have anticipated.
MB heading for bed
09.21.13
triumphgal 