Pisac - Ruins and Town

Around Cuzco

Market Day, Chincheros

MACHUPICCHU

Here is the first look afer climbing off the bus. It is truly magical. From another angle.
I can'believe I'm here!
Me and Billy
There are so many stairs to climb...
Check out the view!
Doorway
Stairs built into the side of the mountain.
Window. Check out all that work, and no cement!
Billy talked me into walking up the mountain behind the ruins, Huayna Picchu. This is what it looked like for an hour. Yikes!
View of Machu Picchu from the top of the mountain. I can't believe I made it!
Machu Picchu
We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day.
Definitely an unforgettable place! (The mountain on the right is what I just climbed) Wow!

Q'enko

A site just on the other side of the street from Saqsayhuaman, Q'enko was used for spiritual ceremonies, also as an astronomical lookout. The work Q'wnko means zig zag, as you see in the rock here. They would put water, or perhaps blood of a llama into the cup at the top of this incline, then see whih way it flowed. If it went to the left it wuld mean one thing, to the right another. High priestess.
Amazing rock work, where the Incas could sit and watch the stars.
This was the sight for the riual slaughter of the llamas that they would use as an offering to the sun god.
View from Q'enko to Cuzco.

Saqsayhuaman (Sexy Woman)

This is a site where the Inca ruins called Saqsaywaman are located, just above the city of Cusco. The site was built using stones brought from mountains many kilometers away, and he rocks are estimated weighing as much as 1000 kilos. One of the doorways constructed. The stones were all cut preisely and fit together without any cement. They have withstood thousand of years, big earthquakes, and al kinds of weather.
See how the stones fit pefectly together? Amazing.
Doorway
View to the valley and beyond that, the mountains where these rocks came from!
Stones
Just to show you how big they really are...
Some believe this looks like the lost ciy of Atlantis. This place was used for worship, experts believe.
Me and my guía, Angelica, looking over the town of Cuzco.

Adios Cuzco!

Since I last wrote I have eaten a fried yucca off the street- after I had seen a guy pick one up, claim it was too hot, then proceeded to touch all the ones on the plate and finally choose the least hot one, after which I chose the least fondled one (I was hungry), been up to the ruins Saqsaywaman and Q'enko outside Cusco, gotten extreme altitude sickness (could have been the yucca?), seen Machu Picchu, walked up the mountian Huayna Picchu (not easy!), took the bus to Chinchero for the open market where yet again I was talked into many a trinket, eaten a plate of yellow mystery stew with potatoes and cheese from a woman in the market who served it on a plate which she after "rinsed" by wiping her fingers over the plate with some questionable water, and the spoon was cleaned with the swipe of a skirt fold...finally got a hot shower after 2 days of waiting and stinking I am sure...eaten at a fantastic place Macondo with Billy and Jen from the hostal, been up to the ruins of Pisac and hiked down, legs shaking by the end, been to another market where I bought my last (I swear!) few items, and tonight I sleep knowing in just a few hours I am boarding a plane out of here. Peru has been amazing, I have enjoyed every minute of my time here, except the parts where I was barfing etc, but that was only for a night, so we will not count that. I will put up pictures as soon as I have a few minutes to sit in a loco, but in the meantime I just wanted to mention a few of the main events. I heart Peru!!!

Cuzco Day 1

A typical street in Cuzco, very narrow and cobbled. I am determined not to get lost... so far so good! Traditional dress.
Flowers at the market. the market was huge, I drank a mango with milk smoothie. The lady there told me the papayas here grow up to 10 kilos, like 25 pounds!
Meat market. Literally.
Incan wall.

These are really common, little porches made of wood. Beautiful. Church in the main square.
The other church in the main square.
Arch.
Another church in another square.
Ok so I admit the detials are lacking, but the truth is I was all over and I can't really figure out directions so I have no idea what is what, they are all churches and that much I know. Also I took a tour of the religious art museum (all in Spanish so I understood casi todo...) and an intersting thing to note is how the catholics included a lot of details about Peruvian life in the religious paintings, for example the trees are local trees, many have parrots in them, also Jesus is wearing a falica, like a fancy skirt much of the time, and in one the painter put everyone in boots because they were the only shoes he had seen the Spaniards wear, even though everyone knows that they always wore sandals...

Also since I had such good luck with getting remises off the street with Amanda and Nic I am now way more attuned to listening to people on the street, and as I was walking by a lady asked if I wanted spanish classes. I speak spanish, so she offered classes in Quechwa. This is like the hardest language I have ever seen, so I was like uh, no! Then she offered to be my guide, and I thought sure, why not? She has been in school and is training to be a guide so she is going to show me and Billy around tomorrow to the Inca ruins outside Cuzco. As I was arranging with her she was like yeah, just show up. Ok, well, to make you feel more comfortable, why don't you come to my house for a mate de coca? So I went to her house and we chatted, she made me tea, we talked about places to go and she told me about her family and showed me her art and the sweater she is knitting for her grandson. Seriously, and I just met this woman on the steet! Crazy, no? But it also made me really excited about my spanish, and I figured out that I really only have trouble when the person is talking about something really boring, because it's doubly hard to concentrate. But I can chusmear with people all day long, which is pretty cool! I also tell everyone I live in Buenos Aires, not the US, and that usually saves me any sort of lame looks, and they relate to living on pesos so I am getting some sypathetic bargains. Or so I think I am still pretty gringa, even if I throw out a "che" or "vos" every now and then.