So here we are in Cuzco, our first full day. Getting acclimated to the high altitude has been the hardest thing so far but we have had a week's worth of adventure today as well. We started out the day by visiting several Inca sites around Cuzco. The first site we visited Sacsayhuaman was a temple dedicated to nature. It originally means 'head of the puma' but was changed by the Spaniards to 'where the falcon eats' because when the Spaniards killed the Incas they laid the bodies down in the center of the temple where they were eaten by falcons . The temples usually took 100 years to finish construction and were built by over 1000 workers. The stones that make up the site weigh over 100 tons and were brought from 5 km away by using ropes and logs. It took years to move stones. Each piece of rock is a piece of art. The Incas hammered and polished faces of rock to make them fit together like a 3D puzzle hence the process took years. Stronger rocks like granite were used as hammers. On June 24th there is a festival called IntiRaimi which takes place here where a llama is sacrificed. This coincides with the summer solstice .
The Incas conquered all the way from Ecuador to Chile. Inca priests were astronomers so they could talk to the Gods. They built Temples of the Sun, Moon and Stars . Thunder and rain were also important because of agriculture . The Incas worshipped nature because their economy was built on agriculture and natural resources like water were extremely important for agricultural productivity.
The second site we visited had rock formations which form a shadow of the face of the puma on June 21st. This is known as the 'awakening of the puma'. The Incas also worshipped the puma and used the rock formations to tell when the summer solstice occurred.
Our third stop was an Inca fountain at Tambomachay. The Incas worshipped water and they believed that the fountain was the source of youth, health and fertility.
Our last stop was a place called Pukapukara. It was built as a resting place, a stop, for Incas on the way to Machu Picchu from Cuzco. Pukapukara means 'circular fortress'.
That concluded our morning and we headed back to out host Yure's house for lunch. After a brief rest we set out for the afternoon where our real adventure was just beginning. We started on a walking tour of Cuzco by heading to the Temple of the Sun known as Koricancha. The Spaniards had destroyed most of it by building around it and on top of it but some of the stones were still preserved. Again one corner of the temple was built to mark the summer solstice. We had the opportunity to view a few original Inca garments worn by priests which were woven with gold and silver thread.
We left the temple and wandered straight into a downpour. After running into a bank to take shelter we made our way to the start of a famous procession which takes place on the Monday before Easter where a group of devotees carry a large decorated statue of a black Jesus. The crowd was pretty thick and after watching for a while we went to get a bite to eat at a pizza place. Our guide Daniel warned us as he left that by 7 p.m. the square would be filled with 100,000 people and to make sure that we didn't get caught in that crowd. Well, as luck would have it, that is exactly what happened. After we left the pizza place we headed back to the house thinking that the crowd seemed manageable. Within minutes we found ourselves crushed in a sea of humanity moving in waves which seemed to be in the opposite direction from where we were headed. No matter which way we turned there was a mass of people and we had no choice but to be swept along with the crowd. We were in that throng for at least an hour and got separated at various points. The students were amazing; throughout the whole ordeal they remained calm, collected and good-humoured. In the end we all managed to find one another once we escaped the crowd and the students reflected on it as a good bonding experience with each other and with various tourists stuck in the same situation. However, probably not one they're eager to repeat any time soon!!
That basically concluded our very long day as we made the walk back home. Right now everyone is sitting around writing in their journals and I am about to head to bed.
Hast a mañana .
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