Today’s adventure took us through the ruins that were located closer to the city. We started the morning with a quick breakfast of a hard boiled egg, toast, and some cocoa tea, and then left to meet our guide.
We first stopped by the Saint Domingo church. This wasn’t covered by our ticket, so Bridget and I opted out of this portion of the tour. We instead went over to a museum (Museo de Sitio del Qoricancha), and the highlight here were some interesting facts of the Incas. The Incas successfully would operate and remove sections of the skull for patients with head trauma. They said this was successfully 60% of the time. Also, the elite shaped their heads from a young age to something that resembled a cone head. The elite did this, so they could show their superior brain size. Also, the Incas believed in mummifying their elite, and we saw three carcasses in a fetal position behind a glass window.
We then met back up with our group, and we traveled out to Saqsayhuaman (sounds like sexy woman). This for me was the highlight of the day. We saw enormous sized blocks (15 tons) built together to form these ruins. The Incas even made the blocks look like a puma’s paw and llamas. You definitely had to use your imagination, but it was still interesting. The stones in how they were pieced together and the large size were really interesting to see.
The other highlights of the day included:
- Tambomachay – Had a really cool natural fountain on display. While I was heading back to the van, I scored a sweet new Alpaca sweater.
- Q’enqo – Had a pretty neat ruin to walk through, which ended in possibly a sacrificial altar where they found many llama bones near the ruin
- Large Jesus Statue – high atop the city of Cusco is a white, Jesus statue. He stands very close to one of the ruins, and we were able to see him up close.
We came back to the city and went to the market, where I was able to get a nice green blanket. We then finally met up with the Quilici’s at our orientation. Poor Elaine isn’t going to make it on the trip since she broke her ankle a few days ago in her travels, but Paul is ready to go.
On our way back to the hostel, we made one lady really happy. We purchased about four to five hats, gloves, and so forth as a “final workout” before our trek tomorrow.
And so there you have it. Tomorrow we head out at 4am for our hike. Our hostel is nice enough to have breakfast ready for us by then, and I really am wondering where this laptop will still be here when I return. Hopefully I’ll see you soon.
