Sacsayhuamán

Along with meeting Jesusia, we lunched at Los Perros Wine and Couch Bar.  And it was just as advertised, wine and couches were everywhere to be had!

Instead of wine, we opted for pisco sours.  Delicious!  We ordered the curried pumpkin soup, yuca fries, and salad platter.  Everything was super yummy.

I would like to take this opportunity to tell you about traditional Peruvian cuisine and why I didn't eat much of it.  The potato is from Peru.  I had plenty of those.  The tomato is from Peru.  The corn in Peru has humongous kernels.  The avocado is from Peru.  Maca is from Peru (and I consume quite a bit of that at home).  Also from Peru though...

I did not partake in the baked Guinea pig, nor the Alpaca.  I'm sorry if I've disappointed, but baked guinea pig looks and smells just like it sounds.  And I can't make the leap from pet store to plate (also I'm vegetarian, that is the bigger reason).

So where, you ask, does one eat if they too do not like baked guinea pig, yet do not desire to sit on couches while they eat?  Never fear, you can dine at the McDonald's, KFC or Starbucks in the Plaza de Armas.

The far reaching arm of the capitalist, consumerist west is conquering its way south.  I tremble in anticipation for the day we open a Burger King on Easter Island.  The Spanish Imperialists of the 16th century would be proud.

With our bellies full and happy, we made our way uphill(again) to Sacsayhuamán.  (Pronounced sort of like Sexy Woman).   On our way there, we met this woman.  This photo cost me $20 Nuevo Sol.

Sacsayhuamán was a hilltop fortress and may have been the site of a sun temple(Sacsayhuamán means House of the Sun).  It has a large amphitheater type area which was probably used for rituals and ceremonies and is now used for the Inti Raymi or winter solstice celebration.  The structure is an incredible piece of engineering ingenuity.  The stones are massive and perfectly fitted together.   It was built by Inca citizens, all were required to work a certain amount of time in public works.

Perro y Burro a Sacsayhuamán.

Sacsayhuamán was the site of a battle between the Spanish and Manco Inca (I mentioned him previously).  The Inca rebellion managed to stave off the Spanish for a few nights, but were thwarted by a surprise attack in the dark of night.  During the battle some 1500 Inca warriors were killed.  Lore says that many of them chose to jump to their deaths from the high walls rather than succumb to the Spanish.  Francisco Pizzaro's brother was also killed in the fight. (Francisco Pizzaro is the man who conquered Peru for Spain).  This battle at Sacsayhuamán is honored on Cuzco's coat of arms.

http://www.ngw.nl/int/peru/cuzco.htm

Much like all the other cool archeological wonders of the world, this one was harvested for parts.  It essentially became a large quarry.  Rocks for the taking until the early 1900's.

The fortress was built with three zig zag tiers.  Each one represents a sacred animal; the Condor, the Puma and the Snake.  The city of Cuzco itself is said to have been built in the shape of the Puma, with Sacsayhuamán as its head.

Also, it has a great view of the city and its altitude is about 12,000ft.  Yipes!

Also it is for lovers.

Cuzco

When we got into Cuzco, it was 8am.  We had been traveling all night.  Neither one of us had gotten much sleep.  So, we did what any exhausted individuals would do...

We went exploring.

First thing we found was the Plaza de Armas.  It is the former site of the Palaces of Inca Huyana Cápac and Inca Viracocha.  The Plaza de Armas is now the site of the Iglesia de Compañía and the Catedral.  Also, it is a plaza, so people like to hang out there.

The Catedral was built first.

It was built to celebrate the Spaniards victory over Manco Inca.  Manco Inca had been fighting over the empire with a half brother (Atahualpa) from Quito when the Spanish arrived.  The Spanish army killed Atahualpa and marched into Cuzco as heroes.  Manco later realized they were no such things and fled Cuzco to amass an army to fight the Spanish.  Unfortunately, he did not win.

 The Iglesia was built in the following century by the Jesuits.

After the Plaza de Armas, we wandered.  Cuzco is very hilly.  The Incas really seemd to like putting walls and stairs and roads on hills.   There is a lot of Inca infrastructure still in Cuzco.  A lot of the stone roads in these photos were built by the Incas. 

In 1950 an earthquake struck Cuzco destroying nearly 63% of the buildings.  Nearly all of which were constructed after the Spanish conquest.  Incan foundations, doorways, walls, etc all still stood.  Very little of the Inca built structures were even affected by the earthquake.  Really, truly amazing!

The stones on the bottom are Inca walls that have stood for hundreds of years.  The adobe on top is new construction. Bottom photo is an Inca stairway.  Crazy.

Amazing to see, but still hard to hike uphill all day at 11,000 ft.  Just saying.  My heart felt like exploding many times.

I met a woman named Jesusia who sells hand made goods on the stairs outside her home.  She was pretty awesome, and despite my sad excuse of 3 years high school Spanish and her not speaking any English, we were able to communicate.  I guess money really does talk, in any language.  I bought some really great stuff, for very cheap.

I got a hat, some socks, two pairs of gloves, two baby sweaters, a poncho and a hat for my aunt (not pictured) all for 145 Nuevo Sol.  Which equals about $55 US.  So...not a bad deal.

She also threw these guys in for free.

The Nuevo Sol is really in pretty good shape.  It has been in use since the early nineties and has managed to remain fairly stable against the dollar, tending to fall somewhere between 2.5-3.5 against our 1.  It is also one of the few South American currencies that saw little affect from the weakening dollar.  I say, well done Peru.

Mas Luego.

Peru!

I left New York at 11pm.  At 2am, we turned our clocks back.  So, when I arrived in Lima, I hadn't changed time zones, which was awesome because I was very, very tired.

In Lima, I met up with my aunt Bonnie and we got on a plane to Cuzco.  All in all, travel time was about 11 hrs.  Bleh.

Cuzco sits at just over 11,000 ft.  That is very tall.  It has a population of close to 400,000 people.  It used to be the capital of the Incan Empire.  It is still the capital of Peru.  The Incan Qusqu was built in the shape of a puma (a sacred animal) by the emperor Inca Pachacuti.

We stayed at the Hotel Monasterio.  It used to be a monastery and is gorgeous.  It was a fantastic place to stay.  When we got into town they greeted us with Coca Tea, which is used to help combat altitude sickness.