We arrived in Cusco around 11 am and were met at the airport by a lovely young man named Edison. He was very helpful and got us to the hotel in a timely manner.
The ride to the hotel was interesting to say the least with its’ narrow congested streets and crazy drivers. Our drivers have all been very skilled so we made to the hotel without a mishap.
When we arrived at our hotel we were greeted by a very helpful staff. The first thing we were served was cacao tea to ward off altitude sickness. Ron and I have been at high altitudes before so did not think we would be bothered by the 10,912 elevation. The tea was delicious and we enjoyed the ambiance of the hotel courtyard.
After settling into our very lovely rooms we decided to have lunch before setting out for our afternoon tour.
The meals were delicious and presentation quite nice.
After lunch we were picked up by Alan who would be our guide while in Cusco and Machu Picchu. We have been very fortunate to have such great tour guides and Alan was no different.
We began our tour of Sacsayhuaman one of the four ruins around the city. About the time we left the hotel I began to feel a little lightheaded and nauseous and had a the beginnings of a headache. Oh my, could this be the beginning of altitude sickness.???
I managed to get through that first tour which was quite good with interesting history.
LINK:
http://www.7wonders.org/wonders/america/peru/cusco/sacsayhuaman.aspx
The wall of blocks were amazing and the size of the blocks up to and over 10 tons. How the heck did they do that? Some of these walls were gold leafed before the Spanish came in and conquered the Incas and took all their gold and silver and destroyed their temples..
It was amazing to see how perfect all of the stones were carved and fit so perfectly together.
Every massive boulder was perfectly aligned and fit together precisely with out mortar!!!!
As the afternoon progressed I felt worse and worse. The tour was between four and four and one-half hours long and every minute to me was an eternity. Ron, Kelly and Patrick were doing well so I continued to push through.
Our next stop was Pukapukara:
Puca Pucara is a site of military ruins. This fort is made of large walls, terraces, and staircases and was part of defense of Cusco in particular and the Inca Empire in general.
Puca Pucara means "Red Fort" in Quechua and comes from the red color of the rocks at dusk. Puca Pucara is an example of military architecture that also functioned as an administrative center
I did not get out of the van at this location. I opted to stay back and lay in the van. By that point I just wanted to die. UGGH – why was I feeling so badddddd!!!!
Patrick bought me a warm diet coke to try to ease my nausea and it did help for a little while but then I was back to square one.
On our next stop Alan thought I should get out and see the next site so I did.
Getting through this site was difficult but the tombs where the Incas mummified their deceased was pretty interesting.
As we were walking back to the van our guide stopped to talk to one of the local men. He then showed us a southern cross that the man was selling and explained the meaning to us.
LINK TO THE MEANING OF THE INCA SOUTHERN CROSS:
http://www.peruthisweek.com/culture-22-The-chakana-The-meaning-of-the-Inca-Cross/
This man was so kind that he went up the hill and got some mint leaves for me to help get rid of my headache. We did buy a Southern Cross from him for his kindness. The people here are very gentle and kind .
Trying to keep up with the group. Get me back to that van Please!
Patrick had bought himself a Coke and decided to have a drink. He very very slowly was opening the cap when it suddenly exploded all over the van. The high altitude it a devil. He felt really bad but it was not his fault.
Next we went into Cusco to walk through a Cathedral. I thought I could make it through there because there were places to sit and it would be cool inside.
The traditional church courtyard.
The rooms inside were set up perfect so that you could stand on a block and see through each temple area.
South America is very seismic and have experienced some very significant earthquakes. Most of the cathedrals had sustained damage and had to be rebuilt, , but for the most part did withstand even 7.6 quakes.
The picture below did not capture how the walls have been moved by earthquakes and the hall walls are wavy as a result.
We could not take pictures inside but Alan did tell us that all the walls were covered in gold leif. The Spanish took all the gold and silver and melted it down into gold and silver bars. The Incas only saw the beauty in the gold and silver and did not think that the gold and silver had any monetary value.
After a very long tour of Cusco we headed back to the hotel. All I wanted was to go to bed. Ron got me some dry bread and I was in bed by 6 pm curled up in a ball. Kelly and Patrick went out to dinner and Ron stayed with me. We had brought some snacks with us so Ron had some tea and two cupcakes. Thanks honey for watching over me.
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