whats a huaman, and how many do you get in a sack?

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Today we visited Sacsayhuaman, the mightiest fortress of the Inca. Predictably, however, noone has the faintest idea who built it, when, why, or any of those trivialities.

But they do know that it was the site of the climax of the great rebellion of the double hard Inca himself, Manco. HAving besieged Cusco and its force of some 190 spaniards with a mere 100-200,000 warriors Manco had setabout burning the place, forcing the Spanishout of outlying regions and generally causing havoc. The headquarters of the Inca forces were in Sacsayhuaman, so the Spanish attacked it with 50 horsemen and a load of native auxilliaries. THe fortress features three massive tiers of rock walls surmounted by two (now missing) huge towers. It was almost impenetrable, and an attempt to force the main gate was foiled largely because of the sheer number of Inca trying to get through it, and Juan Pizzaro (brother of the man who started the whole conquest in the first place) was killed.

THe huge walls and tens of thousands of defenders were to no avail however, because Spaniards had been attacking castles for years and had an invention no-one seems to have predicted

ladders

doh! Not only did the Spanish get up the walls, but some berk had left a rope hanging down from one of the towers, and a brave young fella called Hernan Sanchezgot up and butchered everyone. THe other tower was held by a native with captured Spanish weapons bellowing at his subordinates and hacking down both those enemieswho got up to the top andthose Inca who tried to surrender. When he realised it was hopeless he jumped to his death, followed by so many of his men that quite few survived through the cushioning provided by their mates bodies and got butchered by the Spaniards auxilliaries. All the Inca corpses were left for the birds.

Lenin once announced "quantity has a quality all of its own"
Dead wrong

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Photos

Sacsayhuaman
attacking thatwith fifty peoplemust haveseemedquite silly, really

big rocks
some of these are really quite big. THis weighs over 300 tons, about the same as five challenger tanks. Stone henge seems quite dainty to be honest

tower
this is the foundation of the second tower to fall and that of the valiant Inca with the Spanish sword. It is also therefore the site of the mass suicide, although the guides say its an astrological calendar andsun temple. It isnt.

main gate
THis is the gate the SPanish tried to force, foiled by the press of bodies as thousands of skirmishers tried to get into the fortress and safetey. Lots of blood here then

Jenny
insidethe main gate, theresanother littler one up to the next level. This is it, with Jen.

Comments

[Uncle Pete]

Brilliant stuff
Have just read your entire record. It occurs to me that the diplomatic corps might not be the best use for your eminent commentary talents Richard. Immensely enjoyable record of an amazing trip, there must be a book in this at least, if not a career! Michael Palin who? I look forward to seeing all the photo's in December. (Really!) Take good care of yourselves and enjoy the rest of your adventure.

[Yatesy]

Hola from Quito
Alright Jenny its Dave from Manc, good to see you have a wicked time. Just started my trip round S.America. Lou passed on details about your page got same great photos!