Cusco and Machu Picchu

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Celebrations in Cusco

Cusco is the continent's oldest, continuously inhabited city and was the home of the Incas for two centuries before the Spanish built their first capital here. For us this made it a fascinating city to spend some time in. I liked the cobbled streets and the main square with large colonial buildings. Cusco is 3400m above sea level, and we were fortunate with the sunny blue skies during our visit.

On our first day we ventured into the main square and found the city jam packed full of people. A carnival was in full swing, people were in their traditional dress for the areas they’d traveled from. Children danced their way around the square non-stop until they reached the end. For a few days Cusco was transformed into a party city, a different age group danced each day through the city, until the Inti Raymi celebrations at Saqsaywaman Inka ruins. Inti Rymi means the festival of the sun. We watched a huge performance; thousands of people attended and celebrated this day. This celebration has been happening for the last 500 years. Where people of Peru have traveled from the North, South, East and West to join together in their celebrations to thank the sun for all it gives. The impressive costumes and choreography had us glued to the performance.

During our stay in Cusco we had a city tour. We saw the following:
Tombomachay - ruins of a ceremonial place, with a natural spring waterfall. The legend has it that if you wash in the water you’ll be forever young. So we did. I’m sure in time you’ll notice our young youthful features.
Q’enqo - Inka ruins. A cave like rock structure where humans were prepared for mummification, wrapped in the fetal position before being buried. Also alpacas were sacrificed here.
Saqsaywaman - Huge Inka ruins that has the Worlds largest carved rock.
Bascilica Cathedral - Really large with an amazing amount of gold leaf used in decoration.

From Cusco we traveled by train to Angus Calientes, which is the town below Machu Picchu.

Machu Picchu, The Lost City
We woke by the sounds of a crowd of people. We could see from our hotel room that a massive queue of people waiting for the bus to take them up to Machu Picchu. It was only 5am! Later we then realized it was 21st June, Winter Solstice. So busy!
At 10:45am we had a tour booked, so we decided to get up to Machu Picchu a few hours before, to explore ourselves. The first glimpse was incredible; I just wanted to take loads of photos. The sun was shining and it was a fabulous day. During the tour, it was terribly busy and we had to walk inline with the rest of the group and follow our tour guide who held a green flag up high so we could locate him!

So what is Machu Picchu?
Machu Picchu was built around 1440AD, but it could be older. It is thought that the Inkas either lived or used Machu Picchu as a retreat; they were noblemen with good jobs. Or it was used as an observatory. Machu Picchu is a complete settlement, including a square, places for worship, living quarters and storage shelters with the Inka trail leading to and from it. Terraces surround the site and were built to help prevent landslides and also used for agriculture. It is thought that when the Spanish arrived, the Inkas left this area, so they wouldn’t find it. It was then discovered by an American, Bingham, in 1911 while flying over the mountain range he noticed some buildings hidden in the jungle undergrowth.

We thoroughly enjoyed our Machu Picchu visit, stunning ruins and terraces, over looking the edge of the mountainous Amazon jungle. Despite it being busy, away from the tour groups it was mystifyingly quiet and peaceful.

Next blog, The Amazon Jungle!

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