SACSAYHUAMAN

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Sacsayhuamán is a fortress on the northern outskirts of the city of Cusco built in the 15th century at an altitude of 12,142 feet. According to oral history, Tupac Inca decided that the best head for the Puma shaped city of Cusco would be to make a fortress on the high plateau to the north of the city. In 1983 Sacsayhuamán was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Of all the breathtaking ruins in Peru, Sacsayhuamán was the one that left me in awe the most. Considering that the Spaniards used Sacsayhuamán as a source of stones for building the new governmental and religious buildings of the colonial city, as well as the houses of the wealthy, we can only imagine what it must have been like. Today, only the stones that were too large to be easily moved remain.

The colossal walls that zigzag alongside each other for more than 1,000 feet are constructed of stones that are among the largest in any building in pre-Hispanic America and display a precision of cutting and fitting that is unmatched in the Americas. The stones are so closely spaced that a piece of paper will not fit between many of the stones. Estimates for the weight of the largest block vary from 128 tons to almost 200 tons.

Whist looking at the outer wall, our guide pointed out what appeared to be intentionally placed stoned to form the shape of animals. Unfortunately, I now can't identify those shapes no matter how long I look at the photos.

As if the unforgivable destruction of the citadel wasn't enough, on our way out our guide pointed to nearby slopes that have been taken over by an invasive species of trees that are becoming a problem, Eucalyptus trees from Australia. WHAT???!!! After encountering that problem in South Africa, I wasn't prepared to hear the same situation across the world in Peru. Why on earth are these darned trees polluting every landscape on the planet?

Our next stop was nearby Qenqo, one of the largest huacas (holy places) in the Cusco Region. The Spanish conquerors named it with the Quechua word Qʻenqo, which means “labyrinth”, probably because of the zigzagging canal carved into the rock above that may have transported ceremonial <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; color:񬠜 font-family: 'Work Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;">chicha (a fermented corn beverage) or sacrificial llama blood. That indicates that Qenqo was used for death rituals, possibly to embalm bodies or detect whether a person lived a good life by the course the liquid followed.

From the information available, it appears Qenqo Temple was an extremely holy site for the Incas.

Qenqo is a unique temple in its construction, and its carved tunnels and chambers are an amazing work of ancient architecture. Stretched across a hillside, it was entirely carved out of a gigantic monolith. Many huacas were based on naturally occurring rock formations, but Qenqo is one of the largest and most impressive in the area.

Our next stop on what was considered an ancestry tour was to participate on a purifying shaman ceremony.

I have to say that when I first entered the thatched hut in which the ceremony was going to take place I inwardly cringed. I had feared a cheesy touristy cosplay, and the Atahualpa looking individual doing some of the posturing and chanting didn't inspire any confidence. Neither did the musicians whose music was mostly pre-recorded. And the Scandinavian blonde who translated the words looked like one of those looney wannabe mystics totally out of place.

However, the actual shaman seemed to sincerely concentrate in building the offering to Pachamama (earth mother goddess) for our well being, and it was interesting to watch him building it little by little, adding elements that would cover anything we could need, one at a time.

Our second to last stop was at another market, the Market of Wanchaq. From fruits to barber shops, this place offered anything you may wish to buy, and the sellers seemed to be a little bit more rustic than the ones in Arequipa.

Finally, we arrived at our lunch spot back in the center of Cusco, the TikiSara Restaurant, for a demonstration of a traditional vegetarian stew made with potatoes, lima beans, and cheese. Not anything I would order from a Menu, but not bad for a hearty, simple meal that wouldn't be expensive and didn't take long to make. Fortunately, after a taste of the finished stew I got to eat something more to my taste, a much more delicious chicken dish.

Afterwards, we took advantage of the remaining free time in the city to venture down a few more streets off the Plaza Mayor. I very much wanted to have some pork cracklings, which supposedly were very good in Cusco, so we decided to kill two birds with one stone and made our way to a Museo del Pisco not too far from the hotel where I managed to have both, a delicious Pisco Sour and a side dish of Chicharrones.

It was amazing how quickly the temperature changes as soon as the sun goes down. It was chilly walking back to the hotel for our last night in Cusco. Next morning we would be traveling to Urubamba in the Sacred Valley for the last leg of our trip.

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Photos

Sacsayhuaman
Great view of Cusco.