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Published: June 26th 2006
Koricancha
A view of the Koricancha towerFriday, June 16. In the afternoon we took the obligatory City Tour. The ruins above the city, Sacsayhuaman, are always impressive. The ruins continue to be restored, and more uncovered as the site expands. Workers were present assembling seats for the upcoming Inti Raymi festival. Our guide was a bit of a naturalist - he knew many of the native plants and herbs, showing us those that are good for various ailments. We also visited the Koricancha, which was the Inca Temple of the Sun. Unfortunately the gold was stripped from the site by the Spanish, and a church built on top of the Inca holy temple. We visited additional ruins beyond the Sacsayhuaman fortress, including Tambo Machay, an Inca ritual holy bath, where waters still flow. We dipped our hands in the water, so we will have longer lives now. Perhaps a small blessing before tackling the Inca Trail! We also visited Cusco's cathedral, and it was a special treat since the saints from all the surrounding churches were present from the Corpus Criste celebration - beautifully decorated and on display. No photos, unfortunately, in the church.
Saturday, June 17. We decided to try a little hike in the
Koricancha
Listening to the explanation of the temple nearby town of Pisac as a warmup for the Inca Trail. Pisac is located about 30 minutes by taxi from Cusco, and is the site of some beautiful ruins, located where else, but on top of a mountain. The guidebook says allow 1.5 - 2 hours to climb, and there are two routes, one easy and one more challenging. We thought we were taking the easier route, but ended up we took the hard route, right up the cliff face to the ruins. Just check out the slope on those stairs. There was no way in the world I was going back down those stairs. Do keep in mind that here in Peru there are no handrails, safety nets, or other devices to keep people safe. One is supposed to use common sense. We decided to climb up and over the mountain top, walking through the ruins and taking a taxi back to town. That was a good plan. The climb up seemed like such a good idea, until we reached the last 300 feet or so. At that point, climbing the stairs, going through my mind was, “What was I thinking?” And, obviously, this was only a 2 hour
Sacsayhuaman
The walled fortress climb and we had 4 days coming up of Inca Trail. At this point, I am somewhat concerned about the demands of the upcoming trip, but I’m sure we will survive. Bryan and Kathryn, cool kids that they are, were able to scamper up the trail and steep stairs with ease. Lloyd, the excellent scout, was close behind. I was the last to summit, as expected. 4 days on the Inca Trail, hiking 6-8 hours per day - what was I thinking….. oh yeah, a nice family togetherness activity…. Yeah….. as the kids leave me in the dust while they scamper up the ruins…. Edit (by her son Bryan) - I laughed the entire time…
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