Destination: Machu Picchu

Last weekend we set out on a long trip from Arequipa to Cusco - 10 hours by bus overnight. Luckily, the bus was large and fairly comfortable. After an interesting bus dinner and a movie I fell asleep and woke up in a new place. Cusco is a beautiful city full of history.

On saturday afternoon after a delicious lunch of cream of asparagus soup, fettucini bolognese and a fruit cup I was ready to see the city. We started our tour by walking through the plaza de armas to the cathedral. Every city in Peru has a Plaza de Armas. They are in the center of the town and they always have a fountain in the middle of them. They were constructed back when the cities were built as the main meeting place for the town to take up arms against enemies and/or conduct town meetings. Now they are a tourist trap with every shop and restaurant imaginable.

Cathedral en la plaza de armas, Cusco, Peru

The Cathedral was split in three parts. It was immense and beautifully ornamented with gold in every corner. There were huge paintings and designs on the walls. In one painting, the painter depicted the last supper as a meal with Cuy (guinea pig) and Chincha (a typical peruvian drink). Jesus and all the apostles, except Judas are white. Judas is dark skinned, Incan. A lot of controversy revolves around this very old, very racist painting. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures inside the cathedrals so as to protect the ancient artwork.

Next we went to a monastery but i don't have much to say about that. It was old. There were lots of stones perfectly fit together, and a temple to the sun. The sun (el sol) is one of the main Incan God's still worshipped today.

Our next stop, Saqsaywaman, was our first view of true Incan ruins. This large plot of land was formed into a city in the shape of a puma, an important animal in the Incan religion. From the top of the highest constructions we got a spectacular panoramic view of the city of Cusco and the mountains surrounding. We watched dark clouds form and then move their way towards us - this made for some awesome pictures.

Saqsaywaman

Hail! Hiding out in the human sacrifice cave.

Next we went to Q'enko, a human sacrifices site. There was a large cave and two large slabs of rock were the people to be sacrificed were killed. It was hailing at this point and started to get dark. The weather seemed fitting for the eeriness of the place. Its a good thing we don't practice human sacrifices in this day and age! After we got warm for a bit we headed back to Cusco where we went to a dance show and saw several traditional peruvian dances. There were lots of crazy costumes and interesting dance styles, but my favorite was the one in the picture below. These little kids could DANCE!

Adorable kids dancing : )

Sunday we took a bus, a train, and yet another bus up to Machu Picchu. Words cannot describe its vastness. It is just SO huge and SO impressive. The design was so intricate, so thought out, so intentional. All the rocks fit together perfectly. It's like a science; a science that is impossible to understand because of the lack of technology and machinery they had when the city was built. We spent several hours touring through the ruins and learning about the various structures. At the end of the tour we got to stamp our passports with a Machu Picchu stamp and the date so that we will never forget when we visited this amazing historic place. On Sunday night after another bus ride, train ride and bus ride back to Cusco a couple of us went to a mexican restaurant for dinner. It was the first "authentic" mexican dinner I've had since coming to Peru. The cheese was different and the chimicanga I ordered lacked Don Pablo's special sauce, but it was delicious nonetheless.

Machu Picchu!!!!!

Monday morning we set out by bus again for a tour of the sacred valley (el valle sagrado) and a town named Ollantaytambo. Ollantaytambo was built in the shape of a llama, another significant animal here. We climbed lots of ancient stairs and got an incredible view of the city down below and the surrounding mountains. Our guide said that many of the large rocks that constructed the city came from a mountain across the way. They used huge ramps to roll the rocks from one mountain to the next. She said there were a countless number of deaths due to construction accidents. Can you imagine building houses like that in this century?

Chinchero

We ate lunch in a gorgeous restaurant with a pavilion out back complete with green land, llamas, and parrots. The food was good and the company was even better! - we met a former student of Calvin college who works in Peru at a nonprofit org helping at risk women get back on their feet. We saw the shop her company manages before visiting a small countryside church named Chinchero. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside this church either but it was very heavily decorated. Every inch of the walls and ceiling were covered in tapestry and flower designs. It was a little much for my decorating tastes but beautiful nonetheless. This town was unique because the people still speak quechua, ancient spanish. It was like a whole other world there. I felt like I was trapped in a time warp of about 500 years.

Monday night we got back on the huge bus to take us back to Arequipa through the night. I slept most of the way home. Overall it was a very good weekend. It was long and short at the same time. We were fed a lot of information, most of which I have already forgotten - my brain can only absorb so much at one time. However the sites we saw and the memories we made will last me longer than any amount of information.