The Rock

After leaving the jungle I flew from Puerto Maldonado to Cusco, Peru.  This town is full of Inca structures and architecture.  It is truly amazing to see.

Cusco, Peru.

When I got to Cusco I went on a walking tour.  There are vendors everywhere and they are quite aggressive:  "Ezcuz me, laydee, hat for 2 soles..".   I met a young boy and he told me his name is Pablo.  I said "Hola Pablo".  He then told me I was sexy and his name is Pablo Picasso and I should buy one of his paintings.  Nice try, kid.

No shortage of souvenirs to buy.  I was informed that many of the goods are made in China.

The streets are very narrow and have amazing stone work.  The Inca walls are amazing and words cannot describe the amount of work that went into these structures.  Each stone was hand carved and the walls were built by putting the stones together like puzzle pieces.  There are no gaps between the stones and very slight erosion after hundreds of years.  How they were able to get such a perfect fit I can only imagine.  It was likely a delicate blend of genius and art with a dash of science. 

Perfectly straight streets and walls that extend for kilometers.

Hand placed stones decorate the streets.

The Incas were very artistic as we even saw stones placed in the shape of flowers and llamas. 

The diamond shaped rock is the centre of the flower.

Can you spot the Llama?

I took a bus to the 4 ruins above Cusco at 3765 meters in altitude.  Due to the lack of oxygen, I felt like an old lady!  I was slow and sluggish and had to gasp for breath after a few stairs.  I saw alters, waterfalls and an amazing canal system to handle the water.  Puka Pukara is a big rock with a semi-circle around it.  When we entered the rock, it was a cave full of carvings and 90 degree corners.  It had a big altar and very dark corners.  From the outside, it looks like a normal big rock.  I never would have guessed there were secrets hidden inside.

Inside the big rock, altar on the left.  Mummified bodies were found in the cave...freaked me out a bit.

Then I went to Saskiwaman (pronounced Sexy Woman!) which was a huge rock structure of multiple tiers - all zig zagged.  We were told that the Inca's built the  town of Cusco in the shape of a Puma, and the theory is the zig zags at Saskiwaman are the Puma's teeth.  There were carved stones there, perfectly in place, that were 12 feet tall and 5 feet wide. 

Photo of an aerial shot of Saskiwaman as anything less does not do justice.
 I am amazed by how perfectly sized everything is.

I also made a new friend, who I call Mr. Paca.  He has a very cute face.  Needless to say for dinner I chose not to have alpaca which unfortunately was on every menu.

My new friend Mr. Paca, first name Al.