More Sacred Valley....

Not feeling Inca ruined out just yet, we spent a day walking around four ruins all within 8km of Cusco. Being of sound mind we took the bus 8km uphill to start at the furthest ruin, Tambo Machay, a fairly unspectacular ceremonial stone bath still chanelling spring water, whatever the Lonely Liar claims! OK, maybe we have seen one too many stones...As to be expected plenty of tourist tat was on hand. We passed over the wall hangings and llama ponchos this time and bought a bit of good luck for our home in the shape of 2 pottery bulls. Most houses in the hill have a pair of these critters perched on their roof ridges for good luck and prosperity. It will definitely be a good omen if they survive the post!

Further down the road is the red fort or possible hunting lodge (jury is still out on a lot of inca site purposes) of Puca Pucara. The site is a mix of stones fitted perfectly together like a jigsaw puzzle and those cemented together. With the first, more advanced architectural technique mostly reserved for important buildings such as temples and forts. As we continued our walk downhill we were seranaded by a cute local girl who wanted "un poco plato" (a little money) and seemed thrilled with her reward of 50 centavos which went straight to the lolly shop no doubt.

Sacsayhuaman pronounced "sexy woman" meaning "satisfied falcon" was up next. This site with stones fitted seemlessly side by side and weighing up to 300 tonnes really was by far the most impressive sight of the day. The zig-zagged arrangement is supposed to represent the teeth of the puma representing the strength and power of middle earth, a la Lord of the Rings.

Despite being defeated here by the spanish, the Incas recaptured Sacsayhuaman and used it as a base to attack the conquistadors in Cuzco. Despite almost defeating the spaniards a last minute attempt by 50 spanish cavalry was successful. Soon after the spanish nicked many of the stone blocks from this site to build their own houses in Cuzco. Not to be out done by Stu at Pisac, Kaz had a scramble on the rocks herself.

Last ruin for the day was the shrine of Qenko where Stu fancied himself a bit of an Inca king. Luckily however he wasn´t expected to drink any sacrificial blood, a ceremony often performed here. The Chicha (corn beer), he could handle though. After a long day we headed back to Cusco with a day to get ourselves organised for the big daddy of Inca ruins ;-))

Kaz and Stu xx