October 23rd, 2005 – Saqsaywaman
Visit Sacred Valley of the Incas & Visit Saqsaywaman.
Wake up call was at 7:30 a.m. but I think everyone was up and enjoying breakfast down stairs before that. $15.00 Soles ($5.35 CDN) for a full breakfast that included a somewhat better tasting cup of coffee. We'll be boarding a small bus today for a tour of Saqsaywaman and a visit to the town of Pisac found in the Sacred Valley of the Incas.
Today we'll be travel with an additional guide who will be explaining the ruins and other stops along the way. We leave at 8:30 am and our first stop is the famous ruins of Saqsaywaman that the locals tell us to pronounce it “Sexy Women” so we can remember it better. (Sack – Say – wa – man). We have one hour at this site with most of it following the tour guide and listening to her explanations of it all. Unbelievable large Stones that are carved so perfectly, it’s truly hard to believe it was done so long ago. No real true explanation of just how this could have been built so long ago.
Saqsaywaman
A view from the entrance area.
Saqsaywaman
Our guide for this tour is in the center.
Saqsaywaman
Walk around the grounds at Saqsaywaman.
Saqsaywaman
Most of my group mingling around the site.
Saqsaywaman
A view as we walk around the site.
Saqsaywaman
The accuracy to cut this rocks at the angles and corners seen is hard to reproduce with todays technology.
Saqsaywaman
It was well worth the trip today to see this amazing site.
Saqsaywaman
On our guided tour of Saqsaywaman
Saqsaywaman
View of some of the construction.
Saqsaywaman
A view of the site as we walk around.
Saqsaywaman
A view as we walk around the site.
Saqsaywaman
Our group walks over to get a good view of Cusco down below.
Saqsaywaman
A view of Cusco from the site.
Saqsaywaman
A view of Cusco.
Saqsaywaman
A view of Cusco.
Saqsaywaman
There were some walking trails off to one side but did not have the time to explore these trails.
Saqsaywaman
A view of Cusco
Saqsaywaman
A view of Cusco.
Saqsaywaman
A view of Cusco and a few of the trails in the area.
On the road to Pisac
Next, we head our way to Pisac down a long narrow road going down into a valley. In most places there are no guardrails of any kind, this makes for an interesting ride down.
On the road to Pisac
We stop at a few spots for pictures. Again, many merchants are along the roadside trying to sell us the home made products, mostly knitted clothing and some small pottery.
Market at Pisac
We end up down at the valley safe and sound in the small town of Pisac. The bus drops us off at a huge market of vendors and a local farmers market where you can buy just about anything. I spend most of my souvenir money by buying a few pieces of jewelry for back home.
We arrive in a downpour but it quickly runs off and things are back to normal.
Market at Pisac
Visit the town of Pisac in the Sacred Valley on the Incas – Market in Pisac, guinea pig farms are popular as it's a delicacy in many resturants ... believe it or not, but true.
Market at Pisac
A view of the market. It was difficult to take pictures because the vendors wanted payment of some type if they notice you taking pictures of them.
Market at Pisac
Walking within the market.
Market at Pisac
In the market at Pisac.
Market at Pisac
Varieties of fruits and vegetables are plentiful.
Market at Pisac
A view from within the market.
Museum in Cusco
We're back on the bus for a long ride up the mountainside and back into Cusco to our hotel. After a short break, we continued our tour by taking a short walk over to a museum showing more ancient walls in the center of the city. Some of them are so perfectly built that it looks like you’re on a movie site and the large stones are made of plastic. However, these large precise looking walls of stone were more than likely built long before any signs of Cusco was here. But, that is my opinion and not of some of the so-called experts.
Museum in Cusco
The museum was built around this site to preserve it.
Museum in Cusco
The construction looks like the temples I seen in Egypt.
Museum in Cusco
Inside the museum.
Museum in Cusco
Inside the museum.
Museum in Cusco
Inside the museum.
Museum in Cusco
Inside the museum.
Outside the museum
We take a walk around the outside of the museum. Some of the local housing is actually built right on top of these ancient walls! These walls are built just outside of the museum and attach to the outside of the ones we seen in the museum. We walk by the famous 12-sided stone, it was very crowded with tourists at the time. It was hard to believe that we had to walk down a narrow street to see the stone at the base of some modern building using it as part of its foundation for time of antiquity.
Outside the museum
Walking outside the museum.
Outside the museum
Walls outside the museum.
Outside the museum
This isn't the 12 sided stone that we passed by but you get the idea how difficult it must of been to construct these stones.
Town Square
Once back at the hotel, I head up to the Town Square to enjoy a massage that Gwen (Tour Leader) has booked for me. A great massage for one hour at $25.00 U.S., well worth the price and much needed after all the traveling on the bus, train and planes. Back to the room for a quick shower and then we all meet for a great dinner at the Alpine Restaurant. One of the many restaurants situated along the Town Square, it had great service and wonderful entertainment. For every meal it seemed like we had some of the locals singing and playing a few tunes and a tip was always expected. This time, we had a group of 5 younger brothers singing and we had the opportunity to buy their music.
A few people in my group were back at the hotel with altitude sickness. We head back to the hotel right after the meal as we have an early rise tomorrow morning.
Town Square in Cusco
