Erika arrived around 10 on Sunday so I went to the airport to pick her up and brought her back in time for hostel breakfast. We didn't let her rest however since we soon were on our way to a walking tour of Cusco. Cusco is full of plazas, churches and museums documenting the pre-Inca and Inca times as well as when the Spanish came in the 1500's. Also along the way we found many llamas to befriend.
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| This little girl in our celebration outfit eating ice cream was adorable! |
At the end, the guide showed us how to make ceviche and it was so good we stuck around for lunch.
The next day, we ventured back to Pisac now that Mark and Karen were feeling well again. We were dropped off up top and spent the 3 hours working our way through these historical ruins. This Inca citadel sits high above the village with plunging gorges on each side. We walked past the Intihuatana (Hitching Post of the Sun) ceremonial center, several working water channels, a military area and a cliff honeycombed with hundreds of Inca tombs which have been plundered by grave robbers.
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| Plundered graves dotting the cliffside |
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| Inca chair dating back 500 years, NBD |
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| The aqueducts still work, hundreds of years later! |
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| Inca Kola: 50 soles. Capturing Erika's first reaction to this sugary bubblegum soda: Priceless. |
The day before our hike, Karen, Erika and I met our same driver to get up to Sachsaywaman which are very important Inca ruins right above Cusco. The name means 'satisfied falcon' and the current structures are only about 20% of what once existed since the Spaniards tore down walls to build their own houses in Cusco (the Spanish were ruthless!). The fiercest battle between the Spanish and Inca took place here in 1536 and thousands of Inca perished.
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| Pumas, condors and snakes are common designs in the rock walls |
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| Karen tried to befriend those llama but they were more interested in the grass |
Afterwards, we packed and prepped for our big hike since we were getting picked up at 4:30 in the morning the next day. We were all a little nervous and it didn't help that the hostel hosted a Cinco de Mayo Party that meant it was loud and difficult to sleep. Nonetheless, we were off on our trek bright and early on May 6th (my grandmother's 92nd birthday too!)!
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