Sacsayhuamán

This weekend my group went to Sacsayhuamán (pronounced like "sexy woman" with a strange accent), a site of Inca ruins just outside of Cusco (actually, "just above" would be more accurate- we had the best view down to the city). Luckily, we were placed with a FANTASTIC guide who showed us around the site and gave us what might possibly have been the most exciting and interactive tour Ive ever taken. Before embarking on our journey, our guide discussed the meaning of the Incan cross, shaped like a cross with several steps in it (google chakana for pictures). He explained that the Incan cross represented the 3 worlds (the upper world of the gods, the world of human existence, and the underworld of the ancestors) and was also used as a calendar, with each corner representing one of the 12 months. As we walked up the hillside, he then began to point out several native plants (in Spanish and in Quechua) and their uses; the Incans had plants to combat soroche, altitude sickness, as well as flowers to rival our modern Viagra! He then proceeded to amaze us by bringing us into what used to be an old aqueduct but what was now an extremely dark and compact tunnel- through which we blindly snaked our way (holding the shoulders of the person in front of us for guidance) to the site of a manmade lagoon. By the now empty lagoon was an area for Inca mummification and a tall chair that was used as an area to communicate with nature. Our guide explained that the high level of magnetism located within the rocks is relaxing to whoever sits there- so of course we all did.

After showing us several other amazing sites (an Incan cemetery, a staircase that had been overturned by the Spanish, a huge boulder shaped like an Inca, a sacrificial table!!), our guide took us to my favorite part of the tour- the glacial ruins. We, as likely did Inca children, got to slide down these beautifully shaped, colorful rocks! No description could do the experience justice- Ill let the pictures do the talking here.

Sacsayhuaman, which houses Cuscos celebration of Inti Raymi- the celebration of the sun (this Friday!)- was yet again a place that did not fail to take my breath away. The history of the land itself, and of the stones, was so old that it was just magical to be there. We got to see the masterful way in which the Incans cut boulders to fit together perfectly without cement, and the areas where the Spanish opened up the cracks between them in search of silver and gold. We saw where Incan children played and where nobles were buried. Being there was like being in the presence of this grand civilization, by going through the motions of what life would have been like almost 9 centuries ago.