Horse Riding Around Cusco (14.08.08)

Today we received our Boleto Turistico pass - a 10 day tourist pass that gains you entry into various sites and museums. With this in hand we all set off on our horse riding tour to Pukapukara.

Jon’s horse was called Conquistador. I don’t remember the name of my horse but Daft or Dopey would be apt – he was sooo slow and wouldn’t obey any commands. When I turned his head as far right as possible before snapping his neck, he would still turn left. I think his brain cells were effected by the continuous stream of gas coming from the rear end of the horse in front. Fiona’s nag had a serious flatulence problem!

Pukapukara was once an Inca guard post and stopping point for travelers. Its name means “Red Earth” because the land is so fertile. There was a tunnel there that was blocked in but apparently there used to be lots of underground tunnels that went all over the place, some kilometers long. People have been known to enter and never been seen again or have gone in as a group and have all come out in separate locations.

A woman sorting out one of the 5000 varieties of potatoes grown in Peru.

After briefly exploring the ruin we mounted our horses and set off for Q'enqo (“Zigzag”). Q'enqo is a large limestone rock riddled with niches, steps and carvings used for astronomy purposes and also sacrifices. Apparently on the winter solstice the sun casts various puma shadows around the place. Selvy showed us some photos of the phenomenon and I could vaguely see an animal outline (helps if you squint). One of the rocks has a zigzag passageway in it which is symbolic of an umbilical cord as the site is considered the inside of Mother Earth. There is a cave beneath on of the rocks that was used for mummification ceremonies (see above pic). All very fascinating stuff – the Incas seem to have been a very advanced culture – except for the human sacrifice part.

After lunch we went by bus to Saqsaywamán (pronounced like “sexy woman” but meaning “Satisfied Falcon”). This sprawling site was once used for religious purposes. What we can see today is only 20% of the original structure as the Spanish tore down the walls and used the blocks to build some of their houses and other buildings in Cusco, including the main cathedral. Saqsaywamán consists of three terraces built in a zigzag shape. It took around 40 years to build and was started by the ninth Inca: Inca Pachachutec who envisioned Cusco in the shape of a puma, with Saqsaywamán as the head and the 22 zigzag walls, the teeth.

I thought the most amazing thing about this place was the size of the rocks and the method used to build the walls. I cant fathom how the Incas shaped the stone so that they all fit perfectly together with no need for mortar. There is no gap between the rocks – you cant even fit a nail in there. They even managed to place certain rocks to form animal shapes such as llamas, alpacas, puma paws (not as much imagination needed for this one – see above), guinea pigs, snakes, birds and fish (no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t see the last two. In fact, I am not so sure Incas made these shapes deliberately – tour guides discovered them). I did see as plain as day the shape of a platypus. Apparently I am mistaken, but it would tie in with one tour guides explanation that Eucalypts were introduced to Peru from Australia in the 1600s. Since we weren’t discovered then, aborigines must have rowed seeds over and as a thank you the Incas put a platypus shape into the walls of Saqsaywamán. It turns out a French guy introduced the species (Eucalypts that is, not platypuses) around 1905. The locals use them for building houses as they grow so tall and straight.

Guess what animal shape this is?

The view of Cusco from the top of Saqsaywamán. I don’t see a puma.