Dusti exits a cave underneath the fortress of Pukapukara.
During our first full day we visited four places with odd-sounding names — Tambomachay, Pukapukara, Q’enko, and Sacsaywaman – which after the visits became identified with different Incan purposes, designs, construction styles, and histories. After a late lunch we then returned to our hotel for a concert by a duo of musicians using ancient and modern Andean instruments. By late afternoon we were off in the bus again, but this time to two small, rural communities outside Cusco — Lucre and Huacarpay – where we will spend two nights with Peruvian Mennonite families.
Grimaldo, our guide, explains how the Incas laid out Cusco streets in the form of a puma laying down.Tambomachay was an Incan temple to water.Even short climbs made us really winded at this altitude.Students take notes for the quiz coming at the trip’s end.Dusti exits a cave underneath the fortress of Pukapukara.Pukapukara was also a warehouse and resting place along an Incan road.Q’enko had an astronomical observatory above the rocks, on right, and …… a narrow passage that led to a mummification cave.The flat surface was an altar, and the upright square hole at left was a cool, dry place for mummification.As Sacsaywaman we stand in the middle of the ruins of a large circular water reservoir.Vanessa, Meghan and Dusti enjoy a natural slide at 6 Flags Over Sacsaywaman.The 3 massive stone walls at the Sacsaywaman temple were originally twice as high, before the Spanish used the site as a stone quarry for their own buildings.During an Incan rebellion the Conquistadores built ladders, where we stand, to scale the 3 walls of Sacsaywaman, which the Incas had converted to a fortress.Some of the wall stones weigh more than 100 tons.Doug imitates a common student hand gesture, although he has no clue what it means.He understands this gesture, which means, “I want to get a tan on my palms.”3 students collaborate to make an entire sentence with their hand gestures.Amaru and Miguel played a wide variety of songs using the pan flutes and other instruments.Miguel shows how to play two wind instruments at once.They said this is only the second time a GC group has sung a hymn for them, and we sounded the best!And then dancing followed.Mark gets a pan flute lesson from a master.Then Mark and Rowan gave us a small performance.
