Machu Picchu!

We were finally able to make it to Cusco! I have to make a HUGE shout-out to our University here, UPC, and to UNK because when we had to cancel our original trip to Cusco, due to the threat the US Embassy received, we only received about $300 total from the hotels, airlines, etc. We all would have had to pay about $600 each to go to Cusco. But UPC and UNK split the cost so we could all go without having to pay for our trip again.

We arrived in Cusco and went strait to our hotel to take a nap and acclimate to the altitude. We all took pills to help us with the altitude, except Maria who is a champ and has a body of steel against anything and everything. After a light lunch we went on a half day city tour of Cusco. We went to the convent, church, and some ruins close to town. It was really interesting to hear about all the history between the Incans and the Spaniards when they invaded. We weren't able to take pictures in the church, which was a shame, because it was beautiful. A funny aspect that I saw in a painting of the Last Supper at the church was for the Last Supper the 12 apostles were eating Guinea Pig! This weekend for Easter, Guinea Pig is the main dish for families in Cusco. It was also interesting to see how the Incans would create and paint the Spaniards descriptions of Christianity. (Keep in mind that the Incans speak Quechua and the Spaniards well speak Spanish... and the Incans believed in Mother Earth, not God, so they had no idea what Christianity was.) The angels that the Incans painted looked like babies with colorful parrot wings, and the painting of Judas had features of a Spaniard who was taking over the city and was extremely mean to the citizens of Cusco, the Incans related the Spaniards descriptions to things that they knew.

The city of Cusco through doors of the Convent. 

Our group in front of Saqsaywaman (pronounced Sexy Woman) it is translated to Puma Head.  Every aspect of Incan Life integrated the Puma, Condor, and Snake. The Condor symbolized what we call Heaven, Puma is Earth, and the Snake is our equivalent to Hell.

The second day we went to Machu Picchu!! Since it is currently the rainy season they shut down part of the train tracks in the valley due to land slides, so we had to take a bus from Cusco to the next train station. The train ride to Machu Picchu was beautiful! Which made it hard to sleep, since we were all tired from waking up early.

We ended up making it to Machu Picchu Pueblo about an hour late due to the train taking a lot of stops. Once we got to Machu Picchu our tour guide was trying to go as fast as he could since we didn't have as much time as we had hoped. But it was still amazing!! The view of Machu Picchu was breath taking and some day I definitely want to hike the Incan Trail from Cusco to Machu Picchu. 

Machu Picchu!! Can you see the face in the rocks behind Machu Picchu?

I think the most interesting thing about Machu Picchu and surrounding ruins is that everything has a purpose and everything is extremely precise. Some random things I remember is they knew that rain running off the roofs of the huts ruined the foundation of the building so they would put rocks around the building to help reinforce and then there would be a ditch around the building. They also had a rock that pointed directly South to the Southern Cross (the Southern Hemisphere's Northern Star) and the other points of the rock pointed North, East and West. In their Sun Temple on June 25 (Their Winter Solstice, our Summer Solstice) The sun shines directly through the window in the temple. I also learned that Machu Picchu is unfinished; before they were able to finish it everyone died from disease that the Spaniards brought. But luckily the Spaniards never found Machu Picchu to ruin it, like most of the other ruins and buildings in the area.

A Condor! The largest flying bird on the Earth, and it flew right over our heads. This one is 60 years old.

 The third day we went to an animal rehabilitation center. We were able to see parrots, llamas, pumas, condors and some other animals. Since my grandma taught me to spin wool, weave, knit, etc. I thought this lady was pretty neat! They don't kill any llamas or alpacas for the items they make and sell at the rehab center, and only use wool or hides from animals that were already dead. They showed us what they use to spin wool, and it's very tiny so it wouldn't be a fast process, but good for traveling and something to do while walking. I'd rather use my spinning wheel though... Then they showed us a lot of the minerals and items they use for dying the wool and the drying rack of all the colors. This lady was weaving, and just like in the USA and with our Native Americans all groups of Incans have their own symbols. After watching this process, I would rather do it on my loom at home, seems a little easier and quicker! My mission for the next time I'm in Cusco is to see if I can buy a bag of wool so I can do the whole process myself at home!

Weaving

Peruvian Dog... Probably one of the ugliest dogs ever... They are hairless (which is good for the heat) and only have some hair on their tail and a mohawk on their heads. I haven't been able to figure our where to pet them yet. I have heard they have really sweet personalities though.

After the rehab center we drove through the sacred valley where they grow a lot of corn, because it is at the perfect altitude and climate for growing corn. It was definitely nice to see some corn fields again! While we were at our next ruins Whitney and I decided to buy some corn on the cob for s/2.5 (about $1.00) It's the first time I had eaten the peruvian corn without it being fried and it was really good! The lady served it with a slice of cheese that I declined and thought it would be interesting to eat without butter or salt, but the lady offered me salt to put on. The corn tasted delicious!! And since I was starting to feel a little sick, it was something light and healthy to eat.

Peruvian corn, the kernels are huge but it's very yummy! The taste is not as sweet as our sweet corn,  maybe a half way mix between field corn and sweet corn.

The rest of the day I was really sick. Which was definitely a bummer but at least the only thing I didn't get to enjoy to the fullest was our buffet lunch and another ruin with 204 stairs. I walked up about a fourth of the way and decided that was enough and I might puke so I walked back down and looked at the ruins on the ground while the rest of my group hiked to the top. After that I got to sit on a 2 hour bus ride back to Cusco, which was a lot of fun... I got motion sickness on top of my other sickness. At least I survived and right when we got to the hotel I puked. I stayed in my room the rest of the night and got a late checkout the next morning, stayed in the hotel while everyone else toured the town and bought some souvenirs. The only positive aspect to being sick was I didn't have to spend money on food since I didn't eat anything! I can't wait to go back to Cusco with my parents and enjoy more of the city (hopefully without getting sick!). Happy Easter Weekend to everyone!