Tambomachay

Wes and Julie at lookout point above Tambomacay

For our last day in Peru, we had booked Gate 1's optional Half Day Ancient Cuzco Ruins excursion before leaving home.  After a full day to explore the city on our own, we were happy to have our guides Adriel and John Claude lead the way on this bus tour.  They opted against following the itinerary outlined in the trip summary, instead reversing the order in which we visited the ruins so that the final ruin would be the most significant, Saqsaywaman, which you may recall was the head of the puma for the body that was Cusco.

Our first stop was Tambomachay. where we hiked along the ancient start of the original Inca Trail to an area of aqueducts and fountains. The location definitely would have made a strategic lookout post for the city below, but the water features make it seem like a spa of sorts.  Adriel said that the water cascading down was considered to be healing, and possibly this would have been seen as a fountain of youth.  The source of the water is mysterious, or so Adriel said, and it flows constantly.  It's interesting to note the Roman-style aqueducts, which once again brought my mind to consider a possible link to that distant empire.



Aqueduct and Fountains from above

Not long ago, travelers had the opportunity to touch the water and test its healing properties personally, but as happens with tourists at beautiful spots, some abused the privilege, choosing to take baths and splash around like it was their backyard pool instead of an archaeological site to be appreciated in a more subtle fashion.  As a result, the monument is roped off so that visitors cannot climb around it or touch the water.  There's certainly nothing wrong with water parks, but this obviously shouldn't have been interpreted to be like the pool area of a Carnival ship. 

Lookout Point by Fountains at Tambomachay

We've all been ashamed to see how graffiti "artists" piss on the walls of Rome and Venezia to apparently mark their territory like leg-hiking dogs, and I should note that Peru has done a very good job stopping this, or at least cleaning it up.

I personally would guess that Tambomachay was also the first attraction of a long journey to Machu Picchu, possibly a place for purification before beginning a sacred pilgrimage.