Saksaywaman (Saqsayhuaman)

As with many of the other cities of Peru, Saksaywaman has many alternative spellings, but most tourists refer to it as "Sexy Woman."  In the Quechua language of the Incas, Saksaywaman means "satisfied falcon."  It sits high above the city of Cusco, like a falcon's aerie in the perfect strategic position to protect the city below.

It was at one time a huge fortress, built in a manner similar to concentric castles of the middle ages in Europe, allowing the defenders to withdraw within the next inner sanctum when one wall was breached.  The inner walls and towers were terraced onto higher ground than the outer wall.

The longest of its walls measures about 450 yards, and it is built of massive Andesite boulders, some weighing 150 to 200 tons each, according to experts.  It makes anyone wonder how primitive people could have possibly smoothed and fit such huge stones together so perfectly that a piece of paper could not slide through the joints between stones, and all without benefit metal tools, much less jackhammers, pneumatic saws or lasers.  Even moving them into position would seem to have been impossible without modern motorized cranes.

Unfortunately, the walls no longer stand nearly as high as they once did, as the Conquistadors forced their Andean labor to drag the boulder blocks down to Cusco, over a mile away, to be used in rebuilding the city to Spanish architectural standards.  While it may sound like archaeological sacrilege to have destroyed such an amazing fortress, the Conquistadors had their reasons.

After the Siege of Cusco, in which Manco II parlayed his victory at Ollantaytambo with a nearly successful 10-month campaign to re-take Cusco using Saksaywaman as his headquarters, the Spaniards acted decisively to ensure the fortress could never be utilized for such purposes again by systematically dismantling it piece by piece.  We're fortunate that apparently some of the blocks were too big to move, although perhaps someone recognized the historical significance and left the ruins behind intentionally for posterity, once its practical function as a fortress had been laid waste.

Llamas that freely roam the impressive grounds don't seem to mind sharing their home with tourists snapping photos. 

Q'enqo

"In the rain forests of Peru, an ancient manuscript has been discovered.  Within its pages are 9 key insights into life itself - insights each human being is predicted to grasp sequentially, one insight after another, as we move toward a completely spiritual culture on Earth." 

 

A growing number of people believe a pre-Columbian paradise existed for indigenous people of the Americas.  They believe that before Europeans arrived, North and South America nurtured Gardens of Eden where hunter gatherers lived in harmony with nature and in peace with neighboring tribes.

Trail from Cuzco

In Peru, the Incas had reached the First Wave of civilization, the development of agriculture, so they were no longer a nomadic culture depending on migration to find food.  Among their advanced techniques were irrigation and the terracing of steep mountainsides into tillable tiers like we saw at Ollantaytambo and Machu Picchu.  With their system of roads that crisscrossed the empire, connecting mountains to jungles, they instigated trade routes which fostered a type of specialization of resources and labor that increased overall prosperity.

To bring about this trade network, however, the Incas had militarily conquered their neighbors with battles and threats of violence, and some consider their subjects working together in their local tribes to produce their crops or craftworks to have been little better off than slaves.  They had a somewhat utopian approach similar to the Marxist credo, "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need," within their own regions, but like the Russian Politboro under the communist system of the USSR developed centuries later, the Inca rulers definitely enjoyed a more privileged lifestyle than their subjects, who paid their rulers 10% of their total production.

I would surmise that the Incas probably earned their tax by increasing the overall economy through their trade network, and the attitude of the tribes may have been like Scottish clans, where the sharing may have been just as compulsory as for USSR satellite states but with at least a more pronounced illusion of freedom and tribal autonomy.

Even today, Peruvian farmers in the Andes like our guide Adriel's family, have a similar tribal commune system.  Adriel and his ten siblings all abandoned the farm to pursue the potential greater prosperity of the city, and the communal land they farmed is now worked by a different family.  Productively using the land essentially dictates ownership, and apparently these mountain farmers manage to work within that system.

The farming tools of the Incas were primitive, because that civilization had not reached an age of forging any metals into useful tools for any purpose.  They apparently even used harder rock hammers to smooth huge boulders that could be fit together perfectly without mortar in order to construct their massive rock temples and fortresses.  How impressive it is that these structures were built when they still literally lived in the Stone Age, as opposed to the Bronze or Iron Age?

And the sad truth is that native Americans frequently treated each other and the environment as brutally as their European conquerors, and possibly more so. 



Q'enqo

Before the birth of Christianity, the Bible speaks of blood sacrifices to appease God.  Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice, crucified for the "sins of the whole world," and thank God we Christians need not be involved in such blood thirsty rituals. 

Despite some obvious virtues, the Incas were not flower children living in the Garden of Eden.  They were primitive pagans who practiced blood sacrifice of llamas and other animals on a regular basis.  Human sacrifice was required to appease dozens of gods and to accompany to the afterlife Inca rulers when they died.  There were two major ceremonies requiring human sacrifice.

"Itu" was conducted at times of great joy, such as a royal marriage, or due to a disaster like an earthquake or epidemic, hoping to escape that doom with blood offerings. 

"Qhapaq Ucha" was to worship Inti, the sun god, and Wiraqocha, the creator, also reinforcing the belief in the lineage of Inca leaders to the gods from whom they received their right to rule.  These were drunken celebrations that continued for many days.

A boy and girl child were brought from cities throughout the kingdom to Huaycaypata, the central plaza in Cuzco that now bears the Spanish name Plaza de Armas, to participate.  The children would parade around in fine clothes of the colors associated with their home regions, as if they were married couples.  The Hunger Games comes to mind, although it seems these Inca children were only about ten years old and didn't have a chance to possibly win and move to Victors' Village.

Outdoor Altar at Q'enqo

In Quechuan, the native tongue of Peru, Q'osco (usually spelled Cusco or Cuzco) means "Navel of the World," a fitting title for the city from which the Inca Empire grew.  From this navel, the celebration spread to the four quarters of the kingdom as priests led processions in four directions, until they reached markers 500 leagues (about 1250 miles) away, which was considered the edge of civilization.  Because Cuzco is less than 300 miles from the Pacific Ocean to the west or south, these could not have been the four cardinal directions in which the parties departed, but they were direct routes straight over natural barriers like mountains and ravines which would pass holy places called "wak'as." 

As the parties continued through regions, local people would bring treasures like objects made of gold, silver and shells for the Inca rulers, who traveled on the royal road and would meet up with the devotees at shrines.  At the most "exalted" locations, children would be sacrificed. 

Q'enqo was the largest of the wak'as in the Cuzco region.  It is only about 4 miles from Cuzco (which undoubtedly seems a lot further when walking uphill over rocky terrain), so you can imagine how many stops must have been made to sacrifice children and collect donations. 

Sacrifice Altar is cold to the touch

Q'enqo means zigzag in Quechuan, and the site is a labyrinth of carved tunnels within natural rock formations.  There is a flat slab of stone where animals and humans were sacrificed.  The stone table in a dark cave is always ice cold, even when it is blazing hot outside.

Observing human sacrifice for these specific celebrations or to please random pagan gods on other occasions would certainly have been as appalling to the Spanish Catholics in the 1500s as to our civilized world 500 years later, and most of us would agree that nothing could justify such brutality.  For me, that puts Catholic saving of souls into a more practical and humane perspective.

A long time ago I read a James Michener novel in which he spoke of the Mesoamerican hero of a soccer-like game being sacrificed to the gods, so that the young man could go to paradise at the peak of his earthly life as a fit offering.  Similarly, the Incas sacrificed their most beautiful children believing they were being delivered to the gods to live in the afterlife.  It was considered an honor.

At Q'enqo, there's also another type of zigzag, carved crevices in a stone where oracles would pour a liquid (some say chicha or holy water, but I would guess most likely blood) and predict the future based on which path it took.  Possibly these oracles, in a manner similar to fortunetellers in other places and times, made vague predictions about a great emerging empire that the Inca assumed must portend their victory over the pitiful 168 Conquistadors rather than the imminent doom of the Inca Empire.

In the 21st Century, many would like to believe in a perfect world that existed before the arrival of the "white man," but the truth must be told.

The quote at the top of this page is from the cover of The Celestine Prophecy, a novel that I happened to find in the used book section of the library.  Having just returned from Peru, the quote piqued my curiosity, especially since an old friend had several times recommended the book to me.  To say the author, James Redfield, takes liberties with history is a considerable understatement, but he does make some interesting, thought-provoking conjectures.

In essence, he advances the idea that we each come into this world to a unique set of circumstances in order to learn what is necessary to advance the evolution of the world.  We select our parents before birth and grow essentially to be the average of our two parents in some ways and a counterbalancing force to them in others, and then we progressively follow seemingly coincidental introduction to people and circumstances to evolve into a higher state of consciousness that advances all of humanity.

It is potentially the never-ending improvement of humanity and civilization.  Rather than believing the best is behind us, we should appreciate how far we have come and optimistically move into the future.



Should I mention that Redfield makes a rather huge leap at one point in The Celestine Prophecy to say the Mayans (for some reason he has them in the jungles of Peru) had become so in tune with the cosmic vibrations that they had vanished into a higher consciousness, leaving places like Machu Picchu completely deserted?  Nah.

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. 

Cusco

La Catedral on Plaza de Armas in Cusco

2011 Inca Sculputre Atop 19th Century Fountain

The Incas laid out Cusco in the shape of a puma, with the head of the puma in Saqsayhuaman, which we would be touring with Gate 1 on our second day in Cusco.  Our hotel was at the point of the puma's tail, so we could follow the outline of the tail on either of two Inca pathways from our hotel to the body of the city.  Cusco was obviously a planned community, which my oldest daughter Gina would undoubtedly note to be a very walkable environment encouraging a healthy lifestyle.  The puma represents the life of men on earth as one of three important totems in Inca lore.  The others, the snake and condor, represent the underworld and upper world, respectively.  While modern urban sprawl has since expanded Cusco beyond its original shape, from the air it would have looked like a puma during the prime of Inca civilization, fitting for the capital of their earthly empire.  While UFO theorists would claim this to be proof of ancient aliens who previously settled on earth advertising to ETs in flying saucers zooming through the atmosphere (possibly for some pre-historic Motel Puma), more rational minds (like Julie's) point out that the shape could also be seen entering the valley from surrounding mountaintops.

 

Inca Wall in Cusco

Most of the original Inca structures were knocked down and replaced by the Spanish, who found Inca stone buildings to be primitive.  However, the Inca's perfectly fitted stones, which not requiring mortar could move slightly to withstand jolts to allow the structure to remain relatively in tact rather than in rubble was particularly suited for the high levels of seismic activity found in much of Peru, including Cusco.  Spanish builders apparently recognized the strength of these Inca walls, because they frequently kept them as foundations for their Moorish-influenced European-style structures.  Spanish colonial architecture certainly has its own beauty, but anyone visiting Cusco will be amazed by how Inca builders could plane natural stones smooth enough to fit together as a strong structure without mortar, despite having nothing but harder rocks as tools.

Plaza de Armas

Whether traveling or at home, I like to get an early start on the day, not wanting to delay the promise of another beautiful morning.  I headed down to the lobby of our modern hotel and checked the internet on the free Wi-Fi.  The best way to check voice mail when out of the country is to use Skype Pro, and I find surprisingly few messages considering the number of telemarketing calls I normally receive.  As you know, the internet will eat up your entire life if you give it a chance, so I'm happy that Julie tore me away to head into the buffet breakfast, which was included daily with our tour.  There were optional tours available through Gate 1 that day, and most of the others at breakfast were on their way to morning tours.  The buffet spread included plenty of delicious choices.  With the meal I drank delicious local tea, as I did each morning in Peru, because the coffee tended to be instant Nescafe and the juice being more of a thick nectar that didn't suit my tastes.  Rather than joining a tour, Julie and I wanted to explore Cusco on our own, beginning with a walk to the central plaza to attend Mass at the beautiful Catedral de Santo Domingo.

Fountain near our hotel.

The cathedral site on the central plaza had once held the Inca temple, Kiswarkancha, which the Conquistadors razed to make room to build their Gothic Renaissance cathedral.  Spanish priests and architects directed Inca laborers for 95 years to complete this World Heritage site in 1654.  In many ways, this massive church reminded me of a darker version of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, but with artwork of colonial South America rather than European masters.  A gigantic painting of the Last Supper shows Jesus and his disciples feasting on guinea pig.  Much of the silver and gold "liberated" from the Inca Empire apparently found its way into this beautiful church, and it was not the only massive church on the square, much less in the city.  Obviously, saving souls in the New World proved to yield huge profits for the Catholic Church, whose current Pope should perhaps look to these palaces present throughout the world which are filled with valuable art, if he truly wishes to redistribute wealth.  After all, it is always easy to share somebody else's wealth (some call it theft), and the true test of charity is sharing what you have earned yourself of your own free will.

Diet Inca Cola

After Mass, we went back to the hotel to change into shorts and t-shirts before heading back to Plaza de Armas, where we randomly selected a second floor balcony table at Papillon for lunch, with the promise of free Pisco Sours by the restaurant's street representative sealing the deal.  The restaurant has a beautiful view of the plaza and surrounding area, and the service was friendly.  On this visit, we split a pizza, which I can't say tasted like pizza in the USA or Italy but was tasty in its own way.  Julie found comfort in a Coca Cola Lite, but I went native with an Inca Cola Zero, which tastes very much like Bazooka Bubble Gum.  My sister and Louise Delaney would have liked this when they were bubble-popping tweens.  When Gina, who visited Cusco on a health study in the region, responded to Julie's facebook photo of IKZ exclaiming, "I didn't realize they had a diet version!"

View from Papillon restaurant

We enjoyed Papillon so much that we returned the next day after our excursion for a late lunch, and based on our recommendation, several others from our group were also sitting on the balcony of the handsome restaurant along with us.  We splurged for full meals this time, and my Urubamba trout was  excellent.  We also ventured to another balcony café catty-corner from Papillon in the late afternoon of our first day for a happy-hour-time drink (Cusqueña Negra for me and Bailey's Coffee for Julie), and the view was great from that angle too.

Julie with natives in traditional clothing.

Plaza de Armas (literally "Weapons' Square") is a name assigned to central squares in Hispanic American cities, including what had once been a larger plaza called Huacaypata by the Incas.  It had been the cultural center of the Inca Empire, fittingly located in the heart of the puma shape that is Cusco, their capital city.  It was used for formal festivals and more casual gatherings.  The first Inca, Manco Cupac, migrated from Isla del Sol in Lake Titicaca and founded Cusco around the twelfth century. Legend further says he threw his golden staff on the ground, and when it was swallowed up by the earth, he knew the land would be fertile, as the sun god Inti had prophesied, making it his ideal new homeland.



Inca inspired doorway

It is from the heart of Cusco that the Inca Empire gradually grew to encompass the Sacred Valley and the area all the way to Lake Titicaca, before gaining momentum under Pachacutec and eventually capturing all  lands from Central Chile to Columbia, with parts of Bolivia, Argentina and Ecuador.  In 1572, the last Inca ruler, Tupac Amura, was executed by beheading in this plaza, and the Spanish would rule Peru for centuries.  About 200 years later, however, Jose Gabriel Tupac Amaru, who claimed to be a direct descendent of Tupac Amaru, rose to prominence as the Marquis of Oropesa, a noble title which gave him some political power in the Spanish colonial government.

View from Balcony of Plaza Coffee Cafe

 

While he also had Spanish ancestors, Tupac Amaru II, as he came to be known, obviously did not identify with being a citizen of Spain.  He led a native revolution, which failed, and like his great, great, great-grandfather, he was beheaded in a public spectacle at Plaza de Armas.  Before what the Spanish must have considered that symbolic end, however, he had his arms and legs tied to horses that ran in opposite directions.  It's hard to believe such barbarism took place in this beautiful, serene plaza.





Even sneakers had artistic flair

While this is a bit off the topic, approximately 200 years after Tupac Amaru II's excruciating execution, a baby was born in East Harlem, New York. His parents were Black Panthers.  His mother, who had been acquitted in her ninth month of pregnancy of 150 counts of conspiracy against the government of the United States and New York City landmarks, was so inspired by the stories of these last Incas that she gave her son the name Tupac Amaru Shakur. He was raised among Black Panther revolutionaries and became a rapper also known as 2Pac.  Tupac Shakur sold 75 million records and became an American success story.  However, the thug culture lifestyle that he glamorized and rode to his fame came back to haunt him in 1996, when he was gunned down in a drive by shooting in Las Vegas.  While I'm not in the habit of advising baby names, I would leave Tupac Amaru off the table, as it seems to lead to violent ends.




Inca Stones

Cusco today, on the other hand, does not seem to be a violent place.  We never felt any danger walking the streets among pleasantly countenanced locals.  There are police stationed at many city corners, and a fan of the Beatles song Lovely Rita Meter Maid must be in charge of the assignments, because the most beautiful Peruvian women seemed to hold these positions.  The Spanish colonial architecture, by the way, is also beautiful, which is something sometimes overlooked in complaints about destruction of the Inca structures they replaced and praise of the phenomenal ability of Incas to perfectly fit stones together into walls before the invention of power tools, much less lasers.  It is not a wealthy city, but the people seem content.  On a narrow road with Inca walls on each side, four children played a kicking game with an empty plastic bottle, perfectly happy to enjoy the sunny day without needing the latest video game or Chinese-manufactured toy.  Other than that faux ball, we saw nothing I would call trash in this very clean city.  We went to Peru to experience Machu Picchu, but we found we also really appreciated and enjoyed Cusco.

Huge Mosaic Tile Picture of Cusco

Point of the Puma's Tail in Cusco

Alley where kids played bottle soccer

Valentina Restaurant

Drinks and snacks at Valentina

Pub we planned to visit but was closed on Sunday.



 Catedral, with Papillon at far end of block on same side.