Cuzco & Surrounds

I like Cusco, or is is Cuzco. Interesting, spell check says the former is incorrect, whilst Wikipedia says the latter. Who knows what’s true any more?

Anyway, it’s a great place to spend a few days (weeks if you have them) exploring the Incan sites that are all around here. One of the first sites I visited was Santa Domingo, the Dominican cathedral, which was built on top of the Palace of the Sun. Maaike, who has been in Cuzco before and already visited, opted out of this one. The cathedrals & museums aren’t cheap to visit.

The masonry work is incredible. It’s hard to describe really, but they’re just huge blocks and perfectly perfectly placed together, with no mortar. Incredible. I think my overall feeling was one of sadness that one of the main Incan temples had been nuked to create another Cathedral. It must have been incredibly impressive in its time, as a lot of the surfaces would have been covered in gold sheets!

We also visited La Merced, a convent. It certainly had an attractive cloisters, and showcased a monstrance with the second largest pearl in the world and (thousands?) of diamonds, some emeralds, rubies etc. (no pictures allowed) There certainly was wealth in Cuzco that’s for sure.

Another day we took a local bus (2 soles) to Tambomachay, another site just a few km up the hill from the city centre, and then walked back to town visiting other sites along the way. They’re not super sure of the exact use of the place, but possibly a thermal spa crossed with military outpost. Not a lot of information about the place unfortunately.

Just down the road from Tambomachay was Puca Pucará, another site overlooking the approach to Cuzco. Most likely purely used for military purposes, and they reckon built in somewhat of a rush, as the stonework isn’t as amazing as some of the other sites.

Again on down the road to the ‘Temple of the Moon’. I really wished there was more information about these sites, hey ho. Get a guide.. that’s my advice. I did find the Tupuy app which is a sort of self-guided-audio-guide, but I hadn’t found it until later on in the trip. It certainly wasn’t a great guide, but it is better than nothing.

Next to Quenco. It’s believed to be a place where sacrifices and mummification took place. I thought I overheard someone talking about it in referenced to Stonehenge too.. again, get a guide (if you’re rich!) Still, one gets a feel for the place.

Definitely the highlight was Saksaywaman (pronounced “sexy woman”). A site dating back to 900AD (pre Inca). Certainly a fortification, and also for ceremonial activities. A huge amount of it has been destroyed by the Spanish, who used the stones in their own buildings. Again, the masonry is amazing. They reckon one technique for breaking up the stones was that they’d find a seam, drill in a small hole, put a dry stick in it, and then soak the stick. The stick would then expand and crack the rock along the seam, and then it would be carved into its final shape.

We did get a guide for Saksaywaman, well worth it. He said it had taken 20,000 people 70 years to make it. He pointed out a lot of “animal” shapes in the rocks & cracks. For example, here you can a guinea pig, a snake, and the puma’s paw! I did wonder how much was real. The ziz-zag shape of the fortification, we were told, was to represent lightning. Decent acoustics too as it was used for large gatherings.

All in all, I’d very happily recommend Cuzco. You could easily spend 2-3 weeks in the area exploring.