Saturday, Aug. 30, 2003 - 10:55 p.m.
Have Fungus Will Travel
Today the guys and I did a lot of walking and sightseeing. There are 5 Incan Ruins near Cusco, outside the city. We visited 4 of them. First we took a taxi to the futherest one away, Tambo Machay, planning to walk our way back, visiting the ruins one by one.
The first ruin was maybe 8 km beyond Cusco. It was pretty small, built on a hillside. You could see along the walls "insets" of human-sized "doorways" in the rock, probably were idols were placed and very typical of Inca architecture. Also there was a stone bath that fed spring water, it was like a little fountain used in ceremonies, called El bano del Inca. As always, there were also many locals selling their crafts who eagerly approached us as soon as we got out of the cab. Across from the small ruin was a little hill. Just before I climbed it two large tourist buses pulled up and soon about 50 tourists spilled out and invaded the place. I hadn't realized the peaceful serentiy of the ruins until it was no more. From the top of the hill I watched the tourists happilly jabbering to one another in different languages. Also in the distance I could see the next ruin, in close proximity, Puca Pucara.
It only took us about 15 minutes to walk to Puca Pucara. Again, this ruin was small (all of them lacked any signs or interpretation and the description in the guide book was limited to a few sentences each). I walked around the perimeter, this was also built on a hillside, before entering the ruins. It was a nice sunny day as I sat down in the large central area and read the guide book which said this ruin "...looks red in certain light, the name means 'red fort'".
Soon we were trekking to the third ruin, this one was much farther away. It took us a little over an hour to get to. During our walk we were passed by horses-laiden with tourists and also a small parade of dancers in traditional dress with a small band, a great photo op. It was a hot day, the sun beat down on us. My feet started to feel a little agitated.
By the time we arrived in Qenko, my feet were starting to bother me and I realized that my foot fungus was flaring up. Thinking they would flare back down that eve, I didn't worry too much about the fact that we were starting the Inca Trail the next day, but I did stop to rest in the hot midday sun and removed my shoes for a short time to give them a rest and air out. Then I got back into exploring this interesting ruin.
The name Qenko means "zigzag", it at first just looked like a large uneven limestone rock with strange pockets in it. Upon exploring it and discovering an interesting little tunnel, inside carved, smoothes square rocks made it apparent the Incas held religous ceremonies here. The tunnels were carved out by the Incas as well and on top of the rock were some carved steps and two strange ovals jutting out on top of the rock. A rope prevented you from walking on it, obviously some important significance we had no way of knowing without having a guide (inconvenient and expensive).
Lastly we visited the most impressive site of them all, another 15 minute walk away, Sacsayhuaman (pronounced like "sexy woman"). Only a small percentage of the original temple exists now, since the Spanish removed much of the stones to build their own homes in Cusco. The layout of the city was created by te Incas in the shape of a Puma (jaguar) and Sacsayhuaman with it's zigzagged walls makes up the teeth of the Puma. The temple also is part of the cat's head. A large circular stone outlined the eye, a huge uneven hill of a rockis also the head. Some of the rocks were so large, the largest Ross and James said were like the size of the rocks in Stonehenge. Many local families were picnicking around and in the ruin site. Some kids flew kites. In the eye of the Puma (a large circular arena with a stone wall outlining it), we discovered a cave. James and I went inside. It was very narrow and quickly became completely dark. I thought it ended but some locals came by with a light on their video camera. We followed them and found it continued maybe another 20 or 30 feet, winding left and right and finally came out to a place not far beyond the Puma's eye.
We also checked out the area beyond the jagged teeth, the zigzagging walls of the ruin to the edge of the hill, and looked down on the valley and city below. I listened to the city noises; atino music, some cars, a tinkling bell, and dogs barking.
By the time we took a cab from this last ruin into town my feet were hurting a lot and I was limping. The fungus on my feet had thrived in the heat of the day, and the constant walking. I started to worry at this point, knowing I'd have problems on the Inca trail. It was too late to cancel at this point.
