Cusco!!

Disclaimer for Gramps: please sit down before reading the following post because it contains a wake up call you wouldn't believe would have been possible for me, don't want you to pass out standing up heheh

That's right folks, after a measly two hours of sleep I received a wake up call for our flight to Cusco at FOUR AM. As you all know, I'm no where near a morning person....but thanks to this trip, I've found that I'm basically nonfunctional that early in the morning. Which is exactly why I walked into the MENS bathroom at the airport at 5 am and was self righteously affronted by these men who dared to enter the women's bathroom. That is...until one guy kindly pointed out that I had walked into the men's washroom and mine was next door. as if that wasn't bad enough I came face to face with the very same guy not even 20 minutes later when he checked my tickets in security. Oh yeah, he totally remembered and busted out laughing. Why me?! Moral of the story? Don't wake me up before at least eight hours of beauty sleep! Never am I ever getting up that early for a flight again...that is until I have to leave Cusco on Wednesday.

We flew in and immediately noticed that the Inti Raymi festival had begun, everyone was dressed up in fancy costumes, there were parades down the streets, fantastical mischievous characters that ran among the crowd scaring people (yes I even saw the dude coming my way and he still managed to catch me unaware! Need to up my ninja skills), and this HUGE statue of Santo Santiago. Which was so funny because the last time I was in a Spanish speaking country,  the Camino De Santiago was going on and that's a whole rite of passage honoring him! What a coincidence right? Most of the morning was spent wandering the streets of Cusco and checking out all the different types of decorations, including towering paper mache figures and banners everywhere!

Then we drove out about an hours way and it was so weird because it was like we were traveling back in time. We started with a visit to the San Pedro Apóstol de Andahuaylillas which is a Catholic Church built on top of Incan temple ruins. Unfortunately no photos are allowed at all, so you guys will have to google it. But it was amazing because the entire cathedral was painted, literally from floor to ceiling (including the actual ceiling) then there were huge wall to wall paintings hanging over the murals, and the on top of that at least half the church had pure gold structures for decoration hosting a million different statues inside. I could have spent all day in there and still have missed something. What really got me the most was that it was done so long ago that the paints were made only from natural plants and such, without the more advanced paints or preservatives, and yet the images were all there almost perfectly in tact!

Then we went to Inca Ruins (dates around the 1400s) and omg they were soo cool! The Incas were known for creating an advanced hydraulic system that took water from springs and used channels to split them off over acres of land. The ruin we went to had what was left of a temple to their water goddess, multiple ritual baths, and even a house for some important governor or something like that. Legend says that the water is sacred there and like a fountain of youth, so if you drink it, it'll be like you're ten years younger! Other people were drinking it but I was like, mmmm no thank you, 10 years ago I was 13, and no one wants to go through that again!

Then we went to this wall that used to be the old pre-Incan channels and defense. When the Incas discovered the land they noticed the prebuilt walls and decided that they had to leave something to tell future generations that the Incas were here too. So basically they one upped the pre-Incas by building next to their wall with bigger stones and better structuring (which means they made pegs and holes in the rocks so they fit together and were harder to wear or even break down). It was super crazy to see what 300 years of evolution looked like right next to each other! 

We then went to pre-Inca ruins which were probably a military base. Do you see what I mean about my day kind of traveling backwards through time? Anyways by this point my appreciate for rocks has reached its peak. But don't worry I still climbed the million and one steps it took to walk among what was left of the houses from that time! (Dated around the 1100s). Let me tell you something, Led Zepplin got it all wrong when he sang stairway to heaven, because there better be an elevator there or I'm not going! After taking 38282539592726382 stairs all day to walk around, these Incas were either really fit or loved torturing their people because my legs are burning!! If you think I'm exaggerating I'm definitely not, you see we pay $30 dollars per class to go to places like crossfit to do EXACTLY what these Incas we're doing for free 900 years ago. They were the original crossfit people: box jumps, stair master, and weight lifting included when you moved into their territory!

Afterwards, our driver Juan Pablo, who also is an expert in the area after having moved here for secondary school, invited us to his home where I drank "mate de coca" for the first time. It's supposed to help curb altitude sickness so everyone drinks it here, but let me tell you it was not a pleasant experience. Think of bitter kale and plucking random leaves and making a tea out of it. No thank you! (and before you start with me drinking my white sage water, at least that leaf tastes good!) We met his family and obviously I became besties with his two kids who are five and four. Thanks to them I now know a bunch of new phrases like "cheater, cheater" and "I win, you lose"....looks like some things are universal no matter where in the world you are. 

Tomorrow is the big Inti Raymi ceremony that includes three historical reenactments of how the Incas used to celebrate, worship, and give offerings to the sun god. I sent in my application to be one of the sacrifices but apparently had already chosen them this year, however if one of them gets cold feet I volunteer as tribute!! I mean who wouldn't want to jump down a volcano? Juuusssttt kidding...

Love you all!!

Carolyn