Sacsayhuaman, an enormous Inca site, is a shortish walk uphill from Cusco. We spent a morning exploring the ruins and looking ridiculous in the Inca "throne."
The site itself is impressive.
The stonework here is careful and exact, even with stones that sometimes weigh many tons. The trapezoid shape the Inca liked is common, and the walls also have a slight angle inward (from bottom to top) to add stability. Many stones were removed by the Spanish to build Cusco, but you can understand why they didn't take the ones that are several meters tall....
We've heard several different stories about the meanings of the site: its zig-zagging walls (above) may represent lightning, or they may be the teeth of the puma-shape formed by the whole city of Cusco. The three levels (also above) may represent the underworld (snake), earth (puma), and heavens (condor). Some say it was a religious site, some a fortress.
We heard much of this from our guide, who looked quite imposing in the Inca throne.
The beribboned (beyarned?) llamas grazing nearby were also notable.
The most fun part of touring the site is going down the slide, once a play area for Inca children. Unfortunately, although our guide told us to brake with our hands, we weren't paying attention to the verb; Marty may have thought frenar meant "zoom" or something, because he went really fast.
This would have been fine, but he gashed his hand at the bottom. So we had a little medical interlude, in which our worried guide took us over to the red cross tent and Marty got enormous amounts of iodine and bandages put on. (It worked though: healed fast!)
We visited another nearby site, and on the steep walk down to town we were charmed to come across a "camelid demonstration center." This august-sounding institution consisted of a field with a couple of rusting soccer goalposts and three pairs of South American camelids: 2 llamas, 2 vicuñas, and 2 alpacas.
The alpacas almost aren't believable. What other animal looks more like something you'd win playing darts at the county fair?
What's with the yarn on the llamas?
ReplyDeleteIsn't there a similar sort of slide in an SF park? I remember sliding down it on a piece of cardboard when I was a kid.
The yarn on the llamas is partly a distinguishing feature, like a brand, so you know whose they are. But mostly I think it's just decoration.
ReplyDeleteYes, there's a slide like that in SF!