Take the Tour, People!

Last Friday they didn't have preschool, so I decided it was time to buy my 10 day ticket to see the rest of the ruins in the area. Boy was it a busy 10 days! I decided I needed to do it as cheap as possible, so public transportation it was! I asked a friend that lives here where the bus terminals were to the different places I wanted to visit, and I was on my way! 

My first visit was to Ollantaytambo. I had driven through this cute town on the way to Machu Pichu and was so excited to go back! You can see the ruins as you drive into town, and they are stunning! I ended up taking a tour from one of the guides there, and I'm SO glad I did!! I learned so much! (I even opted to take the tour in Spanish...whoop whoop!) I loved my tour guide too, Yulissa. Some of the things I found most interesting were:

There are PRE-Incan ruins there. 

One section of the town Ollantaytambo, where people actually live, still has the same streets that the Incans had (no cars!) and the bottom half of all the houses are still the original Incan stone while the top half is colonial. 

The rocks for the Sun temple are gigantic! They were also transported onto the top of this hill from a quarry on the other side of the valley. It must have taken forever!

They stored a lot of food there in these buildings that had ventilation to keep the vegetables fresh for a long time. 

They had multiple ways to tell the time of the year. 

It was an AWESOME day! 

The next week on Tuesday I went to Pisac to see the ruins there. I had a guide of sorts...an older man I met on my way back from Ollantaytambo the weekend before. (I'm aware it probably wasn't that great of an idea, but I'm still alive) we walked up to the ruins, and boy was it a hike! The ruins were beautiful. Pisac was beautiful. Ernesto was pretty interesting. I didn't learn a ton about the ruins though...bummer deal. But, here's some photos! 

Wednesday afternoon I finally visited Quoricancha. I walk by it everyday and I finally went inside! It's beautiful! It was the Incans' most important temple, here in their capital Cusco. When the spaniards came they turned it into a monestary and built on dormitory and school rooms. 

Thursday after preschool I hopped on a bus to get me as close as I could to my next destination: Tipon. I just got dropped off on the side of the road and had to walk about an hour til I got to the ruins.  I walked through the actual town Tipon and got to see some pretty farm land. The ruins were beautiful! Once again, no tour, so I didn't learn much, but look at this water system!

I also walked a ways along this canal that is still used. 

Finally, I got to walk over a kilometer on original Inca Trail! So awesome. It was actually kind of a spiritual experience, just me, out in the country, on an Incan trail. I loved it! 

Friday afternoon I finally went up in the Pachacutec Monument. I pass this four times a day coming and going to different places and I'm still in awe at how big it is. I'm quite fond of it. I went around sunset so I could see the view of Cusco in the day and night. Both were great! 

Here's some cool facts about my friend Pachacutec. 

He was the Incan ruler that basically built the empire. 

He lived to be 125 years old and was made ruler when he was 23. That's 22 years of being king! 

He was the mastermind behind Machu Pichu. 

I finished off my ticket on Saturday by visiting Moray and Maras. I went with a tour agency this time. I figure my guardian angels are pretty worn out after all my journeys and slightly dumb decisions down here, haha. Once again, so glad I took the tour! I learned so much! 

Moray was an experimental growing facility. Because the Incan empire varied so much in climate zones (desert, high altitude, and jungle) they designed these circular terraces to be able to imitate each climate in one place. The farther down you go in each terrace, the warmer it gets. The stones heat up and give each terrace a slightly different climate. There were three different circular terraces, but this one is the only one that is being up kept. 

Then we went to the salt mines of Maras. These are actually pre-Incan. There's a place where salt water comes out of the ground and they irrigate it to all of these little reservoirs. When a reservoir has sufficient water they dam it off and wait for the sun to evaporate the water and then they harvest the salt. Today each reservoir is individually owned and the families come and work on the reservoir and harvest the salt and sell it. There were multiple families there working on Saturday. 

I continue to be amazed at the things I'm learning and doing down here. I'm so blessed to have this opportunity to live in this city and not only see the things I do, but be surrounded by and learn from amazing people everyday.