"I'm shakin' the dust of this crummy little town off my feet and I'm gonna see the world." (George Bailey, "It's A Wonderful Life," 1946) (Entry 18, Day 7)

Friday, 31 May, 2013; 9:17 PM; our room, Cuzco

Today was quite interesting - it involved Incan ruins, a slightly awkward sunburn, cool stories, YARN, and alpaca wool.

After breakfast, we went to get tickets/ passes to some of the various ruins around Cuzco.  There was a lot of arguing and confusion over that, with the conclusion being that Mom and I nearly bought the wrong sort of ticket, and Lesley did buy the wrong sort of ticket (more expensive but lasts longer).

After sorting that out, we got a bus running out to Pisac, a village right by some Incan ruins.  The village also has a really good market, but I'll get to that later.

Being the intrepid explorers that we are, we went up to the ruins.  It was a 20-ish minute taxi ride each way.  When we got there, there was some confusion about where the taxi would pick us up, and whether we would at all.  It was all sorted out when one of the guide-type guys - an elderly, tiny man with a cool hat who spoke limited English - came to help translate.  I don't remember his name, but he's actually from a village that is similar to Incan traditions, so he's probably part Incan.  Anyway, his name in his native language translates to something like "sweet heart" or "good heart" or something.

The first thing he showed us was the bathrooms, because we all had to pee.  When we were done, he shoed us a plant that the Incas used to alleviate altitude effects.  He had some oils with him, and he put a few drops on each of our hands and told us to rub them together and smell it.  Apparently it clears out your airways and helps with the flow of oxygen.

(Later, we learned that the plant, Muña, was not as effective as we had been led to believe.  Also, that it was put in the guts of human sacrifices after they were dead.)

We walked a little way before he pointed out the tombs.  The ones for the nobility were actually built up out of the rocks, but the ones for everyone else were just carved into it, with holes as entryways dotting the cliff face.  If the spanglish translation is correct, the Incas could walk up there, something happened to make a lot if inaccessible by foot - a lot of the rock below had fallen away.

(photo cred to Lesley - this is our guide demonstrating how the people were buried)

Commoner tombs

Photo cred to Lesley - nobility tombs

Next we saw a lookout tower, which had a pretty damn good view of the valley - they needed it, because apparently the people there had some enemies that did not appreciate being conquered.

After the lookout tower, we saw the religious quarter.  Though the sun god was the main Incan deity, they also worshiped the moon, stars, mother earth, rain, thunder/ lighting, and rainbows.  Where some cultures sacrifice goats, the Incas sacrificed black llamas.  The roofs of the structures we saw no longer exist, but they were probably thatched and wound around posts to keep them from flying randomly off of the structure.  There were also little niches in the temple walls for the offerings and idols and such.  They also had a functioning aqueduct that ran to a pool for purification, and subsequently ran to irrigate some farms.

That was pretty much the end of the tour.

At the market in Pisac, we ate lunch, then went around for an hour.  I did some haggling for the first time, and got a pair of gloves for James and a kilo of baby Alpaca wool, both for way less than I could have gotten in the US.  (I later realized that the gloves were two left hands - and they're the fingerless-gloves-that-flip-into-mittens kind).

It was kind of a hassle to get back down across the river and back to Cuzco, but we finally found a taxi that would take us for a really good price.

We then spent the next 45 or so minutes getting ourselves a bit lost, but a lot of people in Cuzco are, thankfully, willing to point out where you are and how to get to the plaza you want to get to.  (there are a lot of plazas in Cuzco).

We decided to head back to the hotel rather than go to dinner right at six (we had an open invitation from Ellen and Kim (male), two of Lesley's friends), and we found those two in the hotel - they're staying here for a few nights before we leave for the trek on Sunday. (AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH).

They have a lot of cool stories - Ellen and Kim, I mean.  They travel a lot, since they're both retired, so they've been seriously all over the world.

We went to a Peruvian steakhouse for dinner.  I had shrimp and a mango milkshake and a minor nosebleed, but it all turned out to be fine.  Also, Ellen and Kim's friends from another trek, Charlotte and Owen, were there.

On the way back to the hotel, Ellen told us the way to tell legit Alpaca wool from Acrylic, or any blends therein.  (this was, I guess, one of their Facts of the Day).  What you do to tell the difference is touch the material - if it's cool to the touch it's Alpaca; if it's not, it's synthetic.  When I got back to the room, I double-checked my new wool to make sure it passed the test.  It did, thankfully.

Right, I'm falling asleep with the pen in my hand.  I feel like a granny, and I haven't hit my page count, but I'm going to bed.  I'll take notes in the Inca museum tomorrow.  Or something.  Night.