Cusco [Q'enko, Sacsayhuaman, 12 sided stone], Sillustani (Chulpas), [Uros Islands (12500 ft.) & Taquile Island (12900 ft.)]

Okay, so this entry is LONG. It includes our last day in Cusco (4-18-07) until we flew to Puno and then headed to Sillustani. That evening Garth and I booked out trip to the Uros Islands/Taquile while Mom & Dad booked their Uros Island trip for Friday and made arrangements to go to Bolivia (Tiahuanaco) on Thursday.

Cusco

Here is us getting ready to leave the hotel in Cusco-Terra Andina.

Where we had breakfast every morning in the Terra Andina.

The beautiful balcony with its carvings and beautiful ceiling.

Sacsayhuaman:

I don't know if you can tell-here is an example of how incredibly tight these rocks fit together!

A HUGE rock! My understanding is that we still have no idea how these rocks were moved.

Here is an example of the size of the rocks and the fact that the "little" rocks were added later (At the top). These happened much, much later-either by the Spanish or recently to fill in the gaps so tourists don't fall in. ;-)

I am 5'2"-as you can tell this rock is significantly taller!

Garth and Mom & Dad Isom in a doorway-I took this shot pretty quick. I liked it!

Not the best picture of me by any means, but an example of how tall the walls were, the intricacy of the shapes of the rocks, the closeness of the rocks where they fit together, and anything else I haven't mentioned! :-)

A lot of areas are roped off now. Big bummer since you can't take some of the cool pictures like Mom & Dad Isom had on their slides.

How amazing is this hole in the rock? They were a form of gutter for when it rained directing the water away so there wasn't a lot of "puddling" above.

I love this triangle rock!

I loved this flower against the rock and the dirt. I thought it was beautiful.

Garth hanging out with his Dad enjoying the beautiful view from up above.

Another picture of Garth and I taken by Garth with the ruins in the background.

Can you tell that the different levels are scattered? They used the various levels as protection. If the lower level was breached they rolled a rock in front of the door and would escape to the upper level. It was ingenious!

Once again my handsome husband! How cool is the spiral stairs down in the back!

Here I am with the city of Cusco in the background. I thought it was pretty!

Dad in front of one of the HUGE stones with tons of angles! Very intricate work and very amazing in and of itself!

A view from the ground of Sacsayhuaman.

Part of Sacsayhuaman and across the hill from the main fortress is this-we aren't sure what it is. Some kind of ceremonial area. The carving is amazing (I know I keep saying that)-something most would think couldn't be done then. And yet it was.


Q'enko

All of us posing with a guy dressed up as an Inca warrior.

These were actually niches to house statues, etc. but I thought they made great chairs. Now you know how we came up with the picture!

This is a special ceremonial place underneath the ruins. It is where they killed llamas, etc. They would hang gold in a special area and the light would hit it and light up the room.


Cusco

The Spanish built on top of the Incan stones. It seems to me that they saw how strong it all was and decided that they would make good foundations. Not so cool considering the extreme amount of torture and cruelty that they inflicted on the Incas, but they did it and then built upon their ingenuity. Pretty amazing stuff-history definitely keeps us interested!

Mom & Dad in the entry to the Museo Inka. I liked the statue so I made them pose!

Sillustani

This is a prayer circle. It is said the men stood in one (I am guessing the bigger of the two) and the women stood in the other (I am guessing the smaller because we are all so dainty!) ;-)

Garth and I in front of a chulpa-a burial chamber.

Mom & Dad in front of the same chulpa!

Uros Islands (Floating Islands)

A quick picture of what their huts looked liked. Mom & Dad took a picture of the inside-so they can put that picture in their blog.

A small version of the demonstration that they gave showing how they make the islands with the root, layers of reed, and the huts on top.

Garth and I in front of one of the reed boats.

A bird's eye view of the tables with their handicrafts and the huts in the background. Garth and I were up in the lookout tower. It was a pretty cool view!

Garth and in the reed boat. They are so tightly put together!

Garth took a picture of us while we were on the boat!

They made chairs and everything out of the reeds!

Taquile Island

Here is a view of the area that our tour boat pulled into.

About 1/3 of the way up our 300 m climb. I thought the view of the water was beautiful.

Garth a little farther up the path, probably about 2/3 of the way up the path.