Cuzco: capital of the Inca Empire
Saturday, Oct. 8
On Friday we took a short flight from Lima to Cuzco (a trip by bus through the mountains takes 21 hours!). Saturday was dedicated to visiting sites in Cuzco, the capital of the Incan empire that once covered most of the Pacific coast of South America. The best-known and longest-enduring feat of the Incas were the massive stones they cut and laid with such precision that, without any mortar between them, they fit perfectly together. We saw many ruins with this stonework used to make temples, forts, baths, warehouses, and more.
In the evening a pair of musicians came and played a variety of musical numbers, both their own and pieces already known to us, using various Andean wind and percussion instruments. All were impressed and, at the end, invited to dance along ….. as long as our lungs held out. At 12,000 feet above sea level, we all tired easily in the thin air.
Tomorrow and beyond: five days with homestays with Mennonite families in villages outside Cuzco, more ruins on the way toward Machu Picchu, the ancient Incan city and fortress of Ollataytambo, and, at the end, Machu Picchu.
