Antarctica Cruise - March 3 and 4, 2016 Cusco; Traveling Home

Today, we ate our last breakfast in Peru at our beautiful hotel overlooking the Plaza in Cuzco.  We then boarded our bus for over a four hour tour of Cusco and the area around it. 

 

Leaving out of Cusco.
 

We first drove to see Sacsayhuaman (it is pronounced like "Sexy Woman!") 

 This was a magnificent military construction of the Incas and shows what great warriors they were.  It is strategically located on the hill overlooking Cusco.   

The fortress guarded the capital, and is famous for enormous, finely honed stones, which are fit together with surgical precision--all without any mortar holding them together.  Sadly, following the siege of Cusco, the Spaniards began to use Sacsayhuaman as a source of stones for building Spanish Cusco.

   Near the fortress, we climbed a little hill to where a giant statue of Jesus with outstretched arms, standing guard over the streets below.  This statue was a gift from Palestinian Christians who lived in the city in the early twentieth century.  

Over at the side of the statue was a young lady with her llama.  Many of the Peruvians have learned that they can get payment merely by having their picture taken.  This is what this young girl wanted.

Joyce wanted the picture, but wasn't satisfied with the first one, so the girl's mother or caretaker asked for more money to take the picture again.  As you can see, however, it was worth it.  This is priceless!

Right behind where the Peruvian girl was standing were these three  crosses--again standing high over the city.

At this overview of Cusco, we took a group picture, plus one other young lady who happened to be from the State of Washington who was actually on her own in Peru.  She had been in a group who had gone home a day earlier, and she planned to stay two or three days longer on her own.  Doug kindly asked if she would like to join our tour group, and she was thrilled to do so.

Notice the green area to the left of me--that is the town square and our hotel where we stayed.

Here is the soccer stadium of Cusco.  Since Cusco is located at an elevation of 11,152 feet above sea level, it offers a distinct advantage to any players accustomed to playing at this altitude (and a huge disadvantage to those who are not).
And here we could see the runway of the Cusco Airport where we would be flying out of at 6:00 p.m. tonight. 

 We next visited the Qoricancha Temple.  This was the most important temple in the Incan Empire, dedicated primarily to Inti, the Sun God. 

 It was one of the most revered temples of the capital city of Cusco.

 The Spanish colonists built the Church of Santo Domingo on the site, demolishing the temple and using its foundations for the cathedral.  Construction took most of a century. 

  The site now also includes the Church and Convent of Santo Domingo.

According to legend, its walls were covered with gold inside.  The gods of conquered tribes were brought here, and the mummies of the Incas were stored here, too.

Inclined Inca Wall - Chambers of the Sun Gods

This is one of numerous sites where the Spanish incorporated Inca stonework into the structure of a colonial building. Major earthquakes severely damaged the church, but the Inca stone walls, built out of huge, tightly-interlocking blocks of stone, still stand due to their sophisticated stone masonry.   Our guide kiddingly remarked, "The Incas were actually the first Lego creators!"

 This was absolutely amazing!  Each of these layers are one continuous rock with 14 angles in one perfectly cut stone block!

Inca Doorway

Notice the hexagonal niches again.

Another way of calendaring used by the Incas.

Taking a little rest on the tour.

The wonderfully carved granite walls of the temple were covered with more than 700 sheets of pure gold, weighing about 4 1/2 pounds apiece; the spacious courtard was filled with life-size sculptures of animals and a field of corn, all fashioned from pure gold; the floors of the temple were themselves covered in solid gold; and facing the rising sun was a massive golden image of the sun encrusted with emeralds and other precious stones. All of this golden artwork was quickly stolen and melted down by the Spanish conquistadors, led by Francisco Pizzaro, who then built a church of Santo Domingo on foundations of the temple.

Replica of gold leaf. 

Beautiful courtyard

Our group with our Peruvian guide.

After our tour, we went outside where this woman was selling her fantastic book that she wrote herself about Peru and Machu Picchu.  There were so many pictures and so much valuable information inside, we each had to buy one from her.

We then boarded the bus to travel to the San Pedro Market.  This area is located at the far Eastern end of Cusco's historic district.  The market began in the middle of the 16th century (1534-1560).  There were terraces in the area, so presumably it was an area of farms, so our Farmer's Markets today are a little like this--but this is so extensive, it is phenomenal!

Here are those freeze-dried potatoes that we had learned about on one of our earlier tours.

I was amazed at how many elderly women were working here--way beyond retirement age!  But, they just silently ate their lunches and continued working.

The black corn to make the delicious drink of chicha morada.

From Colonial times, there was a slaughterhouse located directly in front of the San Pedro church.  Today, the San Pedro Market maintains its traditional characteristics.  Cow faces with teeth still attached, anyone?!

Again, little children stay right there with the parents or grandparents as they work.

This absolutely grossed me out--gall bladder bile (those little bags of red stuff hanging down)!!!  Seriously, nothing is thrown away--literally every part of every animal is used, it seems!

A little woman selling whole frogs!  But what are the mystery horns sticking out behind her?

Okay, now to the prettier parts of the market.

Seriously, everything is sold at this market!  You could wander around for hours!

Here was a young man weaving something.

A woman sewing.  I think this was a treadle machine because I didn't see any electrical outlet.  By the way, when my flash went off, she held out her hand.  Pictures cost money!

And this woman sold all kinds of traditional Peruvian clothing items--George and I in traditional hats.  So fun!  This market is as authentic as Peru comes and is definitely a place that will long be remembered!

 In addition to all the amazing Peruvian items in the market, I  never tired of seeing the wonderful Peruvian people and their way of life.

At 4:00 p.m., our bus took us to the Cusco Airport.  The plane left at 6:00 p.m. for Lima.  After arriving in Lima, we had to wait to board the plane until 2:00 a.m.--about 5 1/2 hours before we flew the 8 1/2 hours to Los Angeles.  It seemed like forever!  After boarding the plane, it was definitely night, but the beautiful thing was watching the sun rise the next morning.

Crossing the Andes again!  Such a beautiful sight!

In Los Angeles, we parted from Doug and Joyce.  They were flying Southwest home, while we were flying Delta.  After basically living around each other for three weeks, we sadly said good-bye.  After about a 2 1/2 hour lay-over in Los Angeles, we then flew to Seattle and then Pasco, arriving at 4:00 p.m. the next day.  We were thrilled to see our son, Kent, at the airport.  It was great to be home!

These past three weeks were absolutely amazing--from extreme cold of the Antarctica to the heat of jungles to the cool and rainy altitudes of 11,000 feet.  This was a cruise and land tours that absolutely exceeded anything George and I could ever imagine!  We are so grateful we had this opportunity to experience all of this!