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View over the Inca agricultural site at Tipon, Peru

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I went to ALL the ruins today...

I got a “boleto touristico” (tourist ticket) for Machu Picchu, which is good for 10 days and allows me free entrance to like 12 different archeological sites in and around Cusco, so my host family decided today was the day of ruin visiting. Holy moly. Here is what I did:

I headed south after breakfast with Carlos (my host dad) to Tipon and Pikillaqta.

Tipon was absolutely beautiful and astounding. The special feature of the site is its irrigation technology which is literally mindblowing. There are small, straight, perfectly planned canals and waterfalls flowing down 12 terraces used for agriculture. Around the terraces are a church and a housing complex. There were lots of plants!

Pikillaqta is the first pre-Incan ruin I’ve been to in Peru or Ecuador. It was noticeably different, even from afar. The stones were neither gray, nor square, nor enormous like most of the stones that make up the walls of Incan ruins. The city itself is in a valley rather than on a hill, and the layout was vastly different than the terrace style that I have quickly become accustomed to. It was also ENORMOUS. Apparently an estimated 10 thousand people lived in the city at its prime. Though it did not have the focus on solar orientation, there was a similar architectural prowess shown in the perfectly straight roads and walls which surrounded the city. All in all, super neat. Definitely opened my mind to the array of people who have inhabited this country.

We came home for lunch, which was puchero, a dish traditionally served on Carnaval (today!). In short, it is pork (chancha), carrots, 3 types of potatoes (white something, sweet, and moriya), yucca, peaches, rice, garbanzo beans, cabbage served with the broth that is created when all of that is steamed! I’m still not a big pork person, but otherwise I gorged myself. Let me tell ya, this stuff is amazing. I don’t know why they only eat it once a year.

After lunch, I laid comatose in bed trying to digest the inhuman quantity of food I had just consumed. Mari (my host mom) finally told me it was time to go, and we headed up the hill (just outside of town to the east - mom and dad, I’m learning to orient myself!) to Saqsaywaman, Q’enqo, Puka Pukara, and Tambochamay.

Although we had briefly visited Saqsaywaman on Friday, I did not bring my tourist ticket so I couldn’t actually go into the park. The craziest thing is the size of the rocks that form the cornerstones of a zig-zag wall. The pictures don’t do them justice, but I literally cannot comprehend how the heck they were moved there and shaped so perfectly. I’ve already used the phrase “mindblowing,” but it’s the only thing that really seems appropriate. We walked though a tunnel probably 50 feet long through solid rock, and it’s rumored that there’s another longer tunnel that goes underground and emerges somewhere in the middle of the cite more than a mile away.

Q’enqo was very small compared to the other sites we had visited, but really culturally interesting. It was a religious site where sacrifices were performed, so all the rocks were carved to be flat and table like. We went through some tunnels.

Puka Pukara was by far my favorite of the day, not because of the ruins themselves, but because of out impeccable timing. As we pulled into the parking lot, we heard music and yelling coming from a nearby hill. A group of indigenous people in traditional dress were running down the hillside towards the ruins, playing music, waving flags, and dancing. we quickly entered the park as they ran past us, and joined them on the top level to the elevated ruins, where we got sprayed with espuma (basically shaving cream but used specifically for Carnaval) and then pulled into a circle of dancing. It was such an experience of pure joy and celebration, and it was the least touristy/most real I’ve felt since being in Cusco. Carnaval is a really cool celebration. No one has been particularly clear with me about the specifics of what exactly is being celebrated, but mostly it’s just a month-long celebration of life and culture. In any case, it’s lovely.

Tambochamay was the most heavily populated, tourist-wise. I’m not really sure why. It was cool, and maybe I’m just becoming desensitized to the amazingness of all these places, but it seemed like there were a disproportionate number of people there for how unique the ruins were. Advanced irrigation technology, a nice view over the valley where Cusco is located, and what I think was an alpaca in a little blue t-shirt.

All in all. it was a LONG day, but it was nice to spend time with my family and get my fill of historical sites in Cusco. Tomorrow is my first day of class, and I can’t wait to see my pals from my group. After spending six straight days with them, two days by myself has felt like a lot!