Day 10 &11: Last Day in Cuzco and on to Lake Titicaca, 5.11- 5.12.19

This morning we headed by bus to the archeological park, Tipon. It is a large area of ruins southeast of Cuzco near the town of Tipon. It has a lot of wide terraces that were irrigated by a system of water channels fed by a spring. Archeologists have found petroglyphs here that date back to 4,000 B.C. Native people were living here up until the early 1400’s.

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I was amazed to see that there were even rocks jutting out to make steps so they could access the different leveled terraces. I did not go past the second terrace. Coming down there were steps which did not have any railings. At the top level there was a bath and petroglyphs.

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Sacsayhuamán means “eat your fill, hawk”. It is about a mile and a quarter from Cuzco’s square and is about 12,000 feet above sea level. It is surrounded by mountains and covers an area of about 12 square miles. Archeologist believe that it took 20,000 men to cut and move these gigantic stones to this site. The stones are cut so that they fit together without any mortar at all. Some stones are so huge it is estimated that they weigh nearly 300 tons. How did the these people move these massive rocks?

Tonight we had a briefing at the hotel and our farewell dinner at a restaurant located in a elegant hacienda a few blocks from our hotel. The base tour of Peru was ending and those taking the extension to Lake Titicaca were flying to Puno in the morning. Thirteen of us will be continuing on while Mary Beth and Michael were heading back home. All of us agreed that what we had seen and experienced exceeded our expectations and that Pepe had done a great job of leading our group.

On Saturday, we flew from Cuzco to Puno, a 45 minute flight. We then got onto a bus that took us first to a house for lunch then onto another archeological site, Sillustani.

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We stopped at a house to have lunch. There were neighboring children who greeted us and alpacas, too. On the roof of the house was a decoration of two bulls and a cross; the mestizos feel it brings them good luck. They also put rubber tires on their roofs to keep lightning from striking.

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Sullistani is a pre-Inca burial site on the shores of Lake Umayo. The tombs were towers built above ground and held mummies of their important leaders also with gold and other items needed for the afterlife. Some gold has been found by archeologists, but many of the tombs had been looted. The towers are made of huge stones which are bigger at the top. This “city of the dead” dates from pre-Inca times to the Inca occupation in 1400’s.

We returned to our hotel just outside of Puno. It is a new hotel along the shores of Lake Titicaca. It also has excellent wifi. Tomorrow we will explore some villages around Puno for some more “Day in the Life” experiences. Since this is my favorite activity, I can’t wait. Stay tuned for more adventures!