Sacsayhuaman Up Close

The base rocks at Sacsayhuaman were huge and, as you can see, precisely cut to fit together as a strong unit.  We were told that the cutting was by trial an error with the rocks being lifted in and out many times.  In some cases the grooves made by the lifting process were visible.  I thought it was simply amazing.  The grass is a huge open area where chosen representatives from many villages came once a year to hear the words of the emperor.  He appeared on a hill opposite this one, completely dressed in gold so he would be reflected upon sunrise.  It must have been quite a sight to see.

This was the first view we had of Sacsayhuaman.  It must have been quite grand when the Incas ruled but unfortunately it was largely destroyed by the Spaniards when they invaded and conquered.  Not only did they destroy this site, they used the pieces to build their own cathedral after razing the Inca cathedral.  And they used Inca labor for the building process.

Hairy Indeed

Big and smaller, lots of fleece and less fleece

I'm pretty sure these are alpacas

Llamas and Alpacas Oh My

There were several llamas and alpacas roaming about the grounds of Saksaywaman.  I couldn't really tell them apart but the wool differed in texture (as if they were going to let me close enough to check that out!), the ears were shaped somewhat differently and one had hair in the cheek area.  I liked them all and didn't really care which was which.

The Very Finest Potatoes

This lady was a human food processor.  With that little knife she was able to thinly slice fingerling potatoes into two different shapes, strings and dices.  She had a big pile  of each in front of her and demonstrated her speed.  I was amazed.  She's been doing this for 40 years.

The Staff of LIfe

Isn't that a pretty loaf of bread?  That's our local guide, Oscar, holding the loaf.  I don't know how they made the coating but it was darker in color and had a bit of crunch.  It was quite tasty.  We were also able to sample four different fresh fruits but I couldn't make note of what they were.  I just know they were all juicy and delicious.  I think I'd do okay with the Peruvian diet.

The Dairy Department

Of course the daily essential food items were available.  Shown here are cheese (aren't they pretty?!) and eggs.  There was no refrigeration but things seemed to be fine and there were no unpleasant odors.  I imagine the merchandise moved pretty quickly.

The Cusco Market

This was an inside market that was open daily and there was a variety of goods available just like in our markets.  But the markets are very different.  One could get soup or, as shown in the photo, fresh fruit juice or a smoothy.  We saw people busy at work at sewing machines, too.

Woohoo!  The car can now park in the garage!  Half of the garage is full of boxes and stuff but I think that's great progress in one week.

I'm late in getting this posted today.  We won't have our own internet connection for a couple of weeks but have been able to "borrow" access which isn't always accessible.  Thanks to the owner -- whoever it is -- for the service we are able to get.

Many, many boxes have been unpacked but we haven't yet reached the end.  John is installing shelves in the garage and that's a huge help in clearing the garage floor.  One of these days the car will be parked in there again.  And speaking of help, our daughter's family visited on the weekend and they were a big help in many ways.  They moved our timetable up by a week! at least.

And back to Peru -- the top photo is the shaman who prepared an offering and did a cleansing.  The offering started with coca leaves which are very important in the Peruvian culture.  Each home does a daily coca ritual, thanking the sun (inti), mountains (apus) and earth (Pachamama) and some of the coca is returned to the earth.  I had coca tea every breakfast and found it to be much like other green tea without too much of a boost.  We had many opportunities to chew the leaves but I didn't find that appealing and never tried it.  There was also coca candy available in the markets.  BUT we were told repeatedly to not take anything home that had to do with coca.  It's illegal in the US because it's the source of cocaine.

The shaman had little packages of a variety of things for the offering, all things that Mother Earth enjoyed.  There was a seashell, grains, sweets (lots of sweets!) a candle, some type of fiber, cookies, a flower, string and things I can't remember.  It was placed on a clean piece of paper and when complete, folded up and tied with a string.  The shaman then went to the woods to burn the offering to offer it back to Mother Earth (we didn't see that part).  It's not only the shaman who can do an offering, our guide said he did one with his family weekly.

Another Storefront

This store seems to sell all sorts of stuff and it was delivery day for new goods.  Notice the guy carrying several boxes on his back.  We were in only a couple of the stores and they were jammed full of merchandise.  They were also rather dark with little interior lighting.  Sure is interesting to see how other countries do things.  And it is a reminder of how much excess we have in this country.  Sometimes I feel like we are less fortunate.  But I'm keeping my stamping supplies nonetheless.  I'll just feel more grateful that I have so much and have the benefit of time to play.

Street Scene

This is a fairly typical storefront in Peru.  I can't say what's inside, but obviously they sell fruit which is a very popular local commodity.  The local folk don't have refrigerators so it is necessary for them to go to the market nearly every day.

Cuco, Peru

Cusco in the oldest continually inhabited city in the Western Hemisphere and it was the capital of the Inca Empire.  It has a population of around 500,000 and covers about 148 square miles.  The elevation is 11,200' and we were glad we were already acclimated to 5,000' as the elevation was beginning to affect several in our tour group (and the tour was taking us even higher).  We enjoyed the city, finding it quite fascinating with it's ancient history and the blending of both the Inca and Catholic cultures.

My Life These Days

I just couldn't get to a post on the blog yesterday.  These photos will help explain why.  The big truck arrived at our new house at 8 am with all of our worldly possessions and four hours things were transferred from the truck to our house.  For a number of reasons, most of it had to go into the garage (photo 1) and we'll spend many days getting it sorted out and put in place.  We already miss our basement, the shelving in our former garage and the outside storage shed.  But in due time we'll get organized and not even think about what was.

I thought I made pretty good progress yesterday.  All of the kitchen boxes were brought inside by the movers and I got all of them emptied with pans and bowls etc put in a new place.  The newspaper pile shown in the second photo resulted when I was unpacking but my husband was on the phone to get established with the cable, natural gas and electric companies and I was trying to be quiet.  Prior to that I was keeping up with myself flattening it and putting it in one big box as I went along.  But he took over the job of smoothing and before long that pile disapppeared.

We found sheets, blankets and pillows and have the guest beds made so feel free to drop by.  We even got a shower rod installed in the second bathroom so you can take a shower.  Yesterday we went to the grocery store so the cupboards and refrigerator are at least partially stocked and we'll be able to feed you, too.  But a word of caution, we'll probably make every attempt to put you to work and we aren't above trickery or bribery.  All we see before us is a lot of work.  On the other hand, our new couch is arriving today and we will have a comfy place to crash.  And our daughter and her family are coming to help us out for a few days and we expect some real progress will be made with their muscle, energy and enthusiasm.

Despite my sore muscles and dwindling energy, I'm excited to be getting settled into a brand new house, meeting new people and having a whole new area to explore.  Stay tuned.

A River Flows Through

The village is divided by the Urubama River which starts many miles away.  At this point it is in the rainforest and there is much white water due to the boulders.  You won't find any rafting here!

Pacachuti

Pacachuti was the first Inca emperor and he is still revered.    He expanded the Inca empire and made sure all of the Incas were cared for.  Statues of him were in many places.  Statues of him were in many places.  Although the Spanish Inquisition tried to eradicate anything Inca, the people did an amazing job of combining their Inca culture with the Catholic and it's still a mixture of the two.  The sculpture is also in the town square.

Machu Picchu Village

Every town in Peru seems to have a town square which includes a church and statuary.  We stepped inside this little church and it was filled with red and white gladiolas.  Photos weren't allowed so you'll have to picture it in your mind.  The streets were clean and there was a relaxing atmosphere.  And the almost daily rains created a lot of color in the form of flowers.  We enjoyed exploring the town after lunch.

Perfection In Rock

This photo was taken through one of the windows at Machu Picchu and shows how perfect the rocks were cut.  The edges even had a bit of roundness to them.  The volume of the rock alone is mind boggling. And how did they lift those heavy pieces?   And after all this work, Machu Picchu was inhabited for only 100 years.

From the Courtyard

A view of the courtyard, terracing, lower buildings and guard house.

Today's the day.  We close on our Colorado house and then travel to Redmond, OR where we will close on a new house on Monday.  This has been a long time in coming and we are eager for the change.  However, it is bittersweet as we have really enjoyed living in Grand Junction and will miss the many friends and family we leave behind.  But best to look forward and eagerly anticipate the new chapter in our lives.  Colorado, we'll be back.

Guard Tower

The original entrance to the estate was at a higher elevation, shown in this photo by the guard house in the upper center.  It was possible to take the stairway to reach the guard house for an overview of Machu Picchu but we didn't do that.  We felt we needed to save our energy for the higher elevations that were yet to come.

Lower Section of Machu Picchu

This is a closer look at the lower section of the ruins.  I thought it wasn't at all shabby even though it was for the "lower class" workers.

Machu Picchu was built in 1450 as an estate for Inca Emperor Pacachuti.  It was inhabited for 100 years and survived the Spanish Inquisition because the Incas left to go to Ollantaytambo Ruins where larger numbers of people could better attempt to hold off the Spaniards.  They were successful and the Spaniards never learned of the presence of Machu Picchu.  But the hold on Ollantaytambo was tenuous and eventually the Incas left there, too.  None of the Inca people returned to Machu Picchu and it was revealed by Hiram Bingham in 1911.  It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983.

Terracing

This is a better view of the terracing.  There are lots and lots of walls and I can't imagine the amount of time it took for the building.     We entered the ruins by the buildings in the backgrounds and had a tour through most of the area conducted by our Gate 1 guide.

The Division

This courtyard area and the tree are the dividing point between the royalty and the workers.  The courtyard is large enough for helicopters to land and unfortunately there is some history of camera crews knocking off parts of the ruins to facilitate the making of beer commercials.  What were those people thinking?  In one case the damage wasn't deliberate but still, is this a place to film a beer commercial?!  I don't think so.  I'm guessing someone or some agency received a handsome fee for the privilege.

Closer Look

This is a closer view of the royal and sacred area.

There was a well-designed irrigation system that carried the water down the mountain to gain the best use of the resource.      Unlike other areas of Machu Picchu, it is thought that there was a door to the royal area that could be locked.

Machu Picchu Overview

This is an overview.  Just to the upper left of center is the "royal" section, built higher on the mountain with more attention to detail (and the first area to receive the water).  Just beyond that is the "sacred" section where religious ceremonies were held.  To the right and lower on the mountain was the area for the workers.  The stone terraces provided both an area for agriculture and stability of the soil.  It's simply amazing.

Machu Picchu

Yes, we actually were at Machu Picchu.  My first impression upon seeing it was, "this is MASSIVE!"  There was lots and lots of rock terracing in addition to a substantial number of buildings.  And not only that, it was perched high on a very steep mountain at an altitude of 7970'.  There was lots of grassy area which added both softness and color to contrast with all the stone.  And the rock work was amazingly intricate, especially considering the toughest metal they had was tin.  The Inca really knew what they were doing.

A Short Bus Ride

A bus similar to this one took us from the village up the rather steep mountain to Machu Picchu.  As you can see, the road was very narrow and buses had to carefully choose where to pass.  I found it interesting that the curves (and there were quite a few) were paved with square rocks.  We encountered some road maintenance work, all done by hand -- more of that man power that was so evident in Peru.

To Machu Picchu

On Day 5 of our Peru tour we were at Machu Picchu, the primary highlight of the trip (though more good stuff was still to come).  We had an early start to our day as we went by bus from the motel to catch the train that took us to Machu Picchu Village in a couple of hours.  We had assigned seats in a nice train car which had big windows and was clean, roomy and comfortable.  An attendant even served us a beverage and cookies or a muffin.  The route followed the Urubamba River and was quite picturesque as we got deeper into the rainforest.

It's always fun to ride a train.  I've yet to have a bad experience.

Turquoise Kumihimo

For this necklace I started with a focal bead I purchased in Oregon.  There are two shades of turquoise, a light blue and red.  It's really quite striking.  You'll have to take my word on that.

Update And A Card

In case you haven't heard, our CO house is under contract with a closing date of 3/13 so we are hoping Friday the Thirteenth is a lucky day.  AND we are also under contract to purchase a new house in Redmond OR and the closing on that one is 3/16.  This process has taken a year-and-a-half but now everything seems to be falling into place as if it was meant to be.  Things are really hopping.

I've been asked if I will continue to do my blog and that answer is yes!  I have to get you back home from Peru.

With snow making a return in our town it seemed an appropriate time to post this wintery garden bench card.  There's spots on snow on the ground and clinging to the tree branch.  The clouds are die cut, as are the wreath and birds.  I didn't have a die cut or punch for the mittens so I hand cut them from felt.

Things To Be Happy About

railroad museums

puppies

kittens

markers

scissors

grins

giggles

vintage photos

excellent movies

talented musicians