We Went to Cusco! (Part 4)

We arrived at our hotel in Cusco pretty late. And oh man, was it a nice hotel! It was a J.W. Marriott, actually. Because we arrived at night, it looked like this:

Courtyard!

Look at the front door!

It had a wonderful lounge area, which we did actually enjoy a little bit!

Anyway, moving on. The next morning, we were informed during breakfast that there were an baby alpaca and baby goat in the courtyard. I HAD to go see them.

After that we had time to explore Cusco on our own before our afternoon tour. The goal was to get acclimated to the new elevation, which was the highest we'd been to so far. So we strolled around the main square, the Plaza de Armas.

We also took a chocolate-making class at Choco Museo. Daniel decided he'd rather sit at the hotel and read a book, so he won't be in any of the following pictures, haha.

We started with the beans...

... and we roasted them. 

Then we crushed them (the old-fashioned way).

But then they gave us chocolate that had already been tempered, because that takes a long time. I decided to mix M&Ms into mine. Shocking, right?

And here's the finished product as it sets in the fridge! Yes, I chose dolphin and ice cream cone molds. I am a child.

The aftermath!

Mmmm, chocolate.

After our class, we bought chocolate in various forms. Their cocoa powder made delicious hot chocolate!

Next it was time for our tour of local sites. We went to Sacsayhuamán, which our guide jokingly referred to as "Sexy Woman." Parts of the complex are pre-Inca, but the Incas expanded it to create a massive fortress. 

The stones are among the largest used in ancient America, and they are fit so precisely together. Check out how these four corners meet!

Just across the great plaza was this beautiful rocky hill.

More of the amazing construction.

Sacsayhuamán was actually the location of the Battle of Cajamarca in 1532, in which the Spanish ambushed the Incas and captured their ruler, killing thousands of Incas in the process. It was the beginning of the end for them. After the battle, the Spanish looted the fortress and began removing the stones for use in other buildings.

Kowing what happened in this place makes this photo so much more meaningful.

The plaza was once used for ceremonial rituals, and it is actually still used as the location of the Inti Raymi festival celebrating the winter solstice each year.

Anyway, here are some more photos of this beautiful place.

One of the stones actually had the form of a snake carved into it!

This picture is so cool. It shows how the Incas split large rocks. They would make a bunch of small holes in a line, wedge pieces of wood into them, and then soak the wood with water so that it would expand and break the rock. These little semicircle cutouts are proof of that process being used here.

The next stop on our tour was Q'enqo. During Inca times, it was a very holy place in which sacrifices, mummification, and other death rituals took place. The whole thing was carved out of one big rock and contains both manmade tunnels and naturally existing chambers.

We followed our guide through the narrow tunnels.

From above we could see down into the chamber.

We're going in!

Everything in this place was cut into the existing stone. This particular table/bed is where the elite dead were mummified.

I seem to recall our guide saying that this little shelf to the right of the altar was used to store a sacrifice's blood (and possibly organs).

And here's a sacrificial altar. Apparently a whole ton of bones (mostly animal but some human) were found in the pit behind it.

At Q'enqo, we had a great view of Cusco below. Photo op!

Finally, our tour took us to Qorikancha, the most important temple and astronomical observatory of the Incan civilization. It was built in honor of Inti, the sun god. The walls were once covered in gold! Most of it was destroyed by the Spanish, but many portions of it form the foundation of what is now the Santo Domingo church. Thankfully, however, much of the church's cloister was torn down to reveal part of the original Inca temple.

A window in a window in a window!

This is a ceremonial niche that likely held an important religious artifact. Historians believe the small holes around it indicate that it was once covered with a curtain or door to cover up whatever it was.

This photo shows a small section of the frescoed wall that the Spanish put over the original stones.

And here's the building the Spanish put on top of the temple.

It's really interesting to see the new on top of the old.

Here's a view of the Inca temple remains as seen through the arches of the new(er) Spanish church. Neat!

After Qorikancha we went back to our hotel and then walked to a restaurant on the Plaza de Armas. Of course I took another picture. Too bad it's blurry.

The restaurant had this super cool candle!

But I forgot food pics. Sad. Anyway, Cusco was an awesome place! Again, I'd love to go back and see even more of its sites.