Cuzco - Day 1

I celebrated my 40th birthday this year.  A couple of times. Once with girlfriends back in California, once on the actual day, once in Santiago as a joint party (as we all seemed to be turning 40 within months of each other) and once with just B and I on a trip to Buenos Aires, just last week {great present B!}. Three months and 4 parties later, you would think I would be just about done with the whole celebration.  But you would be wrong.  There was just one more celebration to be had.  And what an ending it was!!!

My parents had been asking me for months what type of present I would like for my 40th birthday.  Yep - they still do presents for their kids.  Birthday's are a big deal in our house and always have been.  Milestone birthday's are even bigger.  But I really didn't need anything and really didn't have anything on my list of wants that they could get to me in Chile, so I took a rain check on the whole thing.  And then the stars and the moon aligned just right and they found me the perfect present - a trip to Machu Picchu.   {I did say birthday's were a big deal in my family}.

We were already scheduled to meet up in Lima during the first week of November.  My parents had been invited to spend some time in Peru with some family friends.  B was going to be there at the same time on a business trip.  Since we don't see enough of each other now that we live on different continents, any time we are on the same one it is an excuse to get together.  And then we started talking about what to do with the weekend before the festivities in Lima started.  Mom and Dad decided that this would be the perfect time to celebrate my birthday.  Family style.  In Machu Picchu.  I couldn't have asked for anything more - my family, a trip to one of the places on my bucket list, the chance to see one of the 7 modern wonders of the world and did I mention, my family...

I got the itinerary that same week.  It was going to be jam packed but we had to see everything as this is probably a once in a lifetime trip for the big kids {B and I}.  I didn't want to miss anything.

So - Day 1.

We left home at what I can only call an unholy hour, 5 am.  Girls still in pj's, me wishing I was still in my pj's.  But we had to get an early start so we could get to Lima, make our connection to Cuzco and get settled in the hotel by 3 pm.  I told you it was jam packed - our first tour started at 3:30.

No hitches on the flights.  Two very happy little girls to see their grandparent's.  Since this was all planned by others, I was a little out of sorts.  I am the one who always has all of the details handy - flight schedules, car pick up's arranged, hotel confirmation numbers at the ready.  This time I had nothing.  Zilch.  Freeing in a way - terrifying in another.  But that is another post.

We arrived at the hotel and were instantly blown away.  The hotel has lived it's life as a former palace, then a convent and now a brand new hotel that just opened it's doors for the first time in June.  They have spent years renovating and upgrading this ancient space into the tranquil and stunning space that it is today.  As Cuzco is situated at about 11,000 feet above sea level, the first thing they did was try to keep us hydrated.  They brought us pots of Maté (Yerba leaves steeped in hot water) and the most wonderful scented flowers I had ever smelled.  The girls didn't like the tea but couldn't put the flowers down...

We were shown to our rooms, by our personal butlers {on call 24/7}, and told to be ready to board the bus for our tour in 15 minutes.  It didn't give me much time to settle in but I did snap a few pictures of the suite we were placed in...Beautiful.  And with a free pisco and rum bar, free mini bar and unlimited snacks, I was sure I was in heaven.  And I will talk more about it and add pictures in another post {day 3}.  For now, just take my word for the fact it is worth waiting for.

We boarded our private bus, where the girls early wake up call finally caught up with them.  

Or maybe it was the lack of oxygen.  You really are pretty high up... Good thing we are used to high altitudes (my parents live at about 9000 feet part of the year) because we were going even higher...to 12,500 feet.   Worth every minute of the huffing and puffing on our climb up. 

About 12,300 feet - and then we had to climb.

 First we visited Tambomachay, also known as El Baño del Inca {Bath of the Inca}.  It sits in the mountains about 6 miles outside of the city of Cuzco and is a series of stonework and beautiful fountains, aqueducts and waterfalls.  No one is really sure what it was used for but the general thought is that it was a spa for the political elite back in the day.  And when I say back in the day I mean about 500 years ago.

Tambomachay

The view from Tambomachay - looking towards Qenqo.

 We headed a mile or so down the hill to the Qenqo Temple.  In Quechua {the official language of Cuzco} it means zig-zag.  Fittingly named, the area is a marked by the crooked canal that is cut out of its rocks.  The canal carried some liquid but no one knows what.  There have been many guesses - from the simple idea that it carried water, or chicha (local drink made of corn) to the more complex-  it was used to embalm bodies or to carry blood away during death rituals.  One thing they do know for sure is that this was an extremely holy site for the Inca's.  Despite how grisly their purposes really were (offerings to the God's, sacrifices of human lives), they really are a wonder of architecture and beauty.

On our walk up we encountered the locals...

Yes, Jesus is a local.  He overlooks the site at Qenqo.

The town of Cuzco as seen from the foot of the statue of Jesus.

He plays here each and every day.  Local color.  Local music.

Standing outside the entrance to the zig-zag tunnel.

The tunnel that carries water today.

A shrine on the temple grounds.

 Our final stop was Saqsayhuamàn.  {And no, I can't pronounce any of them either}.  It is just down the hill from Qenqo and offers some very impressive views.  And history.  It dates back at least a thousand years and is referred to as The fortress {probably because no one can pronounce it's name}.  It was used as a military high ground in its day and played a very important role in the battle of 1556 when Manco Inca attacked Cuzco and was turned back.

It also has great open spaces, capable of holding thousands of people, that were used for ceremonial purposes.  And still are today.  We happened to visit on the Day of the Dead and there were large groups of people gathered to celebrate.  And chant.  And pray. I did not take pictures.  It seemed inappropriate.

The stone walls that make up the fortress are massive.  Actually, they are the largest whole pieces of stone seen in Pre-Hispanic America and the way they fit together, so precisely, is unmatched anywhere in the world.  They are literally so well fitted and spaced that a single sheet of paper cannot pass through them.

This stone weighs between 180-200 tons and is one single piece.

 After about 2 hours we were done exploring.  We had to be.  I think each of us was running on fumes at this point.  Back to the hotel we went.  We ate the cheese plate they had left for us.  And we called our butler to come make us some Pisco Sours.  And then we left for dinner.  For one of the best dinner's we had on the entire trip. Or maybe ever.  Well, I say we but that excludes the littlest of us.  They ordered their dinner and promptly curled up to sleep on the benches we were sitting on.  They brought us blankets and they had already confiscated the pillows.  They slept through dinner - We ate our way through 5 courses.  With more piscos.

Our 4 am wake up call was going to come all too quickly tomorrow...

The girls each found a new friend when we got back to our room.