Llamas, Snakes & Incas

Milk for the baby llama!

We spent "Boxing Day" exploring beautiful Cuzco and wandering outside of the tourist area. These two Andean ladies spotted me from across the street and practically flew to my side. "Picture with baby llama?" they asked, pointing to a tiny llama tucked away in a sling carried by one of the women. From my experience in Cozumel at the Mayan ruins and in Miami with killer parrots and giant snakes, I knew this picture would set us back a few soles (Peruvian dollars), but we didn't expect to be charged a whopping 10 soles for one picture. "Milk for the baby llama!!" they explained. Of course lol.

Overlooking one of the structures at Sacsaywaman

Later that week we decided to ditch the conventional tours and take a local (albeit slightly stinky) bus up to furthest Inca ruin from town, Tambomachay. This site, known as El Bano del Inca (The Bath of the Inca), featured a gorgeous ceremonial stone bath that channeled spring water through the fountains. This particular site has been connected to an Inca water cult. Here at Tambomachay, we met an American pilot named Eric who joined us for the rest of our 10 km walk back into Cuzco, passing three other ruins on the way. At Pukapukara, an area thought to be a either a guard post or a rest stop for travellers, we took some amazing photos at the edge of a cliff. The pictures don't do it justice- the drop was surreal. And there we were, dangling our feet off the edge like it was nothing! Sitting on the edge of the cliff overlooking postcard perfect scenery, a wave of appreciation washed over me. I felt overwhelmingly grateful for the opportunity that I've been given to experience life in another part of the world. Between parasites and altitude sickness, exhaustion and home sickness, I do realize just how blessed I am to be on this journey.

At Pukapukara, we came across a little cave that my Dad just HAD to explore. And of course, he wanted me to join him. There was a billboard at the front of the site explaining all of the animals that lived in and around Pukapukara, and snakes were among them. Praying that we weren't intruding in a snake's home, I hopped in for a quick pic. It was on our way OUT that my dad decided to point out the discarded snake skin, mere metres away from where I had just posed for a picture.

After Pukapukara, we explored another ruin called Q'enqo, a site used for ceremonial sacrifice and mummy preparation. Afterwards, we headed to probably the most spectacular ruin in Cuzco, Sacsaywaman, which is pronounced like "sexy woman". The ninth Inca, Pachacutec, envisioned the city of Cuzco to be in the shape of a big puma. Used for both military and religious reasons, Sacsaywaman represented the head of the puma. The sprawling ruins were gorgeous, immense and immaculately constructed. It was an incredible feeling to walk through their caves and across their battlegrounds so many centuries after their existence. You could tell that large rocks were missing from some of the structures. Indeed, the Spaniards had stolen rocks from the Inca to build their own homes in Cuzco. How rude!

As we explored the site, the sun began to sink deeper and deeper into the evening sky, reminding us that it was time to make the long trek down the mountain and back to the hostel. I started to feel a little creeped out as we trampled through the ruins, which had been the site of one of the bloodiest battles of the Spanish conquest in 1536. As the sky darkened, we made a pit stop at the Christo Blanco (White Christ statue that overlooks Cuzco) to snap a few quick shots, and then finally found our way to the dark road that wound down the mountain. With no lights besides the dim glow of our flashlights, we slowly made our way down the hill as the last of the taxis and buses drove past us. Luckily, the Inca spirits and wayward llamas decided to spare us and we arrived back at Loki unscathed, albeit out of breath and exhausted! After walking nearly 15km at around 3700m above sea level, I feel like I can sleep for a week. Goodnight!