Father's Day, Saksaywaman && the beautiful Ollantaytambo

This past Sunday, on Father's Day, Michael and I went to the Church of Santo Domingo.

This church was built on the ruins of Qorikancha, which the Spanish destroyed, though not completely so that some of the church incorporates the foundations and several walls of the Qorikancha. Mass was at 6:15 pm so I made it my goal to finish my arithmetic paper before then; it didn't end up happening but I went anyways. I wanted to wish a happy Father's Day to the three main men in my life, all who are in heaven- my dad, step-dad, and God. Mass, although in Spanish, was beautiful and felt very personal which I think was very much due to the fact that it reminded me of my catholic upbringing in Brazil. 

On Monday morning, we rolled out of bed at around 5:00 am. I don't mind early mornings, I'm all for them if there's a warm cup of joe waiting on me. You can imagine, then, my disappointment when our sweet, sweet server informed us that there was no gas in the hotel and therefore no way of making coffee. Half-asleep, I squeezed my way into a vehicle that was smaller than a micro, along with 26 other passengers. We were heading to Saksaywaman- one of many astonishing Inca architectures. Saksaywaman was made of large stone walls, with boulders cut so carefully they fit tightly together in a complex puzzle-like form. Simply describing these stone walls truly does them no justice- seeing them at first-hand is nothing short of an unbelievable sight. When we stop to think about how much workmanship went into making these grandiose structures, it sets a new light on how advanced, and also powerful, the Inca Empire truly was. 
I particularly wanted to post this picture below because it depicts the close attention paid to detail on every corner of each stone.

All edges are perfectly carved to fit together.

Inca irrigation through stone walls.

The Inca also had a very advanced irrigation system that we can see not only on the ground of the ruins but also carved through their stone walls. Also, if I had to fit Inca architecture into one category, it would most likely be alignment. Lacking any sort of technology, the Inca did everything based on the alignment of sun and/or constellations. There are stone walls in Saksaywaman that are due almost exactly north, south, east and west, along with the placement of trapezoidal doors and windows that at sunrise and sunset, would allow sunlight to shine directly into these buildings. 

The rest of Monday was left for us to rest, pack, and enjoy our last full day in Cusco. I made last minute gift purchases and headed to the hotel to pack for our next day departure to Ollantaytambo. Our initial plan to leave Cusco at 10 am was pushed back until 12 pm due to Matt, one of our group members, being extremely sick and unable to get out of bed. We had approximately a two hour ride and the sights were nothing like I'd ever seen before! There were snow-capped mountains, behind steeped mountains and open farm ranges all in one view.

View on the way to Ollataytambo.

Ollantaytambo is peacefully located between mountains where the air is crisp and clean. I am fascinated at how different, Lima, Cusco and Ollantaytambo all are from one another! I do however, publicly confess that Ollantaytambo truly has my heart. 

Get to feeling better Simon && Matt! We miss y'all!

Julie