When we did make it to the lunch spot, they still weren’t ready for us. Since we still had another 20 minutes, we dropped our bags off and walked to the Winaywayna ruins. We were supposed to explore them after lunch as we continued on the trail, but we decided to save time and do them before rather than sit around.
After we finished exploring, we headed back up to our lunch spot. The food was amazing as always. I really wish the chef would write a cookbook for those of us that don’t know how to cook on a stove, let alone over a propane tank. After we finished eating, we used the bathroom for the last time. By this point REI had run out of toilet paper so the chakski cut a paper towel roll in half which we used up this morning, so there was no more toilet paper left. Luckily, we were all prepared and had our own toilet paper because we heard the toilets on the trail wouldn’t have them. We also had to say goodbye to our remaining chakskis for the last time. As soon as we left, they would pack up the lunch stuff and run down to catch the train so they could return home. It was really sad to say goodbye, but we did. We kept on heading down. We weren’t far from the lunch place when Tessa realized she didn’t have her cell phone. Luckily Chris had left the lunch spot after us so Jon radioed him to look. He looked but couldn’t find it, so Tessa turned around and ran back to the lunch spot to also look for it. We didn’t want to believe one of the chakskis had stolen it, but that is what it was looking like. She couldn’t find it either, and then she looked in her backpack and found it. She had it all along! Tessa hikes up and down fast, so it didn’t take her long to catch up with the rest of us. The joke the rest of the trip was “Tessa, do you have your phone?"
As we were heading down, I think I somehow twisted my knee. Jon noticed that my gate had changed before I did. I didn’t want to delay the group, so I kept pushing on. It eventually got to the point where I couldn’t take steps down with my left leg. It was my right knee that was hurting, but every time I stepped down with my left leg my right knee would bend and cause a shooting pain up my leg. So I had to keep stepping down with my right leg, which made different muscles sore. I knew we were on a time crunch, so I kept powering through. When we finally reached Machu Picchu, we had to actually exit before we went in. I don’t know why, but I just started crying. My leg wasn’t really hurting, but I think I was just overwhelmed that I had actually made it. I didn’t want anyone to notice, so I tilted my hat to cover my face. The rest of the group had gone ahead, so it was just me and Chris and he didn’t notice. A random person noticed and asked if I was okay and I assured him I was. We exited the site and then checked our backpacks and the entrance before entering the site again. We had about an hour to explore with Jon as our tour guide before the site closed down for the day. There were a lot of people, but not as many as I expected. Most tourists come in the morning instead of right before closing, so we were able to avoid most of the groups in our pictures.
Jon knew there would be more crowds tomorrow, so he decided to take us to places all the tourists flock to first. Our first stop was the Temple of the Sun. It was used as an astronomical observatory by the Incas in order to track the position of the sun and the summer and winter solstice. It was extremely important to the Inkas, and only the head priest or The Inka (the king) would be allowed to enter it. Below the Temple of the Sun was the Mother Earth’s Temple or Royal Tomb. It was literally a cave with the stepped stones inside. It was used for sacrifices and other ceremonial occasions. Archaeologists believe that it was created to house the tomb of someone important, but it was never actually used.
At the end of our route was the Sacred Square. This was where ceremonies were held. On one side of the square was the Temple of the Three Windows. It was dedicated to Pachamama, where the number 3 was very important. On June 21st, when the Sun’s ray enter through the 3 windows it produces a projection of symmetrical shadows on the ground. Also in the square was the Main Temple. The Main Temple was still in the process of being completed when the site was abandoned. Sadly, there were some foundation issues with the ground sinking a little bit which caused the temple to shift out of balance.
We took the bus back down to Aguas Calientes. Since I didn’t travel with anyone, I claimed my own seat on the bus. Our group was the first to board and even though we were at the front of the bus no one wanted to sit next to us. I’m sure by this point we were smelling pretty rank since we hadn’t showered in 4 days. I thought there would be transportation waiting for us when we got off the bus, but we still had to walk uphill to our hotel. It was only about half a mile, but it was definitely felt like longer. I though I was done hiking for the day but sadly was not. When we got to the hotel we all collapsed on the lounge chairs while they processed us. Once we got our hotel keys, Tessa and I went to our room. I let her take a shower first while I texted everyone and posted on Facebook that I was still alive. She didn’t have to worry about that since her parents were on the trip. When it was my turn to shower, that shower felt amazing! I didn’t want to get out of it, but I knew I had to.
I did learn something about hiking. If you run out of toilet paper, don’t use paper towels in its place. We all got rashes in unpleasant places. It didn’t help that we had to keep walking, which made the rashes worse. Luckily the rashes didn’t develop until the last hour or 2 before we got to the hotel so we didn’t have to suffer the entire day, just a couple of hours. We hiked 6.2 miles to Machu Picchu, starting at 11,975 feet above sea level and walking down to 7,874. We then spent several more hours walking around Machu Picchu and to the hotel, so we probably walked at least 8 miles.
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We had to push on, so we started our hike. Sadly we had some more distance to go uphill, but it wasn’t as bad as yesterday. Also, I was well rested this time and it was only about a mile or so. I was still lagging behind everyone, but I was only a couple of minutes behind.
Before we went into the dining tent for dinner, we gathered in a group to meet our chaskis. Only 1 or 2 of them spoke English, so Jon translated for us. They told us their names, how old they were, where they were from, how many children they have, and what their job was on the trek. We got to meet the chef, our waiter, the guy that was in charge of the toilets, and the men that carried our luggage and food. The men ranged in age from 18 to 55. Almost all of them were from the same small village. Jon told us that REI sponsors their village. Their experience in being chakskis only go back about 5 years, because that is how long REI has been offering the Inca Trail trek. Most chakskis are from Ollantaytambo or villages around there because they can take the train to the start of the Inca Trail. The village our porters are from is further from the train station, so they were never given the opportunity to be chakskis on the Inca Trial. REI pays very well and gives the chakskis extra money/transportation to get to Ollantaytambo so they can take the train. REI has 3 or 4 villages that they support this way. They chakskis are very grateful to REI and to us for using REI because it gives them extra money to support their families instead of only relying on subsistence farming. They encouraged us to come back and tell all our friends about REI so REI would arrange more trips. I thought that was an amazing thing that REI does, because they didn’t have to. They could take the cheaper route and use only locals, but instead they charge a little extra to actually support communities of hard workers. I certainly don’t mind paying the extra to help these people. We also introduced ourselves and gave a little history about us. It was funny when Tessa tried to do it because she tried to say it all in Spanish. I understood what she was saying, but instead of saying she was 24 she said she was 14. They all just looked at her until Jon said he thought she was 24. Tessa was embarrassed and we all laughed about it. After the introductions were over, we went into the dining tent and had another amazing meal. At one point, Jon and Chris were out of the tent so I asked everyone if they were going to tip the chakskis. I wasn’t prepared because in our packets it said that tipping the chakskis was already included in the fee we paid, but I didn’t know if the rest of the group was tipping extra. I knew tipping Jon and Chris were not included, and I had about a hundred dollars in US cash I was saving for Jon/Chris that I could give out and then withdraw more later. However, everyone was of the same mindset that the tips were already included in the fees, so no one else was tipping extra so I was able to save my cash. For dessert at dinner, the chef brought in a cake. I don’t know how he made it, but he somehow baked a cake while camping. Not only did he bake it, he did a great job adding piping to it. The cake was amazing! It was a white cake with strawberry frosting and we got strawberries with it. I wanted a second piece, but I felt bad asking for another since half the cake was left and I’m sure they were going to share the remaining pieces with the porter. So I sadly didn’t ask for more. We had a debate on how they were able to make a cake. We thought maybe they brought a dutch oven, but Jon said they didn’t. He said the chef somehow bakes the cake using 2 pots. I wanted the chef’s recipe book, but Jon said he hasn’t had time to write one. If he ever does, I’m definitely buying it. We went to bed early today because we are going to have an early day tomorrow. Today we hiked 6.1 miles. We started at 10,991 feet above sea level, went up to 12,631 feet, and then went back down to 11,975 feet. All in all, not a bad day. Using a headlamp to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night is an experience. It didn’t help that it was cold and rainy and I was really warm and comfortable in my tent. But the sky looked beautiful with the moon and the clouds and no lights everywhere to distract you. I also saw a llama on my way back to my tent for the night. In the morning, we were woken up to Chris outside our tent offering us tea or coffee. Since I knew today was going to be difficult, I decided to try the cocoa tea. It actually wasn’t that bad. It isn’t something I would drink if I didn’t need to, but it was okay. We all gathered for breakfast in the dining tent and got some delicious crepes. They also had cereal, yogurt, crackers, and break for us to snack on while we waited. After breakfast, we put on our day packs and headed out.
Chris and Jon were amazing. They took turns walking in the back with me. One time during the hike Chris and I had a little conversation in Spanish. Mostly just basic things I remember from high school, like Donde estas and Cuantos anos tienes? He also did a great job making sure I staid hydrated and drank plenty of water. Jon was also amazing. He wouldn’t rush me and he would point out the different birds and flora while I was catching my breath. He would also sometimes drop back to take pictures so I didn’t feel like I was dragging him behind. I was sick before I came to Peru, and hiking and camping did not help. I was doing better and only coughing a little before we started the Inca Trail, but by this day I would have long coughing fits and I kept having to blow my nose and cough up phlegm. When I was have one of my coughing fits, Jon or Chris would keep saying “Don’t die, Cory. There is to be no dying today.” I guess they didn’t want to deal with the paperwork… Lunch was as amazing as all of the meals. Since every meal was 3 courses, Alison and I started requesting smaller portions. We basically told them to give us half what everyone else was getting. We felt bad wasting the food, especially when the porters could enjoy it instead. The smaller portions were still more than enough to fill me up. Lunch was a nice break, but then we had to keep on hiking. After lunch, I kept falling farther and farther behind the main group. The views were amazing on the way up, but I was mainly focusing on putting one foot in front of the other, so I didn’t take many pictures. We faced the American Killer, which were stairs going pretty much straight up and is called that because they are killer on the knees. As we got closer and closer to Warmiwanusca (Dead Woman’s Pass), which is the tallest point at 13,780 ft about sea level. I had to take more breaks because I was having difficulty breathing and I kept coughing. I wasn’t the only one having difficulty. People would pass me, and then I would pull ahead while they were taking a break, and then the cycle would repeat itself. I thought about turning back and giving up, but by this point I knew I would have to walk about 10 miles back down and I didn’t think that was worth it when I only had a mile uphill to go, so I kept pushing through until I finally made it to the top. I was so happy to make it up there. There was one other group at the top, a father and what looked like his 10-13 year old daughter that had passed me on the hike up moving at a fast pace.
Today we hiked 7 miles, going from 9,678 feet up to 13,780 feet and then back down to 10,991 feet to camp. But the good news is that we all made it past the hardest day and it should be smooth sailing from now on. After dinner, I collapsed on my pallet and quickly fell asleep.
Well, today is the day we start on the Inca Trail. Before we left the hotel, I made sure to buy 2 more Gatorades. We then got on the bus to go to the beginning of the trail. When we pulled in, our porters were all waiting for us wearing REI shirts. As we got off the bus, they all started clapping. They had a tarp laid out so we could put our bags down so we could go to the bathroom before starting the hike. I have heard horror stories about the bathrooms on the trail, so I made sure to go. When I got back, I put on a lot of sunblock and bug spray. Jon let us choose a Machu Picchu bag and they also had a table set up with different snacks that REI provided. So I had my backpack and a crossbody bag loaded up with some snacks to give me energy for the hike. When we were all ready to go, our group grabbed our bags and went to the check in station. There, we had to show our passports and our permit to hike the trail. It didn’t take that long and then we were ready to begin our hike. First, we had to stop and take pictures by the Camino Inka sign. All groups stop and take pictures here because it marks the official start of the trail. We also had to take a group photo to mark the occasion. John and Chris took most of the photos, and then for the group one there was a local who took a photo that we will be able to buy when we get to the end of the trail.
The start of the hike wasn’t that bad. It was mostly flat or small up and down hills, which Jon referred to as Peruvian flats. Within an hour of starting our hike, we came across our first ruins. Sadly it was across the valley so we could only take pictures but it looked cool. I dropped to last place in our line pretty fast. I tried to keep up, but I just couldn’t. Most of time I was only a minute or 2 behind the main group. Since I was last, I spent a lot of time with Chris and Jon. One of them was always at the front and at the back of the group, and then everyone was in the middle. The good thing about walking with the tour guide is he was always willing to take pictures of me with the beautiful backdrop.
We made a stop for lunch at what looked like a farmstead. There were a couple of houses and a pig and chickens wondering around. When we got to the area, the chaskis were waiting for us and they all started clapping. They had a tarp on the ground for us to put our bags on. There was also the toilet tent set up on the side. Jon explained to us how to use it. First, you do your business. Then you have to pull on the tray at the bottom of the toilet which flushes it. Finally, you close the seat lid and there is a pump that you push up and down a couple of times which circulates water to clean the toilet. It wasn’t that hard. The hardest part was squatting over the toilet because my thighs were starting to burn by that point. There were separate toilets for the men and women. We then had an awesome lunch. There was a lot of food in our 3 course meal.
When we got to the camp (called Huayllabamba), we were greeted by our chakskis (it is a nicer name for porters) all clapping for us. They had stayed behind to pack up our duffel bags and the other items at the start of the trail and they passed us pretty quickly. We all headed directly to our tents and one of the chakskis brought us all an orange bowl of hot water so we could have a cowboy bath. In our tents were cots with a mattress pad and our sleeping bags. There was also a rug and a little nightstand in the tent. We were definitely camping in style! We made it to camp just in time, because shortly after we got to camp the rain started coming down hard. We all stayed in our tents for about an hour and then met up in the dining tent. Tessa and I noticed it was a little wet in the tent, but we didn’t really notice how wet everything was until we got up to go eat. When we got to the table, Jon was asking how everything was so we mentioned that the inside of our tent was wet. He immediately told the chaskis and they examined it. Apparently the rain cover had slipped so water got in. It wasn’t a lot so it wasn’t a big deal but they got it fixed so no more water would get in. Dinner was amazing. I expected the food to be a lot more basic since there was no easy access to food on the trail. Everything that we ate had to be carried on one of our chaskis backs, so I didn’t expect a lot. But we still got a 3 course meal with an appetizer of soup, the main course which had vegetables as a side dish and an amazing pear in a wine sauce for dessert. There was plenty to go around. They also gave us heated water bladders and blankets since it was cold. After dinner it was dark so I had to use my headlamp to walk over to the toilets and use the bathroom. Then I took my water bladder and extra blanket to bed. It was a long day hiking 5.7 miles and going from 7,900 feet in altitude to 9,678 feet.
We eventually made it to Ollantaytambo. After Cusco was overtaken by the Spaniards, Manco Inca and his army retreated to Ollantaytambo. They established a base at the Inca site there and were victorious against the Spanish in the Battle of Ollantaytambo. We got off the bus in the town and had a quick tour. Jon pointed out some flowers, because he is really passionate about flora.
At the top, we walked into the unfinished Sun Temple. The walls hadn’t been started before construction halted, but 1 wall was completed. It is now known as the Wall of Six Monoliths. These rocks are huge! Especially with all of the steps, I don’t know how they got to them to the top of the mountain. I had issues just walking up the steps, I can’t imagine having to hall those huge rocks without a crane. But they somehow did it because the rocks came from the quarry across the valley. Also, you can still see carvings on the rocks from the Inca time. I recognized the Inca cross and one of the monoliths had pumas.
The good news is that we made it safely to Moray. I didn’t know what to expect when we got off the bus. We went up a little hill and then the site of Intiwatanamuyu opened up. It was the stepped terraces in circles. I thought it was a stadium with seating, but it wasn’t. According to Jon, the circular terraces were used as a research laboratory for the Incas. Families would live by the terraces and experiment by combining different crops together. Jon told us that an archaeologist measured the temperature of water at the bottom terrace and compared it to the top terrace, and there was a change in temperature by 15 degrees Celsius. With these terraces, the Incas could also experiment by growing the crops in different temperatures before the main farmers grew the crops. This is a level of sophistication that I did not expect of the Incas.
The bus took us to a little church in the countryside. When we walked in, we saw a white tent set up to the side with people preparing a picnic lunch for us. However, before we ate we were supposed to meet the shaman. It turns out that he was set up on the hill a little bit away from the church because they didn’t want to mix the religions. So we had to get back on the bus and drive closer to him. He didn’t speak English, so Jon translated for him. His family has had many generations of shamans. He was taught by his father, as his father was taught by his grandfather and so on. His mother was there to help him set things up.
The process of the salt pans is simple. The water comes from the ground and is channeled into the different salt pans. It then sits there for a couple of weeks while the water evaporates, leaving the salt behind. The salt is then carefully collected by the local families and is sold. I thought it was interesting that each salt pan is owned by a local family in Maras. It is like their own plot of land to harvest. After the salt is collected, it is packaged up and sold in the community and in gift shops for tourists. I was one of those tourists. We got to go among the salt pans to the bottom of the quarry. They had narrow paths along the pans. The paths were wide enough for one person to walk down. The entire time I was worried that I would lose my balance and fall into one of the salt pans, but luckily I didn’t.
We had a little time to take a shower and get ready for dinner. At dinner, we had the option to eat llama. I had to try it at least once since I was in Peru so I ordered it. It tasted similar to venison, but was a lot tougher. I probably won’t order it again, but I was glad I tried it. During dinner, Jon told us that he and Chris would be coming by to weigh our bags. We could carry what we wanted in our personal bags, but the bag we gave the porters couldn’t be more than 12 pounds. The porters are limited carry a max of 44 pounds by the Peruvian government. This is to protect the porter and prevent porter abuse. Tessa and I weren’t ready when we went to dinner, so we requested to be weighed last. After dinner, we hurried back to the room to pack our bags. I packed what I thought I would need on the trail but wouldn’t need access to, and put the rest in my day pack. When Jon and Chris came by, my bag weighed 11 pounds. Jon asked what kind of shoes I was bringing for the campsites and I showed him my flip flops. He recommended close toed shoes because some of the campsites have a lot of loose rocks, so I replaced my flip flops with tennis shoes. Jon weighed my bag again and I was at 13 pounds but he said it was close enough. After they left, it was just a matter of packing up my suitcase, which will be waiting for us when we return to Cusco. Then Tessa and I went to sleep to be well rested for tomorrow.
Once we got to the top, we had some time to explore the ruins. It was really beautiful from the top. On one side is the Urubamba Valley and on the other side is the Sacred Valley. You could see for miles from this site. It overlooks the town of Pisac below, which was an important trading village in the era of the Incas.
Once we got in Pisac, we had about an hour to explore before lunchtime. We were able to drop our bags off at our lunch spot so we didn’t have to carry them around. We passed by a lot of souvenir shops on our walk in, but I didn’t want to wander since I have no sense of direction. So I stayed in the main square and shopped around there. Jon recommended a jewelry shop if you wanted to buy nice jewelry, so I stopped in there and bought a necklace. The necklace was in the shape of the chakana, which is the Inca cross. It is a geometric stepped cross and it based on the constellation of the Southern Cross as it is seen in the Southern hemisphere. Inside the cross is a spiral, which represents Pachamama. Pachamama is the earth goddess to the Incas. I try to limit my souvenir shopping to one item per place since I travel a lot. So I was done shopping in Pisac. While I waited for lunch time, I hung out in the main square. Jim was there, so we talked for a while. He is actually spending a month in South America. He is on our trip, a trip to Lake Titicaca, and a trip to the Galapagos. It confirmed my assumption that he is rich, because he is already retired in his 50s and he has the money to do long trips like this.
In Chinchero, we visited the textile cooperative to learn about the weaving traditions that had been passed down among the local people for centuries. The cooperatives are cool because the local women who work there own them. There is no big company that is making a profit off them. The women hand make all of the items in the store.
That was the last part of the demonstration. Afterwards, we had a little bit of time to look at the products. I asked how much the table runner was, and it was $300 US. I decided I didn’t need one that much, even if I could haggle the amount down. Especially since it would get dirty on my table. I also asked about some socks, but they were $40. Bill & Allison actually bought one of the table runners for their house. Jim bought some laptop cases that looked cool. I thought about buying one of those as a souvenir, but I really don’t put my personal laptop in a case so I wouldn’t use it. Afterward, we got back on the bus and went to the hotel. The hotel that night was cool, because it used to be a monastery. So we got to sleep in the monks’ rooms. Of course, it has been remodeled since then, but it was beautiful. That night at dinner, I got to try llama. It was okay. It tasted similar to venison, but it was tougher to eat. After dinner, we all went to bed to rest before tomorrow’s adventures. We landed at about 5:20am in Lima. There, I had to grab my suitcase, recheck it, and go through Customs and Security again. I was really surprised about Security. It was really different from the U.S. checkpoints because you didn’t have to take any electronics out of your bag or take your shoes off. Why can’t we have Security like that? The gates are also different. Instead of each gate having a seating area, the gates were all on one wall and there was a huge square seating area. I had to pay close attention because they called out the gates, but it was all in Spanish. Luckily, I knew my gate number in Spanish so I could listen for it and line up at the correct time. We boarded a bus and the bus took us out to the plane. The plane to Cusco wasn’t full at all, so I got my entire row to myself, which was nice. On the plane and the bus ride, I saw a lot of people carrying hiking backpacks, but I didn’t know which of the trails they were going to hike.
I ended up having to wait for 2 hours. I kept checking back every 45 minutes or so until they finally gave me a room. On one of the times I was checking, I saw an older guy sitting in one of the chairs and he had a paper with the REI Adventures logo. He also didn’t look like a fitness buff, which relieved me because I thought I would have some company at the back. I finally got to check out my room and drop off my bags. The room was pretty nice, and I hung out there while I charged my phone and read my book. I also decided to brush my teeth since I had been traveling so long, and it didn’t occur to me until afterward to check if the water was safe to drink or not. I googled it, and they actually boil water in Peru because the water isn’t safe. Oops! I waited for my new roommate to show up, but she never did. Eventually, I went downstairs to meet up with the rest of the tour group for our orientation. I sat down on one of the couches. Across from me was Bill and Allison. There were an older couple. I would peg Allison as late 50s and Bill as early to mid 60s. Later, when the guide was asking if we had any medical or other issues they should be aware of, Bill told us that he is partially blind. He can see directly in front of him, but he has no peripheral vision. On chairs to my left were Jane and Aubrey. Jane is Aubrey’s mom, and they were doing this trip as a girl’s trip. Jane is a clerk/typist at a courthouse and Aubrey is a lawyer. Aubrey also let us know that she is afraid of heights, but she has always wanted to hike the Inca Trail and wants to do it before she chickens out or her fear gets worse. On a chair to my right was Jim. He was the one I saw waiting on a room in the lobby. He was also traveling alone. I estimated that we was about mid-50s. He lives in California and is retired. He asked if any of us had signed up for the extended travel but no one had. John, Cynthia, and Tessa came in late and joined me on the couch. John and Cynthia are married, and Tessa is one of their daughters. Tessa is also my roommate for the trip. Cynthia just retired from being an OBGYN and John is an engineer. Tessa is currently working on her masters for engineering, but she has had a couple of internships and jobs in the field, which is how she was able to afford to come. When everyone was there, out guides introduced themselves. Our main guide was Jonathon (we called him Jon) and the assistant guide was Chris. They passed out the duffel bags that we would need for the Inca Trail and a map on the trail. Jon then went over an overview of each day of our trip including what we would face on the Inca Trail. He made it sound easy, but I had my doubts about making it.
Even though the Spaniards thought it was a fortress, Jon told us that it was actually built in pre-Inca times and it believed to be a religious site. One piece of evidence that support that this was a religious site is the walls. They were built in a zig-zag shape, which is believed to represent lighting.
Jon and Chris took our cameras to take a group picture of us overlooking Cusco. On the far left in the reddish orange jacket is Jim. Next to him is Jane, then Aubrey, Allison, and me. Behind Allison in the orange jacket is Bill. It was funny, because Allison would get confused because Jim and Bill were wearing the same color jacket. So Allison kept trying to grab Jim’s arm to lead him around obstacles thinking he was Bill. Beside me is Tessa and her dad, John. In front of Tessa is Cynthia.
After we finished walking around Saqsaywaman, we got back on the bus and it took us down to Cusco. Jon then took us on a tour around Cusco and we went inside many of the churches. Sadly, we couldn’t take pictures inside the churches, but they were unique. That is something I have noticed about the different Catholic churches I have been in, they are all similar but they also reflect the local customs. For example, in these churches the paintings were all done in style that is unique to Peru. People aren’t depicted realistically, but instead have the shape of a mountain which reflects power to the local people. Also, instead of a white scarf on the cross, they have a patterned one with many different colors. As we were walking through the churches, Jon pointed out the Madonna displays. Each month/year (depending on the display), a local family is chosen to make the dress of the figures in the scene. They aren’t the only ones that bear the cost. They reach out to family and friends, who will contribute pieces to the construction of the costume. At the end, there will be a ceremony and the figures will be dressed in their new outfits.
After San Blas, on our way to our next stop we passed by one of the Inca walls. There were tourists in front of us taking pictures, so I thought there was something cool about it. They were taking pictures of the 12 angle stone. It is literally a stone in the wall that has 12 corners. Why that is impressive, I don’t know, but apparently it is. Though the engineering of bulding the wall is very impressive because that takes a lot of skill and patience, especially since they didn’t have modern tools. Jon told us that the walls showed the importance of the place. So walls that had large stones and were flat were more important areas than walls that had a lot of small stones that were rounded. Our next stop was in the Plaza de Armas, which is one of the main square in Cusco. In this square is a huge cathedral, which took 94 years to build. I thought we were going into the Cathedral, but we actually entered a church to the side of the cathedral. The church is called Templo de la Sagrada Familia. We walked through the church and then into the cathedral. The church was very pretty on the inside, but we were not allowed to take pictures.
Our final stop was the Convent of Santo Domingo. Before the Spaniards came, it was the Inca Temple of the Sun. When the Spaniards took over Cusco, they destroyed the temple and built a church and convent on top of it. Cusco had an earthquake and it destroyed the walls of the convent but left the foundation that the Inca’s built untouched. They rebuilt the walls of the convent, but left the foundation visible so we can look at the Inca stonework.
We then went into one of the rooms and saw a large painting. When we look at the Milky Way, we see the different constellations. When the Incas looked at the Milky Way, they instead saw the space between the stars and saw animals in this space. They saw the lama, the lama’s offspring, a partridge, a toad, a snake, a fox, and a Shepard. I thought it was interesting how 2 different cultures had such different interpretations of the same thing.
Our final stop was a the qhelqa, which is a large golden plaque. The original was seized by the Spaniards and probably melted down for the gold, but students at the local university recreated the plaque based on historical records. We don’t know for sure what the images stood for, but it was very important to the Incas. The convent was right by our hotel, so we went back to the hotel. We were on our own for dinner, so everyone split into their groups to go eat. Since I as Tessa’s roommate, her family invited me to go eat with them. We walked to an Italian restaurant somewhere. I was completely lost, but Tessa and her dad looked like they knew were they were going. We ate pizza and pasta. I told them about myself and I found out about them. Tessa is in school, her dad is an engineer, and her mom just retired from being an OBGYN. But she is a volunteer for people with substance abuse. I also found out that they travel and hike a lot. They have been to almost every U.S. state and national park. They also just got back from Hawaii. Since I was going next month, I asked them about it. They did the Stairway to Heaven, but they went the legal route. They warned me to not do it alone because there are steep drop-offs and it is very dangerous when it is muddy. They were literally sliding down the mountain on their butts when going down. I’m glad they said that, because it convinced me I shouldn’t do it without a hiking buddy. And I’m 99% sure Kendall doesn’t want to hike it, so I wouldn’t have one. Afterward, we walked back to the hotel to get some sleep before the next day.
I flew into San Antonio the night before from Columbus, Ohio and I must have picked something up because I was not feeling well. I had a headache and my nose was congested, which is not good on a flight because I couldn’t get my ears to pop. I did get some sleep on the planes, which helped a little.
My flight to Cusco didn’t leave until 7:50pm, so I had all day to recover. Mom and I went to a couple of places to buy some last minute items I had forgotten, like an adapter and converter. On the way back to Mom’s house, we stopped by the local doctor’s office so I could get checked out. Based on my symptoms, they were worried that I had the flu, which is highly contagious. They tested for it by sticking a long Q-tip up each of my nostrils. Luckily, I didn’t have the flu and I was just sick. They gave me a steroid shot on my butt and some antibiotics and cough medicine for my trip. We then went back to Mom’s house so I could take out items I didn’t need from my suitcase and re-pack the things I needed. Then Mom drove me to Austin for my flight. I don’t know why, but it was $500 cheaper to fly out of Austin than DFW. Which is stupid because my first of 3 flights was from Austin to DFW. Luckily it was a short flight with no delays and my layover at DFW was only an hour. Then I got on the long flight to Lima, which was about 7 hours. The seatback chairs didn’t have screens to watch movies, but I had downloaded the American Airlines app on my iPad so I could watch them. I tested it out and it worked, but I didn’t feel like watching any. I read a tour guide book I had gotten for Christmas, so I would know what to expect on the trail. After reading for a while, I was tired so I went to sleep. I have never been able to sleep on the plane before, but it helped having the window sleep because I could lean against it. While I was sleeping, I was suddenly jolted awake by a scream and someone pushing my chair violently forward. I thought the person behind me was having a seizure or something, but when I looked she was fine and apologizing. I later found out that she was having a dream that someone was attacking her. That person was the back of my chair, so she was trying to shove him away and scream. It definitely woke all of us up. I tried to go back to sleep afterwards, but I couldn’t. I still tried the rest of the flight until we were landing. This week I’m in Columbus taking a data analytic course at Ohio State University. Today after class they planned an excursion for us to a local brewery. The brewery owners met in one of our professor’s classes and worked together on a project plan for a local business, which happened to be a brewery. After the course, they continued to work together and the now own North High Brewery.
My original plan was to get up early and go to the Hazelwood Botanical Preserve. It is on the National Park Service’s list of National Natural Landmarks, which was the whole reason I was going to go. But the NPS didn’t put an address on their website and I couldn’t find one on Google, so I gave up on that idea and decided to visit William Howard Taft’s House instead.
We started in one of the front rooms with a fireplace. It was one of the rooms used for entertaining guests or for family gathering. In the room now is a display giving a brief overview of William Howard Taft. In this room, the ranger told us a little about Taft. William Howard Taft was the 27thPresident of the United States. He came after Teddy Roosevelt, so he isn’t as well remembered. He was one of those presidents that didn’t have any scandals and just quietly did his job. Maybe that is why I had never heard of him before… He became president, but his dream job was to be on the Supreme Court. After his term as president he became a professor at Yale for a while, and was later named as the 10thChief Justice of the Supreme Court. He served on the Supreme Court for 9 years and resigned a month before his death due to health reasons. Our next stop was the nursery, where William Taft spent the early years of his life. Here our guide gave us a brief history of the family. William’s father, Alphonso Taft, bought the house for his first wife, Fanny Phelps. She was sick and the doctors thought fresher air would improve her health. The house is set on a hill above Cincinnati and was already built when Alphonso was looking to buy. Sadly, his wife only lived in the house for about a year before dying. Alphonso had 2 sons and needed another wife to be a mother to his boys. So his parents moved in with him while he went back to the east coast to find another wife. He married Louise Torrey and brought her back to Cincinnati. They had several children together, the second of which was William Howard Taft. William would have spent his early years in the very nursery we were in.
We then went into the hallway between the office and the next room and our guide told us how the house used to be an apartment building. The Tafts eventually moved out and sold it to a guy who sectioned off the rooms into apartments. When the government decided to buy the house and turn it into a National Historic Site, they came in and remodeled the house back to the way it originally was when the Tafts owned it. Our guide had actually met one of the people that used to live there when it was an apartment building. She came to visit the site when her grandchildren, and the office was her bedroom and the first room we went to on the tour was her living room.
It was a little after 10a.m. by this point. My next stop was the Cincinnati Observatory, but according to their website the tour didn’t start until noon. Since I had almost 2 hours to kill, I decided to drive close to the observatory and find somewhere to eat. I found a bar that was open for lunch and had good reviews. They are known for their different types of mac & cheese, so that is what I decided to eat. It was pretty good. They also do the skillet cookie, so of course I had to get one of those as well. It was not fully cooked all the way, so it wasn’t as good as normal which was sad. But I kept myself occupied for an hour reading my book and posting updates on Facebook before leaving to go to the observatory.
Our first stop was outside on the way to one of the buildings. We had to stop there first because the sun was out. On the ground was a solar clock. There was a shape in the center that looked like a bowling pin and on each side where the 12 months of the year. If you stand on the bowling pin when the sun is shining, your shadow will show you what time it is. Our guide did it, and sure enough it showed that it was noon. I wanted to do it, but sadly the sun decided to disappear behind the clouds.
We then walked back outside to a path. There were stones in the ground that had all of the planets on them. It is used to show how close the smaller planets are to the sun. We could only see 4 on the stones, but way off by the tree line was the final stone, which was Pluto. The stones were laid before Pluto was declared to no longer be a planet. Our next stop was at the corner of the main building. There, where the corner stone was, was a plaque saying that President John Quincy Adams laid it when the building was originally built in 1843. However, the original building was built on top of Mount Ida in 1843. In 1873, the pollution was so bad on Mount Ida, that they moved the telescope to Mount Lookout, which is its current location.
The observatory is known as “The Birthplace of American Astronomy” and it is a National Historic Landmark. It was really interesting! I just wish that I could visit on one of the nights when they allow people to look out them into space.
The movie about the Wright brothers was just finishing up when I arrived, so I wondered through the museum on the bottom floor while I waited. I was a little confused, because half of the museum was about the Wright brothers and the other half was about Paul Lawrence Dunbar. Dunbar was a famous African American poet. He achieved national and international success in a literary world that was almost exclusively reserved for whites. His writings contributed to later developments in African American history, such as the Harlem Renaissance and the early Civil Rights Movements. He was also a neighbor and friend of the Wright Brothers. After waiting a couple of minutes, the theatre cleared out and I could go watch the documentary of the Wright brothers. It was actually very interesting. It talked a little about their early life and how they owned several bike and printing shops in Dayton and around Ohio. The brothers were inventors and entrepreneurs. At the time, the world was gripped by the idea of flying. There were several successful gliding attempts, but no one had figured out how to remain in the air or even how to turn. While the greatest minds around the world were trying to figure this out, the Wright brothers, who never graduated high school, decided to give it a try. They went to Kitty Hawk and watched birds fly. The took detailed notes of their wing span and figured out the mechanics. They then returned home to make a model of their first plane. They returned several times to Kitty Hawk testing their design. Eventually they were faced with a dilemma, they could either focus on their businesses or they could focus on building the first airplane. They decided to focus solely on perfecting their airplane design. This caused some financial hardship, so they stopped travelling to Kitty Hawk. Instead, a local landowner allowed them to use his cow pasture to practice, which was Huffman Prairie. It took them a while, but they finally designed the first motorized airplane. However, fearful of a competitor stealing their design, the Wright brother refused to allow photos to be taken of their flights. Without the evidence, the federal and international governments didn’t believe them and refused to buy their design. Word eventually leaked to reporters, and the Wright brothers became an overnight sensation. They traveled the world showing off their airplane and receiving numerous awards. Orville lived to see the airplanes he helped design fly over the Atlantic Ocean and eventually become passenger plane, but Wilbur sadly died in 1912.
I next decided to drive to Huffman Prairie Flying Field. This was the field that the Wright brothers used to test their airplane designs. I used my GPS to get there because I don’t trust my sense of direction. On the way, I passed a sign that said Huffman Prairie but my GPS said to keep going straight. So I went straight and followed the directions my GPS gave me. Well, my GPS decided to direct me onto an air force base. I got stopped at the guard station, and they gave me directions to get to the field which was where I saw that sign I passed earlier.
After the museum closed, I drove back to Columbus. On the way, it started pouring and it was difficult to drive through but I made it. I had to first go to the airport to drop off my rental car, and then take an uber to the hotel. I was ready to check into my room and relax by this point, but it was not to be. Apparently they had deep cleaned the carpets in a lot of the rooms, and the carpet was still wet in my room so I couldn’t check in. They said it would only be about 45 minutes more and they would let me know when my room was ready. After an hour of sitting in the lobby, I finally went back up to the front desk at 8pm to see if my room was ready, and it was. So much for letting me know. I checked the carpet when I got to my room, and it was cold but not wet. I finally got to relax and get some rest.
I had to get up early so I could catch my plane to Ohio. Luckily, I had packed my suitcase the day before, which wasn’t easy since I was packing for 2.5 weeks. I have I 3 days of training in Ohio for work but I’m arriving 2 days early to explore Ohio. Afterward, I fly to San Antonio so I can leave from Austin when I fly to Peru for 1.5 weeks. So all I had to do was wake up, do a run-through of my house, and leave. I made good time to the Parking Spot to drop off my stuff and I arrived at my gate to wait for about an hour to leave. I didn’t realize that the storm the night before had grounded all flights. So my airplane was here, but it couldn’t land because there were no gates available. So the plane was delayed for an hour, but we did eventually get to leave. On the plane ride, I spent most of my time reading the Data Analytics book they gave us to read. It isn’t the most interesting of books… I also tried out the American Airline app to make sure I would be able to stream videos for my trip to Peru and Hawaii, and it worked, so that is good. We eventually landed and had more problems. I don’t know why this time, but it took them 30 minutes to get our bags to baggage claim, which messed up my timeline even more. Our first stop was a huge map of Ohio that had all the different counties of Ohio in different types of marble. Our guide gave us a brief history of Ohio and would stand on the different counties so we would know where she was talking about. Ohio became a state in 1803 and was the 17thstate in the United States, but they didn’t actually file the paperwork until the 1950s. Ohio was settled when people started moving west from the colonies. Settlers arrived by taking boats along the Ohio River, which was a lot easier than horse-drawn carriages. This caused the southern part of the state to be settled first, and people gradually started to move north. Ohio has had 3 or 4 capitals, depending on how you count them. The first capital was in the southern part of the state in Chillicothe. In 1810, the capital was moved to Zanesville for 2 years, but the representatives didn’t like Zanesville and complained constantly. It was far from everything in a forested area in the middle of nowhere and there was a lot of bugs. So the capital was moved back to Chillicothe until 1816. In 1816 a land company had a lot of land in Columbus and the owner realized if the capital was in Columbus, the land prices of his property would go up. So he offered the state a great deal: 2 pieces of land for free and he would help pay for the new capitol building to be built. It also helped that Columbus was centrally located in the state, and by this time more people were migrating north so Ohio needed a centrally located capital. So they accepted the deal and Columbus became the final capital of Ohio.
We then walked down one of the tunnels of The Crypt to an open staircase. When you looked up the staircase you could see a sun roof. The staircase was originally designed to allow employees to breath clean air, because there was no roof. But originally the floor was dirt, and dirt plus rain plus no drainage were not a good combination. So eventually they added a sun roof on the building.
On one of the walls of the Rotunda was a huge painting. This painting commemorates Perry’s Victory. The painting is about one of the battles of the War of 1812 when the British were trying to reclaim their colonies. One of the ways they did this was by sending an armada of ships down Lake Erie from Canada into the northern part of the U.S. Commodore Oliver Perry (who happened to be from Ohio) led the fight against the British. Early in the battle his flagship was destroyed. Usually this would mean that the other side won, but Perry saw that there was another ship that had been untouched and decided to make that his new flagship. Therefore, he gathered his crew into a small boat and they rowed across the battlefield to the untouched ship, which became the new flagship and they won the battle for control of Lake Erie. The other piece of artwork in the Rotunda was a marble statue. On the top part of the statue was a bust of President Lincoln. Apparently, Lincoln visited the capitol 3 times. Once before he was elected President, once after he was elected (it is said he received the official confirmation while he was there), and again after he was assassinated during his tour across the country to his grave. Below Lincoln’s bust is a tribute to the Battle of Vicksburg. There were other more important victories for the Union, but the Battle of Vicksburg was led by 3 Ohio boys: Grant, McPherson, and Sherman.
I was running behind schedule at this point so I drove straight to Sun Watch Indian Village. All the other locations I wanted to visit in Dayton were going to be open tomorrow except Sun Watch, so I had to see that one today. I walked in and there really wasn’t many people there so I was able to immediately watch the movie about Sun Watch. The movie mainly talked about how Sun Watch was discovered and excavated. The city of Dayton were planning on building a sewage treatment facility on the site, so excavation ramped up during the 70s as archaeologists tried to discover and save as much information as possible. Due to their discoveries the city changed it’s mind and Sun Watch was eventually named a historical landmark. The movie also showed information about the lives of the people at Sun Watch. It was named Sun Watch because of the giant poles that were at the center of the village which archaeologist believe show when the summer and winter solstice are. The village was eventually abandoned, which archaeologist believe was because of scarce food sources and the village moved somewhere else. The new location they moved to hasn’t been discovered yet.
After the museum I walked outside to explore the recreated village. Obviously it is not the original because the wood and grass used for the roofs would have decayed by then. They are slowly recreating the buildings that originally stood at the site. To do this, they are using the methods that were available during that time and the local flora. When I walked out there were these long grasses in the shapes of teepees just sitting there. They are in the process of drying the grass out and when they are finished the grass will go on top of one of the buildings they are recreating as the roof.
The village is believe to have been occupied around the year 1200 A.D. On the path from the village were signs of other events that happened around the world during this time. One of the events was Cahokia, which I found interesting because I had visited the Cahokia Mounds by St. Louis earlier this year. They also mentioned Machu Picchu, which I’m going to next week. There were also events in Europe and Asia, but I haven’t been to the places mentioned so I wasn’t as interested in them.
It was getting close to 5 by the time I was done, so I went ahead and drove the hour to Cincinnati. I checked into my hotel and asked the attendant where I could find Cincinnati Chili. I had never heard of it before, but Austin mentioned it to me when I told him I was going to Cincinnati. Apparently they are known for it. The attendant gave me a list of restaurants close to the hotel, so after dropping off my stuff I went there.
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June 2022
AuthorThese are details from my adventures around the world. |