Peru Day 6: May 3rd.
What a specular day we had! From the Sacred Valley to Machu Picchu.
We started the day with a cultural demonstration of an Inca healing ceremony that is still practiced today. We were invited to add coca leaves to the offering. The Andean Healer wrapped the offerings on the white paper and put them in the fire. The offering included symbols for flowers, house, man, woman, animals and an assortment of grains, spices and foods.
The Healer then wrapped off the offering and created a tent in the top part and were we each asked to blow three times into the tent created from the wrappings. In this culture, many customs are done in threes, representing the earth beneath us, the world we are in, and the sky.
May 3rd is the Festival of the Crosses, also known as Cruces de Mayo (May Crosses Festival) in Peru. This was introduced to Peru by the Spaniards and is celebrated in mostly in towns in the Andean highlands. The town of Machu Picchu was all decked out for the celebration.
We saw many walls of Inca stone work as well as Andean in town. Many werea dressed up for the festival of Crosses.
Machu Picchu town is also known as Aguas Calientes. The Urubamba River rushes through town.
Waynapicchu (mountain) rises about the old city of Machu Picchu. You can climb it, but they only allow 400 people today at set times, and you need reservations months ahead of time.
There were many homes in Machu Picchu. Posts were run across and filled in with materials to form a second floor, then a thatched roof was added. The homes we saw dis not show the triangle sides. About 10% of the site is in ruins and because it is a UNESCO World Heritage site, they have to leave everything as they found it, even the fallen boulders.
The Sun Temple is located near where the Inca emperor is believed to have resided at Machu Picchu. A rock inside the temple could have served as an altar. During the June solstice the rising sun shines directly into one of the temple’s windows, and this indicates an alignment between the window, rock and solstice sun
These are many many terraces used for farming primarily vegetables and to avoid erosion.
Waynapicchu Mountain was really brilliant in the afternoon.
Llamas roam the site freely, they will actually bump you out of the way if you are on a trail they want to use! This one just pranced on by while I was taking photos.
The site has a chamber with two circular cavities carved into the ground. Hiram Bingham interpreted them to be mortars to grind potatoes and corn, but expert opinions disagree. It is more widely agreed that they didn’t serve a practical purpose but rather a spiritual, ritualistic one. They may have been used for divination through the reflections that appear when they are filled with clear water.
The Temple of the Condor is a breathtaking example of Inca stonemasonry. A natural rock formation began to take shape millions of years ago and the Inca skillfully shaped the rock into the outspread wings of a condor in flight. On the floor of the temple is a rock carved in the shape of the condor’s head and neck feathers, completing the figure of a three-dimensional bird. Historians speculate that the head of the condor was used as a sacrificial altar. Under the temple is a small cave that contained a mummy.
Machu Picchu is a busy town at night. The train runs right through town, so you need to be alert! There is a large fountain in the town square.
This cross outside the Virgen del Carmen Catholic Church was decorated. We are presuming it is decorated for the Festival of Crosses.