The Incas

Machu Picchu was awesome in the true sense of the word. It was massive and impressive and awe-inspiring. I still have so much to learn about the Incas and Machu Picchu specifically, but the small pieces of history that I was able to pick up eavesdropping on tour groups conveyed how advanced the Incas were. Their engineering and advanced planning were just magnificent.

You can google "Inca stones" and learn a ton about the different styles and time periods of Incan stonework, work that engineers today still can't figured out how they did. This type of stonework is all over Machu Picchu, but also all over Cusco. Melissa and I partook in the city tour of Cusco, which took us to four Incan ruins in Cusco: Saqsayhuaman, Pukapukara, Q'enqo, and Tambomachay. That tour also included an initial stop at Qorikancha, the Convent of Santo Domingo that was built on top of Incan ruins. At all of those tour stops explores the different time periods of the Incan stones. I had vague recollections of learning about their engineering in school, but to be honest I've always confused the Incans with the Aztecs and the Mayans.  One of the reasons why I value travel so much is because being in the presence of history and walking the same steps as people who came 1000 years before me is so magical and I walk away with a new part of me. As much as I love learning about history, there's no way to replicate the experience of being there.  After Mel's friends Rachelle and Luke joined us in Cusco, we took a free walking tour of the city and learned so much more about the Incans, the Spanish, and how the stonework changed over different time periods. 

I'm going to break my thoughts up into several posts because of the internet, but also because it's hard for me to get everything out at one time, while still living in the moment here in Cusco.