Friday 10 October 2008

Cuzco

South America Day 15

Back in Cuzco and an opportunity to rest for a couple of days. A little over half the group boarded a flight to the jungle which didn't really appeal to us. In hindsight, maybe we should have....
We spent the day doing jobs like washing and buying snack supplies. We eventually decided to go and see the tourist spots around Cuzco.
 
Qoricancha, the Temple of the Sun was our first monument..
I was somewhat underwhelmed by The Temple of the Sun. The one thing that did interest me was that building structure. Qoricancha was originally built by the Incas and when the Spanish arrived, they cut the top off it and added some European architecture. They must have learned that the Incas knew how to stop their buildings being shaken to a pile of rubble and left the lower levels as they were.
  
 
 
It wasn't just Qoricancha that had the split architecture. Most of the older buildings in Cuzco have the 3 deg. rock foundations and ground floor with a European top. The building above is no exception.
That afternoon we also went to the Inca museum. It was OK, but the Spaniards had already melted down anything metal or sold or stole anything else of value. I made the mistake of looking at an exhibit with a light under it. I didn't see it with the main part of my vision, but I still ended up doing damage to my retina. (Edit: 6 months later I still have a sideways crescent dark patch from my right eye just under my normal vision.)
We ended up playing darts in a pub that evening. Sometimes on a long trip you have to have down days every now and then.