Just inside the archway on the left is this small altar where sometimes services are said for the deceased.
Before we went in our guide "hired" two young boys to help show traditions of burials and care of the graves. First he had them purchased flowers and then some offerings for the grave sites.
Caskets are placed along the avenues and stacked. 
This small structure holds the graves of children because their caskets are so small.
In the rows to the left where Washington is pointing are cremated remains.
He asked the boys to pick any grave they wanted and show what people do. The boys actually picked the grave behid him, and placed the flowers and offerings in the opening. Then he had them show us how they polish the brass decorations using juice from a lime, then rubbing and polishing. It went from very tarnished to shiny. It was interesting to hear about the Peruvian culture surrounding death.
From here we journeyed outside the city to the incredible hillside fortress of Saqsaywaman (sounds kind of like saying sexy woman). The complex was amazing! It is the largest remaining Inca site and was a ceremonial temple built to the sun gold and used by the Incas. It took approximately 50 years to build by 20,000 men. Inside Saqsaywaman, archeologists found large food and weapons stores, as well as channels for distributing water.
Most of the large stones weigh 40 tons each! The small stones are from renovations.
What is so amazing is the way it was built. It has large blocks of limestone, the highest reaching 27 feet and the heaviest 101 TONS!!
The Inca also put "hidden" images into the construction. Can you see the fist below?
It was amazing to see and hard to believe that is only about 2 miles outside of Cusco!
From here we went to Kenko, a holy place (huaca) where sacrifices were held. It as an amazing experience. We met a shaman (holy man) who explained their culture and performed a cleansing ceremony for us.
The young men were playing panpipes and drums and the young woman was singing.
This video is part of the ceremony. https://youtu.be/fp2E-8WFa-o After the ceremony, we all danced together with the shaman. It was very interesting and was quite spiritual.
We did get to feed the llamas, alpacas, and guanacos after the ceremony.
This guanaco wanted to photo bomb the picture with Tobey!
We had a short video after this explaining the weaving and crafts that they sell to support their community. Afterwards, Tobey and I went back to feed the animals again. I ran out of food and one of the llamas was not happy so it actually spit on me! Tobey couldn't stop laughing. Fortunately, it wasn't much (grass) and I cleaned up easily.
We came back to town for a cooking demonstration and lunch. I have to admit, I had trouble staying awake, but the end result of the chef's preparation was delicious!
This small structure holds the graves of children because their caskets are so small.
In the rows to the left where Washington is pointing are cremated remains.
He asked the boys to pick any grave they wanted and show what people do. The boys actually picked the grave behid him, and placed the flowers and offerings in the opening. Then he had them show us how they polish the brass decorations using juice from a lime, then rubbing and polishing. It went from very tarnished to shiny. It was interesting to hear about the Peruvian culture surrounding death.
From here we journeyed outside the city to the incredible hillside fortress of Saqsaywaman (sounds kind of like saying sexy woman). The complex was amazing! It is the largest remaining Inca site and was a ceremonial temple built to the sun gold and used by the Incas. It took approximately 50 years to build by 20,000 men. Inside Saqsaywaman, archeologists found large food and weapons stores, as well as channels for distributing water.
Most of the large stones weigh 40 tons each! The small stones are from renovations.
What is so amazing is the way it was built. It has large blocks of limestone, the highest reaching 27 feet and the heaviest 101 TONS!!
The Inca also put "hidden" images into the construction. Can you see the fist below?
It was amazing to see and hard to believe that is only about 2 miles outside of Cusco!
From here we went to Kenko, a holy place (huaca) where sacrifices were held. It as an amazing experience. We met a shaman (holy man) who explained their culture and performed a cleansing ceremony for us.
The young men were playing panpipes and drums and the young woman was singing.
This video is part of the ceremony. https://youtu.be/fp2E-8WFa-o After the ceremony, we all danced together with the shaman. It was very interesting and was quite spiritual.
We did get to feed the llamas, alpacas, and guanacos after the ceremony.
This guanaco wanted to photo bomb the picture with Tobey!
We had a short video after this explaining the weaving and crafts that they sell to support their community. Afterwards, Tobey and I went back to feed the animals again. I ran out of food and one of the llamas was not happy so it actually spit on me! Tobey couldn't stop laughing. Fortunately, it wasn't much (grass) and I cleaned up easily.
We came back to town for a cooking demonstration and lunch. I have to admit, I had trouble staying awake, but the end result of the chef's preparation was delicious!
We got the recipe, and if I can translate it I may give it a try when we get home. The presentation was beautiful.
I had the chicken and Tobey had the trout. Both were very good.
After lunch, the group went back to the hotel and Tobey and I headed off to explore. We stopped in some of the shops and then decided to get massages. The "come on" was that the 60 minute massage was only 20Sol (about $5.00USD). WELL, once there, that was just a light back massage. We opted for an Inka massage which was full body with hot stones for 130Sol ($35USD). They were pretty good for the price.
We took a short break before taking another walk and stopping to get pizza for dinner. Yes, I know, pizza in Peru? Well, it was pretty good and came with a plate of yummy bread. They also served a garlic sauce that we put on the pizza and bread.
We headed back to the hotel since we need to check out tomorrow and head toward Urubamba. This church is across the street from our hotel and looked beautiful tonight.
It's hard to believe that our trip is coming to a close in a few days, but we still have Machu Picchu to come!
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