Saturday morning was absolutely beautiful. In fact, it was beautiful all week, quite a change from my first week in Cusco when it rained every day. Alayne and I planned on climbing up to the Blanco Christo, a statue high above the city with good views. At the last minute, we asked Jake if he wanted to come along, which he did. That sealed our fate for the day. As we were huffing and puffing our way up the very steep streets, we ran into someone Jake met the week before (he's been here just over two weeks, and yet he seems to know everyone), who offered us a great price on horseback riding to several Incan sites. We didn't think about it for too long before saying yes.
The horses, which are a special Peruvian breed, were just plain funny. Jake's horse wasn't happy unless he was half a mile ahead of everyone else, and if he was behind, he had no problems pushing other horses out of the way. Obviously the bully horse. My horse didn't like to listen to me. Our 13-year-old guide, David, kept yelling at me to pull the horses reins to get him to stop. I was, it wasn't doing any good. And Alayne's horse had one speed, which was a very, very slow walk. David was in for a long day.
Our first stop was the Incan temple of the moon. It was an impressive pile of rocks, with lots of caves that included altars. (That's us on top of the temple when we were warm, dry, and happy.) Fun exploring. We took a lot longer than the 10 minutes David recommended. We hopped back on the horses and headed up the mountain (Jake becoming a speck in the distance). I was worried my horse, Inti, wasn't going to make it. He was breathing pretty hard. I'd say it was the altitude, but I'm pretty sure the horse is adjusted to that. We stopped for two different sites, Tambomachay, a former Incan water cult, and Pukapukara, an Incan fort. The latter of which has amazing views, from which we could see the dark clouds approaching through the valley. On our way back to the horses, the rain started. By the time we got to the horses, it was a downpour, and the temperature was dropping. We crouched down beside a mud wall for protection, and because they're always there when you need them, locals appeared selling ponchos. I don't know where they came from, but we needed it to say the least. The beautiful weather had lulled us into a false sense of security, and we were most definitely not prepared. As soon as we got our ponchos on, the rain turned to hail. We huddled together for warmth against our mud wall for almost an hour. I'm sure we were a pathetic site. Three gringos verging on hysteria (we never stopped laughing, what else can you do?) wet and freezing. And muddy. When we got home, I realized I looked like I had been dragged through the mud.
It hadn't quite stopped raining when we got back on the horse. I couldn't feel my fingers, which made it difficult to hold the reins of my horse. We went to one more site, a bunch of tunnels the Incas had built to hide from the Spanish, who were trying to kill them. I only wish I had full function of my fingers to be able to get my camera out. (I'll steal some photos from Alayne and Jake.) There are always Peruvians selling everything, including sweaters and gloves, but when you need them, they aren't there! (I can't really complain too much after the miraculous appearance of the ponchos.)
After returning our horses and saying good-bye to David, we actually did make it to the Blanco Christo, but it was the least impressive part of the day. The best part was a kid named William, who spoke English very well, but needed a bit of practice. He asked Jake if Alayne was his woman or his brother.
Tomorrow: The Weekend, Part 2: Um, Has Anyone Seen my Wallet?
1 comment:
Meg and I were saying today how happy you look in your pictures!
I am jealous!
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