Rock Puzzles
Thursday, July 02, 2009
June 12
Today was a long one filled with driving and ruins. We loaded into a bus early in the morning and drove for a while. Beautiful scenery surrounded us as we drove to our first Incan ruin. We hiked uphill for about twenty minutes until we arrived at the site of an ancient temple. After a short lecture we walked around gazing at the amazing stone work.
The intricacies are amazing. These guys had no steel tools, yet they managed to fit blocks together perfectly. There are curves, niches, and doorways made from perfectly crafted granite. The doorways are trapezoidal so as to counter the effects of the many earthquakes in the region. Sometimes the rocks were dragged miles from where they were quarried to where they were worked and placed. The building of one village may have taken generations to finish.
Our next stop was Ollantaytambo. This was comprised of large terraces and a temple for the sun God. The rocks were quarried from the mountain across the way. When asked why they weren’t taken from the top of the hill we were standing on, we were told that the rocks on this hill were not as hard as the rocks from the hill across the way. Rocks were quarried and dragged down the hillside by humans (they had no cows or horses). When they arrived at the river they diverted it, dragged the rocks across the bed, and then let it flow naturally again so they could get it the rest of the way up the mountain.
After lots more driving we ate lunch and then we drove some more. We arrived at the final site which turned out to be a village. We stopped at an artisan’s workshop. Here we were treated to a demonstration of how they dye the wool to make the colors for the spectacular textiles they have come to be known for. We passed through a market in the town square. Much to the chagrin of the guide we stopped to make some purchases before settling into the Catholic Church to learn more about the early inhabitants.
We ended up back at the hotel in time for dinner. It was a long day full of fascinating, new things. We were all tired and anxious for the morning when we would be loading into a train and then hiking up to Machu Picchu. By this time tomorrow we would be gazing upon this mystical place.
MJR
June 12
Today was a long one filled with driving and ruins. We loaded into a bus early in the morning and drove for a while. Beautiful scenery surrounded us as we drove to our first Incan ruin. We hiked uphill for about twenty minutes until we arrived at the site of an ancient temple. After a short lecture we walked around gazing at the amazing stone work.
The intricacies are amazing. These guys had no steel tools, yet they managed to fit blocks together perfectly. There are curves, niches, and doorways made from perfectly crafted granite. The doorways are trapezoidal so as to counter the effects of the many earthquakes in the region. Sometimes the rocks were dragged miles from where they were quarried to where they were worked and placed. The building of one village may have taken generations to finish.
Our next stop was Ollantaytambo. This was comprised of large terraces and a temple for the sun God. The rocks were quarried from the mountain across the way. When asked why they weren’t taken from the top of the hill we were standing on, we were told that the rocks on this hill were not as hard as the rocks from the hill across the way. Rocks were quarried and dragged down the hillside by humans (they had no cows or horses). When they arrived at the river they diverted it, dragged the rocks across the bed, and then let it flow naturally again so they could get it the rest of the way up the mountain.
After lots more driving we ate lunch and then we drove some more. We arrived at the final site which turned out to be a village. We stopped at an artisan’s workshop. Here we were treated to a demonstration of how they dye the wool to make the colors for the spectacular textiles they have come to be known for. We passed through a market in the town square. Much to the chagrin of the guide we stopped to make some purchases before settling into the Catholic Church to learn more about the early inhabitants.
We ended up back at the hotel in time for dinner. It was a long day full of fascinating, new things. We were all tired and anxious for the morning when we would be loading into a train and then hiking up to Machu Picchu. By this time tomorrow we would be gazing upon this mystical place.MJR
posted by Bronx to Timbuktu at 6:05 PM
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