Above is a photo of me taken at La Raya Pass, the highest point of our road trip at 14,222 ft. By now thank goodness I had recovered from my altitude symptoms and was feeling fine. The vast altiplano (high plane) we traveled through in Bolivia is an arid and bleak place with only the occasional tiny farm struggling to survive in a brown landscape.We continued heading towards Cuzco for the rest of the first week, visiting many ancient and fascinating places along the way, including the Pukara Temple and the Raqchi Palace ruins.
This church is known as the Sistine Chapel of the Andes. From the outside it doesn´t look very impressive but inside it had the most incredible baroque decor. Unfortunately no photos were allowed inside.
Eventually we arrived in Cuzco. This sign by the lift amused me...it says 'please do not use the lift during an earthquake'! It was nice to actually be staying in one place for a while and we spent a few days sightseeing with a local guide, Adriano. He was also a shaman and rightly placed a great deal of importance on performing brief cleansing ceremonies as we visited sites sacred to the Incas. These were chants in Quechua, the Inca language which is still the native language, accompanied by special gestures.
A happy group!
These niches were for mummies. The trapezoid shape protects the structure from earthquake damage. Clever people, the Incas!
One place we visited, Q'enqo, was a centre of religious worship. It was a rough, rocky place and Adriano said to follow him into a narrow rock tunnel. It was low and roughly finished with rocks protruding from above and the sides. I was ahead of the group and I went in, crouched down so I wouldn´t bang my head and feeling my way slowly as it became pitch dark. I couldn´t see anything at all and I couldn´t hear anyone behind me and started to feel lost when I heard Adriano chanting in the distance so I headed towards the sound. It was the most surreal experience, feeling my way through the dark guided by a voice chanting in the Inca language. I eventually reached Adriano who was waiting in a dim chamber lit from a gap in the rocks above. Here I could stand upright again. As the rest of the group arrived we were told it was a funeral chamber and the slab of rock in front of us was where the bodies were laid. There were grooves chiseled in it for draining away the blood. Rather gruesome and a strange experience altogether.
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