Inca adventure 3

Sunday 21st Feb
Today we set off with Walter for our 3rd and final day exploring the sites around Cusco. We headed south, back on the road we had arrived on from Puno. Our first stop was at Tipon, an Incan city whose military and temple regions have been destroyed but which has amazing terraces and an incredible water system fed from a natural spring at the top of the site. We had to wind our way up the mountain on an incredibly thin and really bad road, mud, lumps and bumps everywhere and a sheer drop down at the sides. Fortunately we only met one car and that was at a point where our side of the road was not on the sheer drop side - phew!
It seems that Tipon was a place where the Inca tried to develop new varieties of potato. No other pollen has been found at the site, and when the earth was dug they found hundreds of different types of potato. It seems that they were trying to adapt the potato to grow at higher and higher altitudes. The terraces here were larger, wider than any others we have seen and the water system at this place in unique. The irrigation system is wide and there are waterfalls over each terrace. From the single spring at the top the chanel is divided into two, then back into one, then into four fountains. Apparently the emergence of the water from the earth signifies birth, the two channels may either signify man and woman, or perhaps the two parts of the Inca society, the military or the religious, but whichever, these unite to give one family or one empire. The four is to do with mother nature (Pachamama) and the four elements in which the Inca believed - Earth, wind, fire and water.
Back down the horrid road we went to head further south to our next stop at Pikillaqta (a Wari city that was later used by the Inca as a prison), however our plans were foiled as there was a paro (a strike) in one of the towns that has been badly affected by the flood. They had covered the road in mud and burning tyres in an attempt to get the attention of the local government. Celso and Walter went to take a closer look. A man was protesting to the protestors about not being able to get through the village (this is the only road out of Cusco to North, South or West that is open and not blocked by landslides). A woman protestor said they were going to strike all week and that he was welcome to wait in the tent that she had been given by the authorities which leaked when it rained and to drink the dirty water that was all that was available, to use the toilet facilities that they had, basically a bucket that was then emptied into the river. She said all they owned had been destroyed when their home collapsed in the floods and that people had helped them by giving them food and water but that they had waited a month for help from the local government but all they had received was a leaky tent per family affected. I think they had reason to protest and so we turned around and drove back toward Cusco.
We stopped for lunch in a place that was famous for Cuy (guinea pig) and Celso and Walter shared one whilst Tristan and I ate fritada (fried pork, potatoes and a boiled choclo). Tristan and I tried a bit of Cuy but to me it was sort of sweet and a bit slimy! The fact that it still had its head, feet and claws was not very appetising!
We then headed back to Cusco and I spent about an hour trying to teach Walter how he could set up an album on Picasa so that he could advertise to tourists over the Internet. He could leave calling cards in hotels with the address and his contact details. At the moment he is dependent on some agencies recommending him to tourists and then he has to pay them a percentage of his earnings.
Walter then accompanied us to a small museum near the Plaza de Armas that has a small collection showing examples of potteries, textiles or tools from each era of occupation around Cusco, from prehistoric fossils, through stone tools, to the textiles and ceramics of the Incas and their predecessors. And then we had to say our fairwells and thank yous to Walter and off he went. - Nice guy!
Monday 22nd Feb
It rained all night, last night, it rained and rained and rained. I hate to think what those protestors were suffering. We waited until midmorning when the rain started to slow down and then went out in search of someone who would take us out on a horse ride. We found an office and after paperwork were taken up the hill near Saqsayhuaman to meet our 14 year old guide and the horses. We rode for about 1.5 hours (it could have been longer but it started to rain hard again!) on the top of the hills looking down over Cusco below. Tristan, who was riding for the first time, had a ball; he loved it; he managed to make the horse go where he wanted to most of the time and he didn't fell any discomfort. Both Celso and I dismounted and waddled for a while as we searched for some transport to take us down the hill back into town. We spent the afternoon exploring the hundreds of shops full of local handicrafts, woolens, paintings, ceramics and carvings. Incredible.