Sexy Woman of Cuzco
Roped you right in, didn't I? After the Huyana Picchu entry I knew I needed a substantial tug to keep folks interested in this blog. So that is what this entry is about, The Sexy Woman of Cuzco. Who is she and how do you get to see her?
A sight to behold from both far and near, complex yet simple, layers of beauty...these are the ruins of Sacsay huaman, tongue twisted to Sexy Woman by non native speakers.Before you head out to see her, a couple of pieces of advice,
- check to make sure you have enough sols for your entry into the ruins. She is clothed in a fabulous fortress like walls and you will not even be able to glimpse her without paying dues :)
- It is a steep 30 + minutes walk from the town center so if you have just arrived in Cuzco you are probably better of taking a taxi...be warned though that the taxi driver may sell himself as a tourguide and offer to take you around the surrounding area but you will still need to shell out the sols for the entry to Sexy Woman
- A Quechua guide is great company since you can learn about the culture along with the standard, heres a rock with 12 angles bit.
As you walk up the steep incline (or if you are like us, walk down as it is better bet to get a good fare going up then down, no price gouging on return), do not forget to admire the Windows and Walls of Cuzco.
Once you pay your dues to see Ms. Sexy, the entrance to the park is through a narrow tunnel between two rocks.
As brave as I intended to be, I just could not make it past the first 5 feet..claustrophobia at its best, I simply turned around ready to walk away from the site. Thats when the guide comes clean and says "all you have to do is climb a small slope to the right of the entrance and come down to the other side of the cave". All izzz well.The site is stunning with all manners of natural boulders and quarried stones and served as a fortress in the time of Pachacutec but is now a slide park for the local kids.
Having seen the site so far, I was convinced that there could be nothing more than this great big grassy plateau and stadium like walls surrounding it. Almost like a Roman Colosseum with short walls. But we were in for a surprise as we walked further closer to the boulder slides and behind. Another massive ground surrounded by walls built with huge boulders quarried from some 20 km away. Completed in 1508, the number of years and man hours it took to build this structure can make the man power of Shah Jahan's Taj Mahal seem like a neighborhood community service project.
Up close and personal, the tallest rock is 28 feet high weighing 140 metric tons. An exercise in geometry and physics all at once, the rocks are so well "masoned" that not a blade of grass can pass through.
There are historical records to show that the smaller rocks seen on top of the larger boulders were used to build the cathedrals and squares by the spanish once they dismantled (to the extent they could) this site. Why? Because this mysterious structure could not have been possibly built by the ignorant and wild natives and hence had to be the doings of some demonic supernatural being. The prime example of such rebuilding is at Coricancha, which is another site i recommend exploring during your visit to Cuzco.Into the distance you will see majestic Christo Blanco facing the valley and blessing the town of Cuzco.
Further up, over the massive rock wall is the perfect viewing platform from which to view the entire city of Cuzco. The city that was build in the shape of a Puma, where Sacsay Huaman is the head and the central plaza is the belly, you can view the belly as your turn your head.
And once you enjoy your time with the Sexy Woman, do not forget to say hi to the real Andean women.
And now for good measure (with full disclosure that I am at least 5 feet tall), heres proving a point as to how tall most of these boulders are...I say root deeply and reach higher!