Weekend Adventures

This is where I spent the afternoon yesterday, after having ice-cream for lunch. It was lovely and relaxing.

Today, I left my house at 7:40 to make the 35 minute walk to school (it starts with the steepest hill ever). Everyone then got on a tour bus to go Ingapirca, Inca/Cañari ruins a about an hour and a half outside of Cuenca.

As a brief history lesson: The Cañaries were an indigenous group settled in the area for many, many, many years. Only sixty years before the arrival of the Spanish did they fall under Inca control. Despite the Inca presence the Cañaris maintained a lot of the culture.

On the way we stopped a few places. The first was a town about the size of Westbrook or Carlisle. Well, I guess the first was actually a gas station, but we're going to say that doesn't count. The reason we stopped in the town was because of the amazing church that was literally built into the top of the mountain. The reason it was built there, was so that people could worship close to Heaven.  

The view from the bus as we drove up the mountain.

Beautiful.

From the inside, looking up. This was the first church that I've taken pictures of the interior on this trip. I felt slightly wrong/guilty about doing it. I feel like taking pictures turns people's worship space into a tourist destination. The architecture was so beautiful and the building was so unique, that it in some ways functioned as both.

Actually build into the side of the mountain. On either side of the column, you can see the stone.

There were stairs going all the way up. Completely worth the climb.

The view looking down.

The back of the church and the side of the mountain.

We also stopped at a market where you could buy everything. We, however, didn't buy anything. Once again I felt slightly off about turning people's lives into a tourist destination. Had we been participants in their lives, as in bought things, it probably would have been different. However, we were on a schedule and didn't have much time.

On Friday night, we all had salsa lessons. And a few people decided to practice on the bus:

And then we were there:

The ruins don't include any homes. Instead it was the center of the town. The buildings were constructed so that they formed the shape of a crouched puma, symbolizing their power.

All of the ruins were just foundations. The Spanish destroyed the town and all of the other materials were transported to newly forming Spanish settlements to be used in their building projects. This included two of churches in Cuenca. I'll post pictures of those eventually. The circular shapes were used by the Incas for cooking.

This is a lunar calender. The moon only ever reflects in one of the pools of water. Which pool is dependent on the season.

Where we ate lunch.

I loved the proximity of the ancient structure to the living town.

Incan aqueduct. Aqueduct's are considered a great Roman invention. Why do we never talk about the fact that the Incas had them, too? 

You know you're a mile and half above sea level when...
there's clouds rolling in at the same altitude.

I then slept the whole way back.