Day Trip to Ingapirca

This week, we went on a day trip to Ingapirca.  It is Ecuador's largest set of ancient remains.   Here is a Wikipedia link to read more about it.   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ingapirca

Ingapirca is about 2 hours north/north east of Cuenca.  It is in the neighboring province (state) of Canar, and is at about 10,000 feet.

We met our small (16 people) private tour group at one of Cuenca's many neighborhood squares.  All but 1 of our fellow passengers currently live in Cuenca - the other was visiting a friend who lives in Cuenca.  From there, we boarded a bus for the drive to Ingapirca.  The roads were in great shape (albeit a bit winding and quite steep) and it was a nice drive.

The weather at 10,000 feet ranged from nice to cold to hot - all within a few minutes!

There's a lot of history at Ingapirca.  The new museum is scheduled to open next month.  The museum will house artifacts as well as 11 mummies found at the site.  Cool and creepy!  The main mummy was a high ranking female, surrounded by 10 of her servants (who were drugged, then buried alive!)  Their burial spot is shown below.

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Our tour bus (and Tom with fellow passengers)  I resisted the urge to write "WASH ME" on the back of the dirty bus!

The nice Welcome Center.

A reconstructed house using both Canari and Inca design elements.  Notice the slanted/angled  doorway.  It was an Inca-inspired design to withstand earthquakes.

The inner half circle represented the moon.  The outer half circle represented the sun. They worshipped both the sun and moon.

Our guide pointing out where the 11 mummies were buried. The upright stone is a sundial.

This is part of the Inca Road, a long stretch of roadway connecting much of South America.  Notice the small aqueduct on the left hand side.  Imagine the work it took to pave a road through South America centuries ago!

More of the Inca Road.

More of the Inca Road.

On the way to the Sun Temple.

This rock was used as a lunar calendar.  Each hole represents a phase of the moon.  28 holes represented 1 month in the Inca calendar.  

The Sun Temple.  No mortar was used - only precisely cut and stacked stones. Oddly, the greenish shade of the stones is something that happened when a university in Quito (capital city) tried to "clean" the stones in 2009!  21st Century stupidity met with 15th Century artistry.

Look how tight the joints are!

In the Sun Temple. Our tour guide is explaining how the sun came in through a door (in front of him) and lit up one of the 4 "windows" behind him.  Each solstice lined up perfectly with one of the windows, thus, everyone knew when the season started.   

On the other side of the 4 seasons windows are these 3 windows. Sunlight coming through the doorway on this side hit one of the 3 windows, thereby indicating when crops should be planted or harvested.  The middle window was the summer solstice.

Another shot of the perfectly stacked stones of the Sun Temple.

Looking back at the ruins from a walking trail. The trail led to the Inca face below...

Notice the "face" in the rocks?  The Incas did!  HINT:  He's looking to the right. His eyelashes are palm plants.  Spooky!

A very old adobe building along the walking trail.  Some locals living along this trail are (illegally) selling ancient artifacts they dig up in the area - arrowheads, clay pots, etc.

On our return trip to Cuenca, we stopped at a small town named Biblian (named after the Bible.)  Most of the town's residents live in the US or Spain.  High above the town sits a church built into the mountainside.  Our bus struggled to make the climb!

That's the church way up there!

On the rooftop looking down.  Would make a great jigsaw puzzle!

Looking down at Biblian.

See how the church is built into the side of the mountain?

The church is really, really high up!

Yesterday, the pandas next door had a birthday party. Very cute!

Sunday Out & About

Today is April 12 - it's a very big day here in Cuenca. The city turns 458 years old.  Well, that's 458 years since the Spanish "founded" the city.  The Canari and Inca were here for centuries prior.  458 years of being "Cuenca," I guess!

Because this is a key date in Cuenca's history, there are street craft fairs all around town.  After lunch this afternoon, we walked around one such fair.  Lots of booths; however, most were selling the exact same things:  woven hats for kids (ski caps that look like Hello Kitty, Angry Birds, etc.) clothes, jewelry, and oil paintings.  Many booths were selling very ornate toilet seat covers, oddly enough.  I've never noticed them here before.

It has been sprinkling rain on/off all morning and afternoon. We dodged the rain as best we could before hopping on a bus back home.

Here are some shots from today's trek.  Because of the rain, I could only do quick "point & shoot" pictures, but they will give you a glimpse into some of the scenes we saw today.

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Street fair across the Tomebamba River

On the bridge crossing the Tomebamba River.  The woman (wearing white) is selling grilled plantains from her cart on the left.

On the other side of the Tomebamba.  We had lunch up those many, many steps on the left.

Starlite Trailer Lodge is represented in Ecuador!  Sorry for the fuzzy shot - we were holding on for dear life (as usual on the buses here!)

BELOW:  This is a major north/south street in Cuenca - Avenida de Las Americas.  Near our house.  We were standing under a canopy just waiting for the rain shower to pass.  That's a school bus heading northbound, by the way.  Most school buses are much smaller than this one. 

The "Unidas" store in the background is a giant paint store.  I've only seen it open once since we've been here.  They cater to the professional painter, I believe.  

Behind the Unidas store is the city's biggest market, Feria Libre.  You can buy anything from St. Bernard puppies to cell phones to handicrafts to freshly slaughtered cattle.  World's greatest people watching - beats an airport, Wal-Mart, a cruise ship, you name it!  I'm sure you could even find a vertical tail fin stabilizer for a 747 if you look deep enough.  I love to walk there.

...still waiting on the rain to slow down.  That's our building in the middle of the picture.  We then took our lives into our own hands and darted across Las Americas!

This is Tom's favorite house on our street.  It is always impeccably maintained.  Notice the vintage VW Beetle in the driveway. 

Our building, Edificio Amazonas, is on the right.  Tom's crossing the street to avoid the dog poop on the sidewalk!  This is Los Pinos Street, and will soon be on Google Maps!

Some of the beautiful plants along the fence at one of the homes on our street. Any/everything grows here!