Day 11 Trip Back and a Sexy Woman!!!

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The last day of this momentous trip was Renee Dineen's Day to Co-Lead. Renee had worked with KB and Darby at Genentech, she had recently started her own Organizational Change Management consultancy and was very good people.

 

Renee Dineen's Strength: Integration

Blessing ~ John O’Donohue. May you awaken to the mystery of being here and enter the quiet immensity of your own presence. May you have joy and peace in the temple of your senses. May you receive great encouragement when new frontiers beckon. May you respond to the call of your gift and find the courage to follow its path. May the flame of anger free you from falsity. May warmth of heart keep your presence aflame and may anxiety never linger about you.  May your outer dignity mirror an inner dignity of soul. May you take time to celebrate the quiet miracles that seek no attention. May you be consoled in the secret symmetry of your soul. May you experience each day as a sacred gift woven around the heart of wonder.    

Renee shared a few kind words about how wonderful it had been to meet everybody and with everyone feeling good the Team split into two, one to climb, other to buy tourist trinkets!

 

A Morning Sun Gate Climb for Some, Being a Tourist for Others

Liz took Mike and a small group for a 2 hour, steep climb up to the Sun Gate, opposite Machu Picchu. This temple is directly in line with the rising sun every morning, it is thought it was a special site.

The Sun Gate (Intipunku in Quechuan) is a guard house on the Inkan Trail at 8,924 feet and was one of the principle entrances to Machu Picchu. This strategic location had led to the historical point of view that access to Machu Picchu was restricted to only selected visitors.

The Team boogied up quickly, took some quick pictures and headed back down. The Team Bus was showing up at noon to sadly take everyone back to Cuzco. Bone stayed behind and went trinket shopping with Bruce and a small group. At 11:55, everyone with a long face left got on the Bus to leave the leafy, steamy jungle of Machu Picchu and head back to the dry, arid brown splendor of Cuczo!

 

A Siesta Fiesta to Cuzco

The trip back was significantly different than the trip to. The Trip in was buzzing with the eager anticipation of Machu Picchu. The Trip back was buzzing with the sounds of snoring! Everyone was spent with the excitement and energy spent in the hot, steamy jungle and climbing steep hills!  Two hours later, they were back at the first Lodge in Cuzco!

 

A Serious Guinness Deficiency Addressed!

Since the beginning of the trip the Boys had eaten well, were exposed to culture, history, but no damned football !! In dire straights Mike, Bone, Bruce, and as few others headed to Paddy's Irish Pub, the ONLY Irish Pub in Cuzco!!!

 

Paddy's Irish Pub, "A Wee bit O' Aerland in Peru"

Guinness Denied!!! Well the visit started right, there was an ACC football game on the tube and it looked like an Irish Pub, and that is pretty much where it ended. Mike and Bone could not have imagined an Irish Pub having not one drop of Irish Beers!! Especially no Guinness !?!

In despair, the asked for two shots of their finest Bushmills to the retort that the Bar did not carry any Irish whiskeys!! The only thing Irish was the burgers! (not!)  However a few beers and food over a football game gave the Boys a sense of balance!

 

The Boys Checking Out a Sexy Woman?!?

After a few beers and burger watching some College Football, Mike, Bone, and Bruce on last day of this momentous trip decided to check out the Inka enclave of Sacsayhuaman!

Sacsayhuamán  (pronounced in English as “Sexy Woman”) is an Inka ceremonial fortress located two kilometers north from Cusco, is the greatest architectural work done by the Inkas during its apogee. The beleaguered Spainards captured Sacxahauman with 50 horsemen and galloped up the Jauja Road (the road in the pictures.) Pizarro’s brothers Juan and Gonzalo fought through the Inka defenses and  Juan who was injured the day before could not wear his helmet, he was struck in the head just outside the gates with a rock and was killed.  After three days of terrible battle the Spanish had re-captured the Fort, and was able to sustain within Sacxahauman until relief came from Francisco in Lima and prevented the Inka from expelling the Spanish. “ Hemming – The Conquest of the Inkas”  

 

Mike, Bone, and Bruce check out a Sexy Woman!

Sacsayhuaman which in Quechuan means Royal Eagle is a fortress-temple complex in the northern edge of the former Inka capital Cuzco. Constructed during the reign of Pachacuti (1438-1471 CE) and his successors, its massive, well-built walls remain today as a testimony not only to Inka power but also the skills of Inka architects and their approach of blending their monumental structures harmoniously into the natural landscape. The Sacsayhuaman is still used today for reenactments of Inka-inspired ceremonies. It is the control point into Cuzco from the Inkan Trail.

 

The fortress was the largest structure built by the Inkas. It was constructed on an elevated rocky promontory facing the northern marshy ground outside the Inka capital of Cuzco. Pottery finds indicate that the site had previously been occupied by Inka residents. Begun in the reign of the great Inka empire builder Pachacuti Inka Yupanqui, or perhaps his son Thupa Inka Yupanqui in the mid-15th century CE, the design was credited to four architects: Huallpa Rimachi, Maricanchi, Acahuana, and Calla Cunchui. The first structures were made using only mud and clay. Subsequent rulers then replaced these with magnificent stonework which employed huge finely-cut polygonal blocks, many over 4 metres in height and weighing over 100 tons.

The fortress has three distinct terraces which recede backwards on each other. The walls, each reaching a height of 18 metres, are laid out in a zigzag fashion stretching over 540 metres so that each wall has up to 40 segments, which allowed the defenders to catch attackers in a crossfire; a result helped also by the general curvature of the entire fortress facade. In addition, Inka architects very often sought to harmoniously blend their structures into the surrounding natural landscape and the outline of the Sacsayhuaman was similarly built to mimic the contours of the mountain range which towers behind it. This is particularly evident when the sun creates deep triangular shadows between the zigzag terraces in exactly the same way that it does on the mountain range with its peaks and valleys. In another defensive consideration, there is only one small doorway on each terrace which gave access to the interior buildings and towers on the hillside behind.

Eyewitness Spanish accounts describe a large circular four or five-storey tower centrally placed within the fortress and its foundations (along with those for two others) can be seen today. To the rear of the complex, in an area known as the Suchuna (slide), there were more terraces, patios, outbuildings, and a system of water supply including cisterns and aqueducts. Finally, there is an area of stepped terracing cut into the side of the Rodadero Hill, which is thought to have been a religious shrine, perhaps dedicated to the earth goddess Pachamama, or a viewing platform for the Inka ruler to watch ceremonies from or a place for astronomical observations. On completion, the fortress was said to have had a capacity for at least 1,000 warriors, but it was rarely needed as the Inkas did not suffer invasions from enemy states. Probably, for this reason, Sacsayhuaman was designed as much more than a fortress. The complex included temples, notably one to the sun god Inti, and was used as a location for Inka ceremonies. Sacsayhuaman was also a major Inka storage depot where arms, armour, foodstuffs, valuable textiles, ceramics, metal tools, and precious metals were kept. The Sacsayhuaman did operate as a fortress during the Spanish conquest of Peru from 1532.

The Spaniards, led by Francisco Pizarro, conquered Cuzco shortly after killing the Inka ruler Atahualpa in 1533 but then faced an organised and sustained siege from a large Inka army. Pizarro sent his brother Juan to attack the Sacsayhuaman using cavalry and then climb the walls with ladders. The offensive was successful, even if Juan died in the process, and the occupation of the fortress allowed the Spanish to resist the siege. Following the collapse of the empire after the European invasion, most of the stones of the Sacsayhuaman were reused elsewhere in the colonial buildings of Cuzco. The ruins were covered in earth by the Spanish to prevent their use by rebel Inka forces and the site was not rediscovered until its excavation in 1934.

Today the ruins of the fortress are the location for the annual Inka reenactment festival the Inti Raymi, held on the winter solstice. .

Overlooking the Cuzco Valley

 

The Center of the Inkan Empire

 

 

 

 

 

The Walk Back to the Lodge

 

Mike, Bone, and Bruce spent a better part of two hours checking out the incredible engineering feats of the Inka's largest fortress, as the time passed towards the evening. Mike, Bone, and Bruce headed back to Cuzco for a final, poignant Team Dinner.

 

A Fond Farewell Feast

Mike and Bone met Liz and the Team for a final, fond, farewell dinner. Lots of beers, lots of cheers, and yep, a few tears. All in all, an momentous trip and many memories for a lifetime, where Mike and Bone did Peru!

 

Trip, PostScript

The next morning, Liz got the Team to the Airport for all points in the States, Philly, San Fran, ATL, and many others. Mike headed back to GR for a Spencer Family Thanksgiving and Bone headed to New Orleans to meet with his Girls for Turkey Day.

 

Trip, PostScript 1: The Dante Rally in SF!

Bone befriended the very wonderful Dante and worked with Liz for a Fund Raiser in his name for a Go Fund Me Page. So in January 2017, Bone met Liz, KB, and Darby to watch the who could drink more beer! Liz or Bone!?

Bone spotted Liz 4 beers and the co

 

Trip, PostScript 2: Tony, Holly and Dante in Austin

Bone found out that Dante and Holly were moving to Austin so that Dante could go to a special School for the Deaf Mute. Wanting to show Dante the All American culture of College Football and Pizza, he took Holly and Dante to a University of Texas Football Game vs. Maryland. Where Maryland beat the Longhorns, leaving the locals "shell" shocked! Regardless, Dante had a great time!