Friday was a casual day, bit of a sleep in then breakfast. The plan for the day is to drive back to Cusco, once there we have a couple of free days. Time to wander the streets and explore the beautiful city, oh and catch up on the domestic chores like our washing.
Our driver knew a short cut to Moray, an ancient Incan site. The road there was amazing, some serious hairpins along a winding dusty road. We stopped a few times to gaze at the view along the way.
Once there we were greeted with a series of concentric terraces. The purpose of these depressions is uncertain, but their depth, design, and orientation with respect to wind and sun creates a temperature difference of as much as 15 °C between the top and the bottom. It is possible that this large temperature difference was used by the Inca to study the effects of different climatic conditions on crops. Speculation about the site has led to discussion about Moray as an Inca agricultural experiment station. It’s microclimate conditions and other significant characteristics led to the use of the site as a center for the ancient study of domestication, acclimatization, and hybridization of wild vegetable species that were modified or adapted for human consumption.
Helen and I made the climb down into the depression, given we were at 3500m you could feel the effects of altitude. If we thought going down was fun, climbing back up took some effort.
Next stop was to be a lake where a Raul and a friend have a paddle boarding and kayaking business. Along the way though we stopped to look at some rocks, not just any rocks but rocks with Incan or pre-Incan significance. They showed signs of altars or other such usage and were aligned north south in perfect unison with each other.
When we did reach the lake it was amazing! There were people out stand up paddle boarding in a Peruvian winter at 2700m.
The view was just stunning. We chilled here for a few hours and were treated to a home style lunch all prepared in a wood fired oven. After lunch we sat and relaxed just gazing at the view. Lying in a hammock sipping on cold Cusqueña beer, what a way to while away a few hours.
Then it was time to head back to Cusco for the next few days.