Thursday 10/05
Vlog by Isabelle: see below.
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By me:
We wake up at 7:45am with the alarm clock. Our guide comes to pick us up at 9am for our half day ‘Cuzco Ruins’ bike tour.
We have 2 guides: the main one, Juan Carlos, and his assistant, Diego (who came yesterday night for the briefing).
We first visit, with the minibus (with the bikes on top), 2 Inca sites.
We start with the visit of Sacsaywaman. This immense ruin of both religious and military significance is 2km from Cuzco. Sacsaywaman feels huge, but only about 20% of the original structure remains. Soon after the conquest, the Spaniards tore down many walls and used the blocks to build their own houses, leaving the largest and most impressive rocks, especially the main battlements. The most striking area of the site is the magnificent three-tiered zigzag fortifications. One stone, incredibly, weighs more than 300 tons. It was the ninth inca, Pachacutec, who envisioned Cuzco in the shape of a puma, with Sacsaywaman as the head, and these 22 zigzagged walls as the teeth of the puma. The walls also formed an extremely effective defensive mechanism that forced attackers to expose their flanks.
We then go to Tambomachay, a site that consists of a beautifully wrought ceremonial stone bath channeling spring water through fountains that still function today.
At around noon, we finally start the “fun” part of the day, with a downhill bike ride down to Cuzco. The path is a bit tricky. Florence is unfortunately not fully enjoying. But the weather is good, the bikes are great and the scenery is beautiful, with great views.
We arrive in Cuzco, at the Amazonas Explorer office, around 1:30pm.
To reward Florence for her efforts, we go and eat in the food court of the nearby shopping mall. Everybody chooses what he/she wants: Florence and I a burger at Burger King, Jules a fried chicken and Ludivine and Isabelle a grilled chicken. We also deserve a dessert: an ice cream for Jules, Florence and I and a Starbucks for Ludivine, Isabelle being reasonable (she doesn’t take anything).
We take a taxi to go back home where the kids do 2 homeschooling sessions, until 7pm (“we never work so late”, says Jules of course).
I prepare pasta for dinner. Not fantastic.
We play 3 rounds of Uno.
Kids are in bed before 9:30pm.
We work on our laptops, Isabelle till 11pm and me till midnight.
