Random Chance

Sometimes, the best things about a trip are the things you spend months planning and organizing long in advance. Sometimes, though, it's the things that you never expected. Take Thursday, for example. We had no particular plan for the day (after the boys finished their school work) so we decided to get ceviche. Since we still had time on our hands, we decided to "find a new ice cream shop in a new part of town." Once we were done with that we decided to "find a new route to walk home." Halfway home, we ran into a guy asking if we wanted to go horeback riding (which we didn't). He gave us a discount, "porque hablas bien español" (whatever that means). Since we had time, we decided to go.

We wound up on a great horseback ride through amazing country above town, and then he took us on an amazing tour of "Zone X." This is a natural rock outcropping with a number of large fissures through it which the Inca had turned into a network of temples. As we went along, we'd round the corner and find a new alter, a nook for a candle, or an alcove where they placed mummies. Allegedly, the site has tunnels linking it to the other nearby temples.

After exploring for an hour he led us down towards town. We parted ways, and he described the trail we needed to follow on foot to get back into Cusco. We followed it and discovered that we had inadvertently wandered into Saqsaywaman, one of the largest and most important sites in the Inca empire. We enjoyed our quick sunset stroll through the empty site before exiting the back side and suddenly finding ourselves back at the ice cream shop. Not a bad random afternoon, all for about $40 for the whole family.

The alcoves on the left were where mummies were kept.

Our inadvertent tour of Saqsaywaman

Finishing our "new route back home" after the adventure.