Vacation!

Excursion around Sicuani 

Sicuani has hot springs in one direction, the Raqchi archeological site and healing waters in the other direction. The city itself harbors few tourists. We brought three Taquile young Taquile friends with us. Juana is our goddaughter and hasn't been on an excursion since she was a child. Delfin also hadn't been on any of our excursions except many years ago to Silustani. Kusi had been to Sicuani with her family and us two years ago, but since she is starting college next month; a vacation seemed like a good start.

Juana got some free postcards at the museum.

The central plaza even has palm trees.

Sicuani has a pleasant central plaza with lots of plants

Sam and Delfin relax in front of a Palm Tree

The city has painted murals

We visited the Incan archeological site of Raqchi, a sacred place for Viracocha. 

We hired the same Local Guide, Denis, as two years ago.

Stone steps built into the wall of a terrace

We climbed to the mirador-viewpoint high above the ruins for an overview.

On part of the trail was like a bower, a tunnel of lush plant growth.

Girlfriends in the bower

It even had purple mushrooms!

The long corridor is oriented to correspond with the December (summer) Solstice:

Juana and Kusi wash at the Inca fountain for women

The Town of Raqchi is a town of potters. Denis's father is a skilled potter and was working on some commissions for various museums in Cusco. His pots are beautifully finished and all hand-built without a potter' wheel.

Church in the town central of Raqchi

The San Pedro natural cleansing waters are for drinking and diarrhea. It is rather like that medicine one takes before a colonoscopy. The Taquileños place quite a bit of credit to the healing powers of this process, so Delfin, Kusi and I decided to go for the experience. Delfin was an old pro, having come here a couple of times, but Kusi and I struggled. The grounds are quite lovely with fountains and beautiful gardens.

For the chemists, the following is the analysis of this water, of which we drank about 20 cups, until our diarrhea came out clear.

San Pedro Eye Bathing is a different set of water where one places open eyes in the water to bathe them. Sam compared it to his antihistamine eye drops. It stings quite a bit so you only leave your eyes in the water for a moment. Afterward, my eyes felt quite relaxed.

The Town of San Pedro was lovely, with this statue in the main square

Tupac Amaru Museum