Excursion to Sicuani

Sicuani: hotsprings up the pass and ruins toward Cusco, plus healing waters

Silvano and Ruperta were totally busy last year as autoridades, and had no time to play, so we invited them, their two sons, Ivan and Clever, and Silvano's mother, Eufrasia, to join us for our annual excursion. Sicuani is ideally located just off the Altiplano and over the pass toward Cusco, in Cusco Province. In one direction are delicious hot springs, and in the other is the archeological site of Raqchi. A museum to honor and tell the story of the last Inca, Tupac Amaru, is nearby in the town of Tinta, and the purifying waters of San Pedro are also available.

Hot Springs were our primary goal:
A line of taxis are always ready to take patrons to the Aguas Calientes about 20 minutes south of Sicuani, where outdoor pools of many temperatures are available.

That's Samuel in the blue hat

I spoke up to some splashing boys with some swimming lesson tricks, such as "Take a breath IN when your face is out of water. Blow your breath OUT when underwater." Pretty basic stuff, but children don't often have swimming lessons and many are fearful in the water. Later, a young girl, maybe age 12, who had seen me with the boys, actually came up to me and asked me to teach her to swim! We worked on breathing, and kicking and some standard strokes. She got a LOT more relaxed and later I saw her teaching her little sister about blowing bubbles. So much fun!

The other hot springs in the area are higher up the pass, and we had to contract the taxi to take the group there and pick us up. We had a lovely woman taxi driver who took a lunch break as we soaked and it all worked out. 

The mineral deposits above the springs were a beautiful golden yellow:

Clever in front of the mineral deposits

Water seemed to boil at the source, with Silvano.

The pools were inside, which gave us paleskins a sunburn saving grace. The water was hot enough to need to get in and out to thermal regulate. The whole family fit in the private pool.

Ahhhhhhhh

The Raqchi archeological site is an important one:

It is an important stop along the long Inca highway between Cusco and Puno and includes the most skilled Incan rockwork. 

A small detail that we appreciated was how protruding rocks in a rock terrace served as a ladder:

See how one terrace leads to the next.

Natually, the ladder made a nice family portrait.

The most prominent structure is the Temple of Wiracocha, an enormous rectangular two-story roofed structure that measures 92 metres (302 ft) by 25.5 metres (84 ft). 

In front of the Temple of Wiracocha

This long "hallway" is oriented exactly to the summer solstice of December 21.

A hike to the viewpoint high above shows the whole layout, including the Temple and the hallway.

Naturally, Samuel couldn't pass up a good wind to fly his rainbow kite, with Eufrasia's rainbow manta in the background

The Museum of Tupac Amaru 

In the village of Tinta, just a few kilometers beyond Raqchi, is a tribute to the last Inca, tortured and killed by the Spanish Conquistadores. 

We enjoyed fresh Chicha (fermented quinoa drink) when we first arrived in Tinta.

Tina is also famous for this stone arched bridge from Inca times.

stone arch bridge; one arch eroded

 Early in his life Jose Gabriel Tupac Amaru traveled the vast Incan Empire, trading goods. During these travels, he also saw the cruelty of the Spanish Conquerers.

Eventually, the Spanish famously tied his legs and arms to horses to pull him apart in the central plaza in Cusco. This failed to kill him and they cut off his head.

It's a gruesome tale, but an important one for Peruvian History.

Healing waters of San Pedro

A fountain of deep spring water contains purging minerals. The Taquileños place lots of confidence in the power of this process and Eufrasia wanted to do it. None of the rest of the family was interested, so I joined her. It's a lovely park and people sit around drinking and then running to the squat toilets. Everything is very clean, with buckets of water flushing everything away.You can pay a little extra for sitdown toilets.

fountain

chemical analysis

Gardens and sculptures

Our vacation in Sicuani was full of laughter and education and relaxation. What a pleasure to share this with our Taquileño family!