Saksaywaman | Blue Lapis Road

SAKSAYWAMAN, Cusco, Peru

In Quechua, Saksaywaman means viaiable hawk. Standing above the northern end of Cusco, Saksaywaman is the perfect place to admire the impeccable Inca stone construction. Huge boulders weighting from 25 to 200 tons were used in Saksaywaman to construct the famous stone walls constructed without the use of mortar. Stones were shaped and placed together precisely by Inca craftsmen, and the joints so tight that not even a knife blade or a piece of paper could fit in. Despite its fortress appearance, Saksaywaman was in fact a religious complex back in the Inca times.

We arrived at Saksaywaman by taxi. The sky was grey and it seemed that rain would be inevitable. We quickly walked around the ruins. Not much interpretation information was presented at the site. Nevertheless, we were amazed by the magnificent Inca construction and its simple but monumental stone walls. As we wandered around the site, we reached a spot by a cliff overlooking the city of Cusco. The vista from the lookout was gorgeous. Despite strong winds, we stayed there for quite some time to take photos and checked out every small details of Cusco from a birdeye’s view.

Rain clouds were approaching fast. As planned, we decided to walk back down to Cusco. Via steep stone steps of Calle Palacio, we quickly descended to the city as it began to rain. Soon we were reaching the door of Museo de Arte Precolombino when rain poured down heavily. We decided to visit the museum partly to avoid the rain and partly wishing to know more about the pre-colonial cultures of Peru. Museo de Arte Precolombino is an excellent place to understand the history and art of many pre-colonial Peruvian cultures, including Nasca, Mochica, Huari, Chimu and Inca.

From Museo de Arte Precolombino, it was only a few minutes’ walk to Jack’s Cafe, where we had a cheerful early dinner. We were all getting excited about the upcoming Inca Trail trek. Next morning, the 4×4 from our trekking agent Peru Treks would come to pick us up early in the morning to officially kick off our 4-day trek towards the Andean lost city of Machu Picchu.

Monolithic stone masonry at Saksaywaman.