Quad Bikes and Salt Flats

Today we had some free time, so we quickly filled it. One of our members Josh was very keen to do an activity he had seen advertised, quad biking, which is another way of saying four wheel bike riding. it was about a 40 minute drive out of Cusco and once we told our guide John that we were interested in it he was only to happy to set it up...or maybe not, either way he did!

Luckily you didn't need any prior experience in motorbike riding which was lucky since yours truly has only ever had one prior experience to this, which involved me scratching my leg when I decided to use it as a brake and not the actual brake. Admittedly it wasn't my favourite activity, but I must admit the scenery was breathtaking. Riding through the outer hills of Cusco, past their glorious mountain ranges and through tiny towns and farm lands was a pretty great away to get a feel for the area. The ride also included visiting some ruins, as well as the salt flats you see above.

The salt flats were vast and impressive. Using the warm, highly mineraled water that comes up from underground, they basically farm the salt out of it. We eventually made it back home with no injuries or crashes, only some very dusty faces. Oncer back in Cusco John took us out to lunch to a place that was basically Peruvian McDonalds. From there we met up with out new guide, Lily, and she took us for a city tour.

It was fascinating. Cusco had some of Peru's richest history and was home to many of the Inca kings, which were actually called Inca's. You see no one today knows what the people of that time called themselves, but they do know that the ruler was called the Inca. So that's what we call them, it'd be like if people today were to name us the Kings!

We also learnt of the ruins of the Inca's that remain today, and why they still remain. Basically these structures were just incredibly well made. Using huge bits of stone the Incas built amazing structures that were able to withstand the earthquakes of the area. The bits of stone, apart from being huge, were also oddly shaped with many angles and corners, yet fit together seamlessly, literally. Our guide offered us 100 Soles if we could fit a piece of paper between the stones and not one of us won that money. To make it more amazing their is a written record from some of the Spaniards that invaded that says that the stone cutters who made these seamless walls didn't even have measuring tools or a measurement system, they were so well trained in cutting the stone that they would look at a gap in the wall, gauge what size stone they needed, cut it into shape and then fit it in, seamlessly.

They also built all their windows and door in a trapezoidal shape to further help withstand earthquakes. This is because if gives more support much like if some were to try to push you over they would have a harder time doing it if your legs were spread than if they were together. In fact their building were so structurally sound that when the Spaniards invaded and build their churches over the Inca's temples often when an earthquake would occur the Spaniards built part would fall away leaving the Inca remains standing.

The Inca people were also just pretty awesome in general. One example of which is that if a baby was born different, it was celebrated and considered blessed. This is in stark contrast to the Spartan people who would kill a child if it was deformed in any way. They had many ideas and beliefs that seemed ahead of their time, which is why they were able to conquer so mush land in such a short time, and it's interesting to think where these people would be today if the Spanish had never invaded.

- Damian