TonynJo: Ruined Weekend #2

Before you ask, I have no idea what the name of this tree is; but the indigenous people believe it has the ability to keep evil spirits away and, so, it is planted at the entrance of most sacred sites.
This is the second day of our weekend visiting ancient ruins and this is the famous Ingapirca where today it's raining buckets.

That was just fine with the holy land's permanent herd of llamas because it only made the high grass sweeter which the baby really liked and jumped around for more and more.

Like all sacred structures, this one was also built on the local area's dominant hill.

The closer you can get to heaven, the more likely HE/SHE/IT will be able to hear your supplications being the widely accepted reasoning for this common world-wide occurance.

Why the divergent paths to nowhere? Not being an archeologist, I have no idea; but they were interesting to speculate on and they didn't deter Fernada Llama from going anywhere he darn well pleased.

Well, the wierd upside-down tulip tree might be keeping the evil spirits away, but it didn't keep the creepy feelings away as we walked up the hill towards the Inca Temple.

Funny, but it wasn't as foggy on top when I looked back down on the enigmatic half-circle path.

Maybe, because this was the Sun God's crib and that still isn't allowed up here.

No, check that, it's just part of the wierdness. It's foggy, then it's not, then it is, then it's not.

I think I'll just pretend like it's not even happening until I get out of here.

The most amazing thing about these buildings is how tight the bricks are and they stay that way without any kind of mortar or adobe. I'll show you examples of their exactness in upcoming photos.

There were lots of informational markers along the paths explaining the purposes of the various rooms you see here; but it was such a miserable, chilling downpour we were being chased off the hill in more ways than one .