Por Caballo: Yes, we went by horse

So I was feeling a bit adventurous on Tuesday. There had been a little part of me that was itching to see the ruins located near Cusco. The guidebook said I could hire a taxi for about $20 to take me around. A woman in the Plaza de Armas (the center of Cusco) told me I could go "por caballo" for $10. Well, I´m always up for a bit of adventure. That´s right, we went touring by horseback.
Now the guidebook (which I, shockingly enough, did not read first) warns that this is probably not the safest of ideas. When the random truck arrived to pick me up to take me to the "ranch," I was of agreement. Oh well, you only live once- I hopped in. I was taken to a field and then led up a path. About ten minutes later we were beginning to fear that there were no horses. Luckily horses have a very distinct scent which we caught wiff of as we arrived at the "corral."
We did not have helmets, our guide did not have a horse, but I had the time of my life racing along the Cusqueñan countryside from one set of ruiñas to the next.

We first made it to Puka Pukara. It was pink. Our guide nor our guidebook knew what it had been. This is beginning to be a common trend among our ruins visits. Oh well, it was pretty nonetheless.

Then we went to an ancient Incan Bath. It was nice. I kind of resembled the other 10 Incan baths I have seen since I got here. Ok, maybe not 10, but you get the idea...

We ended up at the infamous Saqsaywamán (pronounced, and I kid you not, "Sexy Woman") ruins. The first few times I hear about "Sexy Woman" I was confused. I thought people were either hitting on me, offering me a massage, or trying to tell me about a night club that I did not want to go to. As it turns out, the Saqsaywamán ruins are the most famous in Cusco. We took a few pictures of multiple objects (like our guide had taught us at Machu Picchu). The ruins were truly impressive. Sawsaywamán was once a site of Incan military strength and religious significance.

At one point the guide just let us run. The air was cool, my horse was quick, and I felt the my hair flying behind me (which it could do without a helmet). It is pretty much impossible to describe the beauty of Peru, but I do not think one can truly experience it without out going por caballo. And as for tomorrow, well tomorrow we are leaving Cusco behind and heading up even higher. Get ready, Puno here we come!