One day, we left our hotel in Cusco and walked up to some Inca ruins just out of town. The ruins are of a fortress and settlement called Sacsayhuamán. It is a huge area above Cusco, about 1,000 feet above the town. It was an important site for the Incas, a watchpoint for Cusco, the capital of the empire, and a place where families lived and crops were stored. Nowadays, it is a magnificent display of intricate masonry and planning that illustrates the advanced society that the Incas organized. Don’t be intimidated by the pronunciation of the site. Even when the local people talk about it, it sounds exactly like, Sexy Woman.

On our way up, we met a family from Lima, visiting their friend from Cusco. The friend from Cusco was Carlos, a high-school teacher who often brings his students to Sacsayhuamán. We spent the whole day with them, and Carlos was an excellent guide, as we not only walked through Sacsayhumán, but also three other archaeological sites nearby.

The stonework at Sacsayhuamán is precise and incredible. The rocks were brought from quarries miles away and shaped onsite to fit perfectly. The walls, the houses, the temples were all built like this.

Some of the heaviest stones weigh 300 tons. The Incas brought them up here without the use of wheels. How they manipulated them and sculpted them so perfectly is still a matter of hot conjecture among the archaeologists. We had a great time with Pilar and Roel and their three kids. We hope to visit them in Lima when we get there in June.

 

We took a bus to another site called Tambomachay. This place was used for rest and recreation and spiritual renewal. There are natural springs here that the Incas channeled through their buildings so that they flowed down into sacred baths. The Incas came here to bathe and relax. The precursors to our spas.

Cusco was a thriving and organized city at least a couple of hundred years before Columbus set sail. Exploring the area around Cusco, with Inca and Pre-Inca architecture still standing, is a great way to gain perspective on the passing of time.

 

 

 

Cusco is the most tourist-visited city in South America. There are lots of reasons. It is in the very heart of the Andes Mountains, and the Andes are magnificent. The Andes extend more than 5000 kilometers, from Venezuela in the north down through Chile and Argentina in the south, with peaks higher than 20,000 feet. The town of Cusco sits in a basin at 11,150 feet in elevation. It is surrounded by higher mountains. They’re green. We are still in the tropics. Cusco was the capital and center of the splendid Inca civilization, which was in its prime seven hundred years ago. Downtown Cusco today is full of Incan architecture, still standing and still strong. The stunning, mesmerizing, incredible aspect of the architecture is the Incan stonework. They used rocks and stones and boulders, many of them weighing tons, to build temples and homes and fortresses. They carved and sculpted and shped each rock to fit perfectly (perfectly!) with the surrounding rocks No mortar. No cement. Just a perfect (perfect!) fit, with the rocks leaning into each other to support each other. The classic comment is that you cannot fit a credit card between the stones, but you can’t stick a needle in there either.

This rockwork is one of the great mysteries of the world. How did they do it? How did they transport the rocks over the great distances? How did they lift the rocks up twenty or thirty feet? How did they fit them so perfectly? And how did they make their buildings so seismographically sound, strong enough to withstand the severe earthquakes that hit here? Seismologists from North America, Asia, and Europe have come to Cusco over the years to study the architecture. Some of these scientists have concluded that the only possible explanation for the accuracy of the cutsis that the Incas used laser beams. Another popular theory concerns the intervention of extraterrestrials. The only thing that we really know for sure is that, today, with our technology, we couldn’t duplicate these structures.

Anyway, people come to Cusco to see these stone walls. And they come for the mountains. And forthe Inca ruins onthe outskirts and all around Cusco. And, of course, for Machu  Picchu, one of the seven wonders of the world. But that’s another day.

We spent eight days in Cusco. Monicatook Spanish classes Monday through Friday, from 9:00 in the morning until 1:00 p.m. She made some good progress in conversation skill, and also in using the subjunctive mood, both the present and future, as well as the imperfect subjunctive! (this is for the benefit of fellow language nerds out there.) Moni’s teacher was a woman named Magda (short for Magdalena). It was a one-on-one class,and they talked about lots of things.One day, they went to the public market and talked about, among other things, the hundreds of different types of potatoes that are grown in The Sacred Valley.

I (Mike) used my time to wander around the city a bit, and to sit in the plaza. The city is full of narrow streets, and stairs to go up and down.

Cusco is vibrant. It is a mix of ancient and modern. Colonial and indigenous. There are people here from all over the world. There is a mix of cultures and an acceptance. Good restaurants. Good coffee. The local people talk to the tourists. This can be good and bad. On the one hand, it’s easy to meet and talk to people. On the other hand, there are seemingly thousands of people out on the street who are hoping to sell you something. Guys with paintings, women with jewelry or weavings or sculpted gourds. They see you and come after you. “Looking is free.” “Please buy something from  me.” “I make you a good price.” “Look how beautiful.”  If you sit on a bench in the main square, you will be approached. Some of the vendors can get quite insistent. Sometimes it can get a little infuriating. We bought some things, and a few times, we just gave some money without buying anything. It’s all such a delicate balance.

It is a treat sometimes to talk to and get to know the artists. One day I was sitting in a small plaza, Plaza San Blas, and there was an indigenous woman sitting there also, spinning wool with a drop spindle, then weaving with it. I talked with her for a half-hour before buying a beautiful thin wall hanging from her. Spinning and weaving with alpaca wool is a centuries-old art and skill. I watched Felipa as she horizontally placed one thread at a time through the vertical threads (she said that there were 84 threads) to produce designs of, among other things, pumas, hummingbirds, llamas, owls, condors, and even a depiction of Tupac Amaru, an indigenous leader,  being torn apart by four horses. (You gotta love the Spaniards.)

Monica bought a bracelet from a woman named Maruca. Maruca sets up shop on some steps that lead up to a mirador. We talked with her for a long time, and Monica watched as she macramed a few beautiful bracelets.

 

 

One day, a chica named Jovana pulled us into her little shop and giggled as she dressed us up in traditional clothing. She had a great time doing it, all because Monica wanted to buy a stuffed guinea pig (called cuy) that was in front of her store. Cuy is kind of a national dish here. Lots of restaurants serve it, oven roasted. Cusco has something for everyone. We loved getting to know the city and some of the people. The heart of the Andes. The heart of the cusqueños.

 

 

 

We crossed the border from Bolivia to Perú early Sunday morning, February 24. Again, we walked across the actual border as the bus dropped us off on the Bolivian side and recollected us in Perú. Leaving the Titicaca Lake basin, we spent another 7 hours busing through the high, dry desert of the altoplano and reached Arequipa at nightfall.

Our hostal was upstairs in a dark colonial building near the main plaza. Besides overcharging us, the taxi driver from the bus station tried to convince us to stay at another hostal. We learned this is a common practice as the taxistas receive commisions from the hostals. We were glad we did not change hostals. Our Park Hostal had a gracious owner and staff, and had a large roof top terrace where breakfast was served.

Arequipa is the second largest city in Perú. Three huge volcanoes tower over it. Known as “the white city”, many of the massive colonial buildings are built of white volcanic stone called sillar which glistens with silica flakes in the sunlight.

It wasn´t until we returned to Arequipa a week later that the weather cleared enough to see the volcanos.

We explored the city for 2 days and then headed to the beach. Mejia is a beach town on the southern coast and a sumer spot for families from Arequipa.. Here we stayed 5 days in a small boarding house run by a retired couple, Luz and Manuel. We had the penthouse suite: a small room and bath on the roof of their house. Outside our room was a sitting area with couches covered with ripple roofing. Laundry lines crossed the rest of the roof where Luz hung her sheets and towels.

On the beach, the long flat sand is lined with rows of umbrellas and shade canopies. On three of our days there, we rented an umbrella and chairs and just lounged the whole day. The sun was strong, but the ocean was cold and there was a shore break. We never did go into the water, but lots of folks did. Once we watched the red and yellow clad life guards swim out to rescue a boy carried out beyond the surf. And we made friends with Olga, a young waitress at the beach-side restaurant, who greeted us with kisses and did little dance steps as she cleared tables.

When we left Arequipa the second time, we headed to Colca Canyon. One of the deepest canyons of the worls, maybe 60 miles long and 10,000 feet deep, it is famous for nesting condors. We stayed at the head of the canyon in the town of Chivay.

Once we arrived, we wished we had allowed ourselves more time. Chivay is spectacular. The canyon there is spanned by a bridge built on Incan foundations.

Three kilometers upstream is a hot springs that the community developed to now include 5 different pools. It opens at 4 am and townspeople go then to bathe.

Colca Canyon is also known for its typical dress featuring dense embroidery. The women embroider on treadle sewing machines. We saw little tallers (workshops) with machines side by side in rows. We went shopping twice at one collective for girlfriend gifts!

Our last morning in Chivay, we got up early to climb the mirador above town. Taking the wrong turn at one point, we came across a bullring in the mountains.

When we did reorient and head to the mirador, we found ourselves walking across a hillside of pre-Incan colcas. Colcas are circular stone structures used for food storage and/or burials.

And from the mirador, we caught a view of the volcanoes down the canyon before the clouds covered them.

We departed Chivay to catch the Inka Express, an archeological tour along the road to Cusco. The ten hour bus trip actually flew by. Ronald, our bilingual guide, spoke in detail about the history and current culture of the area we traversed. We made five stops. In Pucara, we learned about the practice of mounting ceramic bulls on roof tops for protection. Indeed, the tile roofs of Cusco Valley are full of them.

We visited two museums along the way with Incan burial remains including mummies.

By far the most impressive stop was Rachqi. This was an Incan center, possibly an astronomical center, which combined Incan stone and Tiahuanaco adobe building techniques.

The doors and windows in the temple were oriented towards the sun, the moon and different constellations at different times of the year. Another example is this main passage through the residential district. On the winter solstice, the rising sun shines straight down the road.

 

Extending over even a greater area than the housing were the storage colcas next door. Grains and dried potatoes were gathered from all over the valley and stored here to be dispersed later in years of draught. And the Incans could predict accurately weather in the coming year and plan accordingly.

 

As we passed through the maiz and potato fields of the fertile Cusco valley, it was easy to appreciate the past and present abundance.