Cathedral in Cusco
Images of the Incan Temple of the Sun in Cusco
Annie at Tambay Machay
Bath of the elite in Tambay Machay
Altar in the natural cave at Sacsayhuaman
Native people acutally dresed like this but were happy to have their photos taken by tourists. We gave them money for their time.
Incan made wall at Sacsayhuaman
Arrival in Peru and day tour of Cusco
On the plane to Miami my seatmate was Patricia from Peru. That seemed auspicious. All went as planned. The hotel driver picked me up at the Lima airport and I did feel quite vulnerable as I waited on a sidewalk for him to get the car. My first night in Peru was spent at Hotel Torreblanca in a Spartan room with a huge bathroom with a Jacuzzi. I was able to watch Obama’s acceptance speech, trying to understand the English before it was translated into Spanish as there were no English stations on the TV.
The next morning a driver took me to the tour office. I was given some paperwork and taken to the airport for my hour flight to Cusco. I thought I would be on a tour with other people, but it looks like I’ll just be going with different groups every day. In Cusco a driver took me to my hotel, San Isidro Labrador. The location was excellent, just a few blocks from the main square. However it was more Spartan than the hotel the night before. There was no telephone, internet, or TV in the room.
I walked to Plaza de Armas. This was the center of the Incan Empire and it was divided into four parts, each leading from the center of the city. I ate a lunch of alpaca stroganoff. I have a headache, probably from the altitude, 10,900 feet up. A local contact for the travel agency met me at the hotel, handed me off to someone else, who delivered me to yet another person for my city tour.
There were 18 people in the group, with Sylvia serving as our tour guide. Very quickly we learned that she saw life from the Incan point of view. First we visited the Cathedral. It has 13 chapels but only one is open to the public. The other twelve belong to groups of families. Money cannot buy you into one of these chapels; you must marry into the family. This seems parallel to the society here. People of mixed blood (Incan and Spanish) control everything. The indigenous people have no power. Also inside the cathedral is a huca, a sacred Incan stone. The indigenous people come in to touch it, circling it with their hands three times one way, then three times the other. It is located in a corner near the door. There are many oil paintings that look like ones from the Renaissance. This is because the Spanish conquerors taught the Incans the Italian way of painting. One huge painting of the Last Supper had a roasted guinea pig on the table (a favorite food of Peruvians) and Judas had an uncanny resemblance to Pissarro. In the one public chapel there is a crucifix whose skin is very dark. The Incans crept in one night and put llama skin of it and it turned dark to match their skin. This is known as Our Lord of the Earthquakes because in 1650 the people took the statue into the square and paraded it around and the tremors stopped.
Next we visited the Temple of the Sun which is now part of Iglisia Santo Domingo. Those crafty Spaniards built churches on top of every Incan religious site. Archeologists found the Incan ruins below the church. The stones are all fitted together without the use of mortar. There are niches for mummies, which were put in the fetal position. Once this site was completely covered with silver and gold, with life-sized gold llamas and trees in the patio. Of course the Spaniards took all the precious metals. The patio does have some beautiful flowers. One part of the Incan temple would light up during the June solstice. The Incan engineers did this at all the sites I saw. They were excellent astronomers and architects. However they did not have a written language, or none has been found, so much of the information about the Incas comes from archeologists.
The last place we visited was a little outside of town, Sacsayhuaman (pronounced like “sexy woman”.) It was a fortress. There were many terraces which had different functions such as for growing crops, storage, or as retaining walls. Ninety percent of the site is still underground. The walls had huge stones (up to 250 tons) fitted together. How did they move the stones? They did not have the idea of wheels. Archeologists conjecture that they either used logs and rolled them move than a half a mile from the quarry, or sewed together animal skins and dragged them. Quite a feat. We also saw a natural cave with an altar. On the way in, a shaman (healer) was selling necklaces. Naturally I bought a few. I do know of some people who need healing. Our guide said that only animal sacrifices were made inside. Outside of the cave was a big rock that was supposed to look like a puma. Incans revered the condor, the puma, and the snake. Sylvia said this is where the human sacrifices took place. The young people were bathed and purified. Coca leaves were picked, dried, and put in small bags. These were put in the throat of the victims and they suffocated. (The tour guide at Macchu Picchu on Friday disputed that. He said there is no evidence the Incans did human sacrifice.)
The guide, Sylvia, offered to let us off at the alpaca wool factory just a few blocks from the square. Another couple and I opted for that. We got a lesson on the difference between baby alpaca wool (the first shearing and the softest,) other alpaca wool, and how to recognize synthetics. The sales woman thought I looked great in a wildly colored and patterned sweater. Great in Peru, but weird in Scottsdale. I bought very tame items as holiday and birthday presents.
The factory paid for a taxi to take us to our hotels, as it was past dark. I left my purchases in my room and consulted my guide book for a place to eat, as that was not included in the tour. I could see I was going to be spending some time alone, not like on the tour Las Chicas Locas took in Costa Rica. I ate at the Inka Grill on the square. I had the ayi del pollo, but it was a bit spicy for me. There was no heat in the hotel room so I wore two sweaters to bed.
Native people acutally dresed like this but were happy to have their photos taken by tourists. We gave them money for their time.
Incan made wall at Sacsayhuaman
Arrival in Peru and day tour of Cusco
On the plane to Miami my seatmate was Patricia from Peru. That seemed auspicious. All went as planned. The hotel driver picked me up at the Lima airport and I did feel quite vulnerable as I waited on a sidewalk for him to get the car. My first night in Peru was spent at Hotel Torreblanca in a Spartan room with a huge bathroom with a Jacuzzi. I was able to watch Obama’s acceptance speech, trying to understand the English before it was translated into Spanish as there were no English stations on the TV.
The next morning a driver took me to the tour office. I was given some paperwork and taken to the airport for my hour flight to Cusco. I thought I would be on a tour with other people, but it looks like I’ll just be going with different groups every day. In Cusco a driver took me to my hotel, San Isidro Labrador. The location was excellent, just a few blocks from the main square. However it was more Spartan than the hotel the night before. There was no telephone, internet, or TV in the room.
I walked to Plaza de Armas. This was the center of the Incan Empire and it was divided into four parts, each leading from the center of the city. I ate a lunch of alpaca stroganoff. I have a headache, probably from the altitude, 10,900 feet up. A local contact for the travel agency met me at the hotel, handed me off to someone else, who delivered me to yet another person for my city tour.
There were 18 people in the group, with Sylvia serving as our tour guide. Very quickly we learned that she saw life from the Incan point of view. First we visited the Cathedral. It has 13 chapels but only one is open to the public. The other twelve belong to groups of families. Money cannot buy you into one of these chapels; you must marry into the family. This seems parallel to the society here. People of mixed blood (Incan and Spanish) control everything. The indigenous people have no power. Also inside the cathedral is a huca, a sacred Incan stone. The indigenous people come in to touch it, circling it with their hands three times one way, then three times the other. It is located in a corner near the door. There are many oil paintings that look like ones from the Renaissance. This is because the Spanish conquerors taught the Incans the Italian way of painting. One huge painting of the Last Supper had a roasted guinea pig on the table (a favorite food of Peruvians) and Judas had an uncanny resemblance to Pissarro. In the one public chapel there is a crucifix whose skin is very dark. The Incans crept in one night and put llama skin of it and it turned dark to match their skin. This is known as Our Lord of the Earthquakes because in 1650 the people took the statue into the square and paraded it around and the tremors stopped.
Next we visited the Temple of the Sun which is now part of Iglisia Santo Domingo. Those crafty Spaniards built churches on top of every Incan religious site. Archeologists found the Incan ruins below the church. The stones are all fitted together without the use of mortar. There are niches for mummies, which were put in the fetal position. Once this site was completely covered with silver and gold, with life-sized gold llamas and trees in the patio. Of course the Spaniards took all the precious metals. The patio does have some beautiful flowers. One part of the Incan temple would light up during the June solstice. The Incan engineers did this at all the sites I saw. They were excellent astronomers and architects. However they did not have a written language, or none has been found, so much of the information about the Incas comes from archeologists.
The last place we visited was a little outside of town, Sacsayhuaman (pronounced like “sexy woman”.) It was a fortress. There were many terraces which had different functions such as for growing crops, storage, or as retaining walls. Ninety percent of the site is still underground. The walls had huge stones (up to 250 tons) fitted together. How did they move the stones? They did not have the idea of wheels. Archeologists conjecture that they either used logs and rolled them move than a half a mile from the quarry, or sewed together animal skins and dragged them. Quite a feat. We also saw a natural cave with an altar. On the way in, a shaman (healer) was selling necklaces. Naturally I bought a few. I do know of some people who need healing. Our guide said that only animal sacrifices were made inside. Outside of the cave was a big rock that was supposed to look like a puma. Incans revered the condor, the puma, and the snake. Sylvia said this is where the human sacrifices took place. The young people were bathed and purified. Coca leaves were picked, dried, and put in small bags. These were put in the throat of the victims and they suffocated. (The tour guide at Macchu Picchu on Friday disputed that. He said there is no evidence the Incans did human sacrifice.)
The guide, Sylvia, offered to let us off at the alpaca wool factory just a few blocks from the square. Another couple and I opted for that. We got a lesson on the difference between baby alpaca wool (the first shearing and the softest,) other alpaca wool, and how to recognize synthetics. The sales woman thought I looked great in a wildly colored and patterned sweater. Great in Peru, but weird in Scottsdale. I bought very tame items as holiday and birthday presents.
The factory paid for a taxi to take us to our hotels, as it was past dark. I left my purchases in my room and consulted my guide book for a place to eat, as that was not included in the tour. I could see I was going to be spending some time alone, not like on the tour Las Chicas Locas took in Costa Rica. I ate at the Inka Grill on the square. I had the ayi del pollo, but it was a bit spicy for me. There was no heat in the hotel room so I wore two sweaters to bed.
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