Peru: Cusco

Cusco

Tomorrow starts the Inti Raymi festival, which is an all day event. Apparently at 9 it starts at some ruins in the city, and then they march through the city and up to the Saqusayan ruins where they do a reenactment of the solstice festival. It’s at a big ampitheater, and the Peruvians sit on one side, and tourists on the other. I think we’ll likely join in to see what it’s all about. Today will be a slower day.. we’ve kept up a fast pace and we’re dragging now. I think we’ll just blame the elevation!!! Oh, we did try some coca tea at breakfast this morning and it was surprisingly good!! Barb has a headache so hopefully that will help.

We’re going to go to the pre-columbian museum today, and there’s a swanky restaurant in it that Barb wants to eat at. Then we’ll walk through the San Blas neighborhood, which is a pedestrian only artsy neighborhood and supposed to be worth seeing. I’d like to the two churches in the square (go figure!) and we may hit the Sasqusayan ruins this afternoon if we’re up for it. Otherwise, we’ll just see them tomorrow.

6pm--

We walked around Cusco much of the day and apparently the festival is a several day process! We noticed our street was blocked off towards the square, and found quite a procession going on! There was someone talking over loud speakers, and a parade that went on forever going through the street! The music was amazing, the costumes simply magnificent-- both brightly colored tapestries woven, as well as tribal outfits. Each new group brought a new level of excitement, so we stopped to watch for a while. Then Barb caught a guy with antlers on his head, an interesting looking headdress covering his chest, and no pants! It felt like we were walking in the echoes of the past, with people from hundreds of years ago all around (most did have pants on, though).

As we wandered through the crowd, there were a ton of people trying to sell items. They were a bit pushier than in the surrounding towns, and quite en masse. As we watched the parade, we happened across something quite amazing.. out of the tens of thousands here, we ran into the woman that we met hiking to the Pisac ruins!!! She was the argentinian who was scared of the heights as I was, and we had to pass each other! We talked with her for a bit and then made our way to the museum where we planned to meet Laura and Amparo.

We walked down a street- the name escapes me at the moment- but it has walls from the original Inca buildings in Cusco. They had large rocks so expertly carved they needed no mortar. And we got to see the 12 sided rock as well, which is famous. We made our way to San Blas, to the Museo de Arte Precolumbino and sat on the square for a while.

The museum was gorgeous and very well done. There were many descriptions about the ancient tribes with art dating back towards 100 BC through inca times around the 1400s. Many pieces were gorgeous. There were also many quotes from more modern artists commenting on the timeless nature, skill, etc of the artwork displayed.

We left there really hungry and wandered the neighborhood for a local place for lunch. I had read that San blas was pedestrian only, however cars were driving down a very steep and narrow road, that was heavily trafficed by pedestrians. It was amazing to see the volume of people in such a tight space with cars whizzing by! We found a cute little place and went in, and right after that, the waiter put a glass door on the entryway! It was interesting.. we assume it was due to the temperature, though maybe a the restaurant was mostly full. We all ate local fare including alpaca, quinoa soup, chicken salad in an avocado and a steak and onion dish..all were very good.

Then we walked around San Blas, which is an artistic neighborhood. The square had lots of people with their work displayed for sale, mostly weaving, stones, jewelry and things like that. It was the hippie corner, and a really interesting place with people ranging from locals, to Rastafarian types, to people who were very hippie!

Many women were walking around today walking llamas to get you to take pictures of them. Others carried baby goats..we couldn’t believe how long they sat in the women’s arms!! Quite a schtick, and I wonder if they can make a living doing it. Tons of children were out too, selling finger puppets, postcards, etc.

As we passed back through the square, the festival was still going on full till.. It is such an exciting atmosphere. We are going to take part in the festivities and march tomorrow, so we’re just going to do a local dinner and get to bed early. Everything starts at 8 am when they begin marching from a small ruin through the square, up to Sasquayaman where they do the reenactment. We’re not sure how long it lasts, but it should be an amazing time. Then Wed am Barb and I head for Macchu Piccu (yay!!!) and Laura and Amparo will tour the sacred valley before taking a bus to Puno to see Lake Titicaca.

This country continues to amaze us.. the people are so friendly, so honest (Barb left her walking stick in the square and it was returned!!!) and so beautiful. It definitely feels like walking through the past..

Sam