Peru Fragments II: The Wonders of Cuzco

In the summer of 2014, I taught a short-term study abroad class in Peru. Here is part two of the Peru fragments (part one can be found here).

We arrived in Cuzco on a beautiful morning. Once we disembarked from the tiny little airport, old ladies were already selling coca leaves and coca candy. They say its supposed to help with the elevation sickness, but I think my students bought the coca leaves because it felt so rebellious. The hotel we were staying at provided coca tea for free right in the lobby. It has a smooth, subtle, earthy taste. I could feel the affects of the elevation about 20 minutes after landing. I had a headache and I felt slightly queasy. We stayed in the beautiful lobby, sipping our tea and chatting about what we wanted to do as this was a "free" day with no "official" activities planned. I think the tea helped ever so slightly and any help is better than no help. After a few minutes, we were ready to explore the city.

What can one say about Cuzco? It's beautiful, mystical, wondrous, amazing. Well, I guess I just said it, didn't I?  It's a city that makes you feel something. Maybe it's at altitude and being surrounded by the mountains, maybe the history buff in me was excited for being in the Incan capital or maybe it was something else altogether.  However, I find it unsurprising how many "New Age" hippies feel at home in Peru and especially in Cuzco. There's just a unique vibe to the city.



The sky says it all - our weather in Peru was as good as it could get. Sunny days, cool evenings and beautiful blue skies. This was in the Plaza de Armas looking back into town.

Our hotel was about a 25 minute walk to the Plaza de Armas and the road was a constant incline up into the heart of the city.  Most of us could already feel how the elevation effected our effort up the modest hill. All of us were short of breath and my heart felt as though I had been running rather than walking.  Thankfully, we stopped about halfway up to the plaza to grab a snack;  I had a tasty beef empanada, directly across from the beautiful Qurikancha.



Qurikancha. This was a massive church that was built upon an and equally massive Incan temple (you can see the black rocks are all the remain). It's an impressive sight and meant to show the dominance of the Spanish religion and culture over that of the native population. Time and time again, I would see the architecture "show" this fact but the culture today tells me otherwise. The native culture was changed, but in many ways it adapted rather than adopted Western culture and religion.

Although this was an "off" day, we really made the most of it. We explored, took pictures, and shopped in and around the plaza. We ate and early dinner looking out over the plaza - the food was okay but the view was worth it. June is "the month of Cuzco" so there were many celebrations and festivities to check out.

After dinner, we split up. Some students went back to the hotel to rest up for the evenings festivities while the rest of us went further past the plaza, walking further up the hills towards buildings that built on top of original Incan foundations and stones.



This is Hatun Rumiyoq street and it was great. Tiny sidewalks (maybe two feet across) going up the steep hill. Cars pass right alongside you while tourist shops and restaurants are on the other side. It's a steep climb, so we took quick visits as many of the shops. Some of them were quite high-scale, another hawked New Age rocks and the like.

 

A great example of the stone work and the integration of past and present.

 

 

Hey look, loyal readers, a rare picture of me on the blog. This is me next to the famed 12-sided rock on Hatun Rumiyoq.  It was pretty cool to touch it and know the history of this rock.  I know what you're thinking, "What's the big deal?" Go ahead, and imagine ancient people moving this stone up a hill and the craftsmanship involved in working it and fitting it around the other stones. Okay, see I told you it was pretty cool when you think of it that way, right?

 

It was nearing 9:00 and I was dead tired. I was still recovering from only having about 2.5 hours of sleep the night before.  So while everyone else was returning from the hotel to the plaza to listen to music and watch fireworks, I went back to the hotel early. It was nice to be alone. I took a shower, called the fam, read a little bit and went to sleep early, a little after 10:00.  I also managed to watch many of the festivities on the local television station anyway which included women dancing with the tinniest of bikinis in front of the church. Nice.

The next morning was very quiet. I was rooming with one of our students, F (as hippie as they come). He was getting his aura read and getting a massage from somewhere in the hotel (no, I'm not kidding).  Even C (my fellow instructor) was nowhere to be found, so I ate breakfast alone and caught a random parade that came by our hotel, as it was the "Week of Cuzco". It was colorful and loud. Sometimes the best moments in travel are the small, unexpected treats.

People think Cuzco is gay-friendly but this is just the Cuzco flag. It is pretty much everywhere in the city. The people of Cuzco are very proud of their city and its role in Incan history.  

We had time to grab an early lunch before our official tours of the day started. I was trying to be budget conscious and I had already had a big breakfast from the hotel for free, so I was a planning on skipping lunch.  We were inspired by F, our hippie student to try this vegan place Green Point in the heart of the city. It had great reviews, so the rest of the team was ready to try it. Then, I might have made a mistake of the day.  I munched on some raw carrots with hummus and I think this came back to haunt me later on. I also had a quinoa beer (eh, it was okay).

Near the Plaza De Armas - looked like a sweet place to grab a beer. Alas, it wasn't to be.

 

We walked back to the hotel and meet up with our agency to begin our official tour in and around the city. We started with the Saksaywaman fortress. It was incredible, please understand the photos just can not do it justice. First, we took a ride up to the mountain just out of town, to Saksaywaman.  Upon arrival, I chewed on some coca leaves as I was feeling a little more light-headed.

Saksaywaman overlooked the city proper and was being prepped for the big celebration, the Inti Raymi, the Festival of the Sun, that was to be in a few days.

Discussing Peru with a potential student in the Spring, we had mentioned Machu Picchu and she said, "Oh, it's just a pile of rocks." I wonder what she would have thought of Saksaywaman. Again, the pictures can NOT do it justice. These rocks are huge. If you combine both the location and the architecture and the view of the city. It's well worth your time. You might even learn something!

 

Steep steps were par for the course in Peru. It turns out I was in better shape than I ever thought. Only my feet were sore from time to time and even then I felt great in the morning.

 

Doorways like this just capture my imagination. I felt as though She-ra was going to pop out of somewhere.

The view of the city was spectacular.  We stood watching the shadows of the clouds move on the city below.

After Saksaywaman, we went further up the mountain to Pukapukara, a look-out spot and possible travel lodge for traveling Incans back in the day. It was gorgeous. I asked our guide if he ever got tired of viewing the beauty on the tours and he told me "not yet" with a smile. No doubt the interplay of the sun and clouds and the change in season bring all the beauty required to be amazed every single time.



I distanced myself from the group and just stared at everything around. I was trying to process everything around me at once,  trying to be as present as possible. I knew this was a special moment that would never quite be reproduced.

 

 

After Pukapukara, we went back down the mountain to some burial caves the Incans had at Q'inqu. Apparently, they made sacrifices and mummies in these caves. It was cool, but I believed starting there would have been the wisest choice. I was on cloud 9 from Saksaywaman and Pukapukara, so it didn't quite have the impact it would have had isolated.  

We also stopped at the giant White Christ that looks down upon the city. It was an unplanned stop, but more time with the beautiful vistas was much appreciated, especially as the sun was beginning its downward descent.

The steps coming down from the White Christ.

 

We finally headed down the mountain again and headed right for Qurikancha and then the Cusco Cathedral back in the main plaza. At this point, I felt as though we were going too fast. Maybe it was too much time in traffic on the way up, or that we spent too much time in wonder looking at beautiful sights. It's likely our agency just planned or promised too much in one afternoon. Either way, our guide ended up working overtime getting to "cover" each place. I felt we could have skipped Q'inqu to save time for Qurikancha or the cathedral.

 

It didn't help that one of our students, M, got sick at Qurikancha. She was a experienced world traveler, and said the water would be "no big deal" but it turned out, it was. Also, I was starting to not feel so well myself and wondering if those carrot sticks and hummus were doing something to me.

 

This was a huge bummer because I had been looking forward to this evening's dinner, which was at a well-reviewed Papa Pacha. We were planning a traditional Peruvian feast, including cuy, guinea pig. I only had some broth and some bread, as I was feeling mighty bad. I was bummed that I couldn't further participate in the proceedings. The bread was awesome though and according to everyone else, Papa Pacha is a great place to eat.  

 

I was worried I was going to be sick but...... nothing happened. The funny thing was that on the long walk back to the hotel, my body just produced lots and lots of gas. It was actually a wonderful revelation. I felt fine by the time we got back to the hotel.  I was well rested and healthy for the next part of our adventure in the Sacred Valley.

 

Part III Coming....(Eventually).......