Tag Archives: Cusco

Peru, South America, Update

Hearts Café Happiness!

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To say this weekend was kind of tragic would be an understatement. But, today I got a letter in the mail to lift my spirits. A while ago I sent a parcel to an NGO in Peru, Hearts Café; today, I received a response from Sonia! Happiness and love in an envelope.

“Thank you so much for the package, all so very useful for the children, so much is needed by our remote villages that your parcel is a very generous offering and much appreciated.

I am so pleased that you enjoyed the café, 6 of the women staff are from abused backgrounds, all of whom have come into their power now that they have confidence in their work and that they are the ones who go home with a pay packet!

I do hope this letter will reach you as you have not put your e-mail address.

With warmest best wishes,
Sonia”
I will certainly be sending more items to Hearts Café. You should too!

Sonia Newhouse
c/o Hearts Café
Plaza de Armas, Ollantaytambo
Cusco, Perú

Donations of school supplies, medicine, clothing etc are all needed. ps: Packages cannot weigh over 5kg, and all clothing must look clean and new or will be confiscated by customs. If you want to contact Sonia e-mail hearts.cafe@hotmail.com

Peru, South America

Jesus, Mary and Pachamama?

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If you’ve been reading all along, you’ll know that I’ve promised more on the taxi drivers and more on Pachacutec. There is a connection, I promise, ok, maybe not so much Pachacutec, but Pachamama. Read on…

To preface this post, let’s say that neither of us is a particularly religious being. I have done a bit of world religion studies just for personal interest. Jon, however, has a completely irrational secular love of Jesus. (Which I think really scares people who have never met him before, and he’s wearing a shirt that says “Jesus Loves Me”. Either that, or they think they share his (non-existent) beliefs and it is all good.) We both enjoy visiting churches and sites of worship, so it all works out well when we’re traveling.

Festival CrossYou may know that a huge majority of Peruvians are Catholics. Roman Catholicism is the official state religion, and obviously plays a major role in Peruvian life. As we were driving, several of our taxi drivers made the sign of the cross over themselves, and just kept on driving. (Pedal to the metal! Please save me Jesus?) Also, there were religious icons hanging on wind shields and rear view mirrors of every vehicle we were in.

Every town or city we visited, no matter how big or small, had a main square with a large cathedral. Several places we visited were celebrating festivals of Saints or Holy Days. No one we asked could explain what the exact occasion was, just that a festival was taking place. In Cusco there was a band marching the streets that grew in size each time we crossed paths–eventually, they were marching with a procession of costumed dancers. In Aguas Calientes, the music from a parade about town was non-stop until almost 5am. All of these festivals create a huge sense of community.

However saturated the country may be in organized religion, it is also holding on to Incan customs and traditions. There are native cultures – like the ones on the Uros Islands or Andes highlands, who still believe in ancient practices. For example, on Taquile, the custom is that a young couple lives together for 5 years before getting married. They live in the man’s parents house, and having babies during this time is perfectly fine. You could see how the church would have issue with that.  Maybe?

So, one belief system mixes with another and the people seem to be alright with it. You can see this in the cathedrals themselves. First, some of the stones used in the Cusco Cathedral were looted from Sacsayhuaman, and there is Incan iconography on the church exterior. There is also a beautiful cedar choir area that has some intricate carvings that represent Pachamama hidden in with the carvings of the saints and popes. Vladimir, our tour guide for Lake Titicaca, explained that many people meld Christianity with Pachamamist practices.
Marcos Zapata Last Supper Cuy
Peruvian painter, Marcos Zapata, has also put his own spin on The Last Supper. His version shows Jesus and the disciples dining on cuy and drinking chicha. This painting is in the Cusco Cathedral, but photos were not permitted. If you were lucky, you may have received a copy in post card form!

And just so Pachacutec doesn’t feel left out, there were monuments of him in more than one city we visited. Here are the dorky photos.
Peru, South America

Cusco

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Cusco, PeruCusco is a wonderful city. There is so much to do and see in a relatively small area (not that Cusco is small just seems like everything is close enough not to be overwhelmed or frustrated by the logistics of it all.) The place we were staying was right off of the Plaza D’armas, and it was really cute and clean.

They had a communal sun room, communal kitchen with a TV and computer area and all the tea you could want for free which was great because it was fricken cold at night. Only one day was a little frustrating as the water stopped working completely. Apparently there are random water restrictions in the City of Cusco that residents have absolutely no control over.

In Cusco, we ended up purchasing the Boleto Turistico, which is necessary to visit most, but not all, of the ruins, museums and monuments. We used ours to visit Sacsayhuaman (a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1983), the ruins at Ollantaytambo and Pisac (as previously mentioned). We also visited the museum at Qorikancha. We had hopes of visiting Tipon as well, but by the time we saw all of the other sites there was no motivation left in me for a 5 hour round trip.

Cristo BlancoWikipedia has a panoramic photo of Sacsayhuaman.  Check it out. While at Sacsayhuaman, we went to Cristo Blanco as well. It was a bit of a trek, but I wanted to see it.  You can see the tall white Jesus from Cusco. He’s kind of like a mini Christ the Redeemer. (Cristo Blanco was a gift from Palestinians settled in Peru to Peruvians.)

We walked Av El Sol, one of the main streets, and saw the monument of Pachacutec, but didn’t have time to do a tour. More on Pachacutec later. We also found the famed 12-sided stone in the Incan wall on one of the side streets of Cusco, Hatunrumiyoc. ps: Kind of weird that there is a police officer guarding the rock.

Hatunrumiyoc
Bet you just counted the sides didn’t you?

 

Peru, South America

Qorikancha

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On the first day in Cusco (during the hail storm), we went to Qorikancha.  Qorikancha was an Incan Temple of the Sun until the 16th century when the Convent of Santo Domingo was built on the Incan temple. The site is a mixture of Incan and Baroque building techniques as there are still Incan walls supporting the convent.

Word is that Qorikancha had panels of gold lining the walls of the court-yard that were designed to be bathed in sun. (Qorikancha means “courtyard of gold” in Quechua.) A lot of the gold was used to pay a ransom for a captured Incan, Atahualpa, whom the Spaniards killed anyway. Then, when Spanish Conquistadors sacked Qorikancha, they seized the remaining gold and melted it down.  Legend has it that a massive gold disc was hidden somewhere by the Incans. That hiding place has yet to be discovered.

 

Peru, South America

Beersplosion!

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We met some interesting people on the train to Aguas Calientes. Our tickets were consecutive but we weren’t seated together. Jon ended up sitting next to a guy named Craig. Apparently, he has been to every state in the USA and is now working on every Province in Canada. I was seated in a group of 4 with Andy and Angela and a nice Peruvian man. And Craig’s friends Michael and Michael were seated across the aisle with Andy and Angela’s friend Chad. (That seems as confusing as the role call scene from Ferris Beuler’s Day Off!)

Turns out Andy, Angela and Chad were staying at the same hostel as us in Cusco. And, Craig, Michael and Michael were staying at the same hostel in Aguas Calientes. Small world that Peru! They were all from the US East Coast and 3 had been skiing at Sun Peaks before.

Ok so that is a lot of backstory…the 3 dudes were in Peru for 4 days. Just a quick little weekend trip to Machu Picchu! We are pretty sure the two keep Michael around just for his humour and/or his Spanish skills.

Mid-train ride Michael dropped a bottle of beer out of his jacket. The beer started fizzing out the top; instead of wait for the fizz to die down, he opened the beer into a lovely Cusqueña explosion. Talk about an ice breaker. “And the sad part is that I’m a scientist!”

On the way to the hostel we made formal introductions so we could stop calling Michael “Beersplosion.” Turns out he’s a huge Matthew Good fan which led to talk about Canadian music. “Thanks a lot for Nickelback!” He and Jon also share the same hatred for Bieber. Kindred spirits immediately.

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Peru, South America

Where to begin?

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It seems like we have been on vacation for way longer than 11 days! That might sound like a bad thing, but we’ve just done so much in a short period of time. Right now we are sitting on the top floor of a super plush Cruz del Sur bus on the way back to Lima. There is some silly movie playing and the bus steward is offering us Inca Kola and Coca Cola. We are pretty much sitting in recliners and watching TV. But outside the window is either ocean or one tiny little super poor village after another.

Peru has been very odd that way. The contrast between city and village and have and have not is huge. Don’t get me wrong; this country is amazing. The sense of pride the people have here is incredible. The little kids we’ve seen practically run to school (and some on horribly treacherous roads!) And, they’re all in perfect little uniforms too! As if kids are that happy to go to school in Canada, let alone take care of their things as well!

It definitely gets you thinking about what to appreciate.

So in no particular order:

1. Safe, clean water (hot or cold) right out of a tap. There were people carrying water jugs in Cusco. Cusco is a huge city.

2. Bob Barker. There is something to be said for spaying and neutering pets. Cusco was FULL of dogs. Dogs barking all night. Dogs everywhere. Dogs dogs and more dogs.

3. The ability to flush toilet paper. Putting toilet paper in the garbage can beside the toilet is just weird.

4. Food Safe & Refrigeration. I am sure we are anal in Canada, but I can’t get over eggs and meat just being out in the air. Seriously there were eggs on display in the super market register lane yesterday. Like sitting out with the gum and chocolate bars.

5. Building codes and inspectors. Mike Holmes would explode here. There is a tax loop hole here that basically makes you tax exempt if you DON’T finish your house. Nothing is finished on the outside. Imagine all the homes in your neighborhood without siding or stucko or gyprock.

Things that are over rated. (Again in no particular order.)

1. Walk signs. Just cross when there is space. Cars will stop?!?

2. Wet floor signs and orange caution cones. People should be more aware of their surroundings. Here if there is a bump on the side walk there isn’t a watch your step sign, and you can bet that if you fell and hurt yourself you’d get laughed at rather than legally compensated.

3. Pennies. The have ’em here but don’t use them. My change at the supermarket was .08 today and they gave me .10. Yay for rounding!

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Peru, South America

Dio mio!

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Finally on board the train to Machu Picchu and have some down time to actually make an update.

Yesterday was pretty rough, (but not as bad as today.) It was our first day in Cusco and seemed like it was going to be a good weather day. Oh no…it turned to torrential down pour, and then it turned to hail. Bad weather makes for a tough time taking photos and walking around. And, that makes Jon crabby!!

Today we ended up at the Pisac Ruins and wandered around forever. And then the place closed and there were no people to follow around. And then we were lost in some ancient Incan maze of ruins that all look the same. That makes Jill crabby! Jon says it was like a multi-player level gone bad. Long story short a taxi driver saved us from a 15km hike down a treacherous road that was half blocked with an old mudslide.

More on the taxi driver later, Amigos!

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Update

Obsessed much?

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unesco bookFor some reason, I’m obsessed with UNESCO sites. I want to see them, I want to know about them, I want to visit them. It is an odd little phase I’m going through. FYI: There are 890 UNESCO World Heritage Sites as of 2010. Jon thinks that our apartment might as well be a UNESCO site, everything else is, so why not is his view point. Really, the dust balls and smudgy windows are hardly an attraction.

Because I’m a total nerd, and also slightly addicted to Chapters, I bought this book. I’m sure as we continue to travel (IF we’re fortunate enough to be able to travel), we’ll select sites that we’re interested in, and if I’m lucky enough, that’ll have one more site to cross off the humongous list.

So, if we’re keeping tally, and I am, I have been to 10 sites so far. The Palace and Park of Versailles, The Historic Centre of Rome & the Properties of the Holy See, Vatican City, Venice and its Lagoon, Westminster Palace & Westminster Abbey, Tower of London, Banks of the Seine France, Cathedral of Notre-Dame, Archeological Areas of Pompei & Herculaneum, and the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks.

After Peru, if everything goes according to plan, the count will be 17. Cusco, Machu Picchu, Chan Chan, Historic Centre of Lima, Historic Centre of Arequipa, Historic Centre of Mexico City, and Teotihuacan.

Too bad if I finally went to the Dinosaur Museum in Alberta and visited Dinosaur Provincial Park, I’d get another site crossed off the list.
Peru, South America

30 More Days!

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It almost doesn’t seem real yet because Jon’s been the one doing all the research and planning for this trip. I can’t even picture the complete itinerary, but he could tell you times and numbers for all the flights and busses we’ve got to take.

We’re pretty organized this time around as we’ve already got the bulk of our travel supplies. We’ve gone to get the appropriate vaccines and pills, and now just have to wait. (ps: my arm hurt like a mofo for more than 2 weeks after the travel shots!)So here’s the major attractions that I can remember from the plans we’ve got:

We fly from Vancouver to Lima and then to Arequipa. Then there is a tour of Colca Canyon, which thanks to Wikipedia I now know Colca Canyon is twice as deep as the Grand Canyon, but not as vertical. This is where we hope to ease into the altitude while we see the Andean Condor. Nothing like jumping to 3300m right away. (FYI: We live at 377m, and people start feeling altitude sickness above 2400m)After Colca Canyon, we’re off to Puno and Lake Titicaca. At 3800m,

Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world. It looks bloody cold, yet all warnings say wear loads of sun screen to prevent sun burn. Apparently high altitude = no sun protection from the atmosphere. I suppose I should add sunscreen to the list of stuff we still need.From Puno we’re flying to Cusco. Cusco looks amazing. I’m looking forward to just wandering around and taking tons of pictures and checking out all the beautiful buildings. Cusco is at 3310m altitude. Let’s just hope we’re acclimatized by now and not feeling like death.

The next obvious place to visit from Cusco is Machu Picchu. You can’t really go to Peru and not visit Machu Picchu. That’d be like going to Paris and skipping the Louvre or the Eiffel Tower. After all the turmoil Peru has been going through from horrific mudslides this winter, I’m relieved that we’re able to get to Machu Picchu at all. We’re not doing the 4-day Inca Trail trek as we only have 16 days for the entire trip.  Once we’ve finished our tour of Machu Picchu and Cusco, we fly back to Lima for 2 more crazy days packed full of plans. They’re going to be insane, but we’re going to try to visit Islas Ballestas and the next day Chan Chan. (Bonus: Cusco, Machu Picchu and Chan Chan are 3 more UNESCO World Heritage Site to cross off my list!)

The tour of Islas Ballestas will take us along the coast on a boat. Hopefully we’ll see all sorts of birds (penguins, pelicans, flamingos) and dolphins, sea lions etc. Most of the travel books warn that it is stinky and that we’ll probably get pooped on.

From Islas Ballestas it is back to Lima for a flight to Trujillo which is adjacent to Chan Chan. I’ve read a bit about Chan Chan, and it seems like it’ll be worth the visit.We had a choice of flying the Nazca Lines or visiting Chan Chan. It was a tough decision, but ultimately, I didn’t really want to fly over Nazca and feel like vomiting for the entire flight. (Almost every review, blog, article about the flying the Nazca lines includes vomiting.)

So that’s a little recap of the Peruvian leg of the journey. We’ll have 2 days in Mexico City visiting Teotihuacan. And then home.