Tuesday May 8, 2007

We woke up and ate breakfast at the hotel’s café, which overlooked the central plaza in Cuzco. There were delicious scrambled eggs and hashbrowns and bacon, for which I was glad. After the meal, we met our group in the lobby. It was us four, Steve and Geri (Steve works as the captain of an ocean-going tug boat), John and Jamie, a couple from Boulder, Colo. and Sally Ebeling, a lady from Boston. We also met Harry Cavero, our tour guide. We got on a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter bus and drove above the city to Sacsayhuaman, a huge Incan temple complex. We passed through some gorgeous Eucalyptus groves to get there. The trees are not native to the area, but grow there like crazy.

At Sacsayhuaman, I was amazed at the rock carving abilities of the Incas, with the way their giant stones fit together with perfect seams and no mortar. The largest stone in the complex is about 360 tons. The complex is laid out in three terraces, with the largest wall at the bottom. At the site, we got to see more of the local vendors, selling everything from “alpaca” clothing of dubious origin (could have been sheep wool or synthetic or who knows), knit hats, trinkets, etc. Some of the people dress up in typical, bright-colored clothes and go around offering pictures for 1 sol (about 33 cents). Some little children do it, too, and so do some ladies who carry around lambs or goats in shawls wrapped around their necks. Harry explained how the Spanish sacked and destroyed parts of the gorgeous complex. Jerks.

After Sacsayhuaman, we stopped briefly at a place called Puka Pukaru, another Incan site, but where we never left the bus. I did see three people mountain biking there, though, and it made me want to go riding. The Cuzco area is beautiful, with a delightful climate and good food, so Crystal and I talked about what it would be like to get a job and live there for a while. It would be an exciting way to spend a couple years, I think.

After the brief stop at Puka Pukaru, we went Tampumachay, a water temple, where we saw our first example of the wonderful way Incas used underground springs in their construction. They found the water and built stone structures around it, channeling it into pools, fountains and small channels. In some areas, the water was sent to irrigate the terraces covering the mountain sides. Crystal pretended to be a llama drinking at a special fountain built for such beasts of burden that walked along the Incan road by the temple.

After that ruin, we went to Kenko, a man-made cave complex where the Incas prepared people for mummification. On top of the complex were rocks which made the shadow outline of a puma head on a certain day’s sunrise.

The Incas believed in three afterlife worlds, one in heaven, one on earth and one below the earth (not a hell, more of a cave world), and their construction frequently makes reference to the “Trilogy” of animals representing each world: the condor, the puma and the snake, respectively.

After Kenko, we went to an alpaca and silver factory, where we were shown how they melt and mold the silver, then inlay jewels and other stones. We saw the raw alpaca fibers and got to feel the difference in softness between alpaca wool, baby alpaca wool and vicuña wool. Vicuña is supposed to be the best wool in the world, but it is rare because the animals can only be shorn every three years and they are hard to domesticate.

After the demonstrations, we were, of course, allowed to purchase some of the alpaca and silver goods.

After the factory, we went back to the hotel for a few minutes, then met again as a group and left for lunch. We ate at a restaurant on the main plaza. Daddy had “papa a la huancaina,” a traditional plate with potatoes in a yellow pepper sauce that is quite delicious. Another plate I tried was a “causa” – mashed potatoes rolled into a sheet then wrapped around chicken and avocado or whatever. We learned later that “causa” was a traditional dish so named because during a war Peruvian soldiers wandered from house to house asking for food for the “cause,” (or “causa” in Spanish) and this is what they were given. It is very good and available at most of the restaurants we’ve been to.

After lunch, we toured one of the churches on the main square and saw some enormous gold altarpieces and lots of small statues with interesting statues. After the cathedral, we walked down from the plaza a couple blocks to the Coricancha, the temple of the Sun in Cuzco. The temple of the Sun (and we saw one in each of the major Incan cities we toured) is always a rounded stone wall, with the best possible stone work, large stones put together masterfully without mortar. The temples usually have a large sun stone in the middle, set to have light shine on it through a single window on the Winter Solstice, June 21. The sun temple in Cuzco, however, does not have much in the way of original Incan furnishings, though, because there was a monastery built on top of it. It does, however, still have various special rooms, which archaeologists have determined to be dedicated to the sun, the moon, the stars, rainbows and lightning.

We marveled at the smooth craftsmanship of the Incan stones. The doors were all trapezoidal in shape, tapering at the top and with stone lintels on top, and each room had several trapezoidal niches in the wall, most likely used for holding items and for seating.

After the Coricancha, we had some free time, so Mother went back to the hotel (she wasn’t feeling well) and Daddy, Crystal and I wandered around for bit, leaving the tourist area and going to the “real” Cuzco. It was fun to wander around, and we even found an LDS church building. We then got a taxi back up town to the Inca museum just off the main square. The museum was fascinating, with a history of the natives of Peru, from Pre-Incan times to the Incan Empire’s heyday in the 15^th Century. We saw dozens of artifacts and even a group of mummies – including a baby mummy and a man mummified with his dog. We saw some impressive period drawings of how the Incas built suspension bridges, among other things.

We also learned about the historian Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, who had an Incan princess mother and a Spanish conquistador father. His book about the history of the Incas was banned by the Spanish government when it was printed in the 16^th Century, but is one of the best resources we have now to know about Incan society.

After the museum, we hurried back to the hotel and met Mother and Harry, who led us down the Avenida del Sol (Sun Avenue – the main street) to a theater where we saw a really cool presentation of local traditional dances. Each dance had a purpose (such as represent the love of a couple, appreciate the harvest or commemorate a battle) and each one featured performers with wonderfully colorful costumes. My favorite dance was the battle dance, where one group “killed” the other group, stole their women and danced around with a skull representing the bones of the conquered enemies. The dances were all accompanied by a live orchestra, which was fun to watch as well.

After the show, we were all pretty tired, so we hurried back to a restaurant near the hotel and ate dinner. It was an Italian/Peruvian restaurant, and had “palta a la reyna” again with Crystal, then we shared a pizza. While we were at the restaurant, they had a Tom Jones CD playing in the background. We talked about the music several times during the meal, but the memorable moment was when Jones’ hit “It’s Not Unusual (to be Loved by Anyone)” came on, Daddy used it for a little serenade for Mother. The only problem was he totally messed up on the words, singing, “You’re not so beautiful to be loved by anyone else.” Wow! Worst way to flatter a woman ever! Daddy quickly realized what he had said and Mother laughed about it. Then we all had a big laugh over it. It was hard for me to write just barely because it still cracks me up. It was a classic moment from a great trip. After that, it was bed time, so we went back to the hotel and hit the sack.