cuzco; the beginning of my journey

I’m in Peru. Estoy en Perú.

For tres dias now I have made mental notes of all the sights and sounds of my experiences and could not wait to get to my macbook and start writing.

Besides a few misunderstandings through customs in Lima, we had a pretty easy trip here. I can’t say I entirely enjoyed the 14 hours of flying time, but I was pretty elated to finally set foot in South America.  I will spare you the details of my boring trip and move onto the exciting stuff.

Flying into Lima, I looked out over the city of 7.6 million people and saw so much poverty. Most of the homes had no roofs, and all were made from clay and mud. That’s not to say there aren’t wealthy people there, but the amount of pobreza is staggering. The view was strikingly familiar to that of Mexico City so part of me felt a comfortably factor I wasn’t expecting.

The flight from Lima to Cuzco only lasted an hour but it was turbulent. That is to say I really wasn’t prepared for the amount of wind here… seriously its so cold. We landed at the smallest airport I have ever been in and made our way with the crowds of people into the luggage area to grab our things.

First impression of Cuzco.  Brown.  I know that’s not a great description of the city I have waited so long to come to but that was mine.  All the buildings where we landed were dark with clay roofs. I was happy to see that downtown Cuzco was a little (a lot) different. 

We pulled into the Plaza de Armas (the main square of Cuzco) to see a grand square with a cathedral, a garden, many restaurants and street hustlers. Our hostel isn’t far off the main stretch but we had to wind through a very narrow cobble stone street to get here. The streets here are different than I’ve ever seen. Old stones, with water canals and short sidewalks where people cling to the walls in hopes that the speeding geo metro taxi’s won’t run them over.  There is a three day festival in the streets for Cuzco’s day of Independence, with many many police standing watch. The festivities begin around 8 am with loud cannons and cheers and big band music. This city never sleeps… seriously. A big band with trumpets and drums marched down the alley around 3:45 in the morning.

We found the main entrance to our hostel and headed in. Our room was waiting for us. Its very quaint and very cold. The water works sometimes and when it does it isn’t very hot.  At this moment I am bundled on my bed at 7:00 pm, with a freezing wet head and two pairs of socks. But, honestly, I don’t mind. Our room is very clean and the staff is really nice. We even have a tiny t.v. in our room, which we have never turned on. They provide coco leaves for tea to cure traveler’s sickness and there is a resident cat who is very very friendly and may possibly be in heat. Our room has triangle shaped windows that look out into the shared hostel space and the walls are thin as paper. We can hear the dance club music from outside all night long. I am bunking with my long time friend Alyssa and we have two other classmates staying here.

Last night we met up with our classmates and decided to hit the town. We went to a bar for travelers called Indigo where they play things like Green Day and Third Eye Blind. They had eclectic paintings on the purple and red walls, and a porch swing for seating. They also had enlarged photos of interesting people from different cultures, like a photo of a girl from Africa and a print of an old man on a swing from South America someplace. Groups of foreigners sat around us smoking hookah and laughing.  It was a great place to start and I hope someday to return. 

After eating a bit we headed to explore a part of Cuzco that we hadn’t been. We found a high end Pisco bar called Museo de Pisco. I tried Pisco for the first time and it was really good.  Pisco is the national alcoholic beverage of Cuzco and there are many variations depending on the age and variety of grape used.  I had mine mixed with fresh mango juice and it was divine. My second was a chocolate Pisco, and if you know me you don’t even need to ask if it was good. ( I am sitting at this moment eating salted Peruvian chocolate) At the Museo, they set out little bowls on our tables filled with corn kernels for munching and a band was setting up. We made good friends with our waiter and tried a few different specialties.  The music started and we had so much fun listening to them we followed the band like Cuzco groupies to the next place they played.  They played “Knocking on heaven’s door” and invited us to do a sing along. Then before we knew it, Alyssa and I were on stage with the band singing “La Bamba.” We danced with a group of Dominicans and chatted with people from Switzerland  and Canada and had a great time. Also, apparently the very native looking singer of the band is a Cuzco celebrity.

We walked our friends home and headed back to our hostel for the night.

One thing about Cuzco, the streets are littered with stray dogs. Limping dogs. Ferocious and tame dogs. Hairless dogs. But the funny thing is most of them are wearing clothing.  It is very cold here and I would like to believe that the people do their best to care even for the strays. Our teacher says the dogs are “free spirits” and come and go as they please.  Another animal typical of being in the streets is Alpaca. They are everywhere, although usually attached to a native Peruvian woman selling bracelets or mittens.

One of the people I have met who made an impact on me is a local Peruvian native girl named Carmen. I don’t know much about her. She sits on top of a church courtyard cliff (A very important Cuzco church that contains the remains of the founder of Cuzco) and sells hand made dolls and jewelry. She is quiet and shy but dressed in the traditional Peruvian woman style with heavy cloth skirts, vest, and straw hat.  She sits in the corner, playing with her younger brother and feeding her alpacas. Her mother and grandmother sit with her and they laugh about things I can only imagine. But. What I can see is the relationship that Carmen has with her family is the same as the relationship that I have with mine. They play, fight, love, tattle, and get irritated. They live in poverty, but they are content with each other. They know no other life. We can look at Carmen and think of how she lives so simply, but we cannot understand its complications because we have not been in her Peruvian shoes. 

carmen

Today was the most amazing day thus far on my trip.  Remember the waiter we became good friends with over Pisco, well he escorted us on a horse-back riding trip through the ruins and caves of Cuzco. Pretty phenomenal.  He speaks some English but not much so I did a lot of translating, and honestly I amazed myself with my vocabulary.  We took a questionable taxi up the winding cobblestone streets to a street where we were dropped off in front of a worn trail. We hopped out and another man named Abel walked us back to a hidden horse ranch. We were greeted (somewhat) by two young men, Ronald y Pablo, who were to be our horse guides.  We mounted up and headed out. Once Ronald realized I could speak Spanish he didn’t stop asking me questions. He wanted to talk about the Spanish conquistadors and education in The United States, his Incan heritage, and he even told me about the process of how they bridle the horses and prepare them for these tours.  He was such a cool kid and I loved to see the passion he had for the animals and his history.  Our first stop was the incan caves of Huayana Picchu. These were a series of 30-36 cave paths that crossed in the middle. In front of the caves were ancient Incan walls famously pressed together perfectly using no tools.  The caves were cool. Literally. It was refreshing to step out of the intense Peruvian sun rays and touch the cool quartz rock.  We had to squeeze through the tight passages and climb up ragged rocks out a small opening at the top of the cave. Honestly, I was scared to death, but so happy I did it. It was such an achievement to stand on top of that mountain knowing that I had just conquered one of its inner workings. 

im on a horse

our group after cave climbing

incan sculpture at las cuevas de mono (a headless monkey)

a view of an old incan villiage from the top of templo de la luna

Ronald

Ronald talked about the Spaniards who came to conquer the Inca people. As we walked through las cuevas de los monos he described how the Spaniards cut off the heads of every animal sculpture the inca had made. He proved his point more as we headed to the Templo de la Luna where the side of the mountain had been carved into a huge elephant head. Headless serphant and puma sculptures surrounded the walkway between the elephant’s head and ear. At this point we were told we were entering sacred land and had to remove our shoes. Entering the sacred cave was a feeling I cant describe. The smooth rock interior was impressive and at the end of the walk was a large smooth sacrificial stone. I looked up to see a hole in the ceiling rock and was informed that at midnight the moon shines through and animal sacrifices were performed to ask for good health of a loved one or cursing of an enemy. We were given a few minutes and as respect to the Incan sacred place, I placed both hands on the stone and stood in silence for two minutes, asking for blessings of good health for me and my children. After leaving the temple a woman sat selling bracelets and replicas of the Incan cross (which I bought for 10 soles) with her two sons. 
 I spoke with her a few minutes and learned her name was Margarita. She was shy but happy. She had a kind face and her children were well behaved sitting next to her.

 

margarita

Our horse ride continued and ended at a small community of shack style homes. I had to pee at this point and asked if there was a restroom I could use. Our friend Pepe  walked into the nearest store and asked for me. The old lady behind the counter was reluctant at first but then offered to let me inside. Walking into the store I realized that this was also her home. She pulled back the curtain and invited me to walk through her home. An old man sat perched in the dark (they had no electricity) surrounded by flies and buckets of household items. The floor was mud, the walls were mud and clay, and the doors were linens hanging from rope.  I said “buenas tardes” and he said the same almost with a surprised tone. I passed through their one room home to be led back outside. The lady pointed down the hill and told me if I followed the narrow path it was down there to the right. I did.  When I got to the bottom I found a mud walled 3x3x5 ft enclosement with a curtain door and a bucket outside. I gently pulled back the curtain to find a hole with places to put your feet. My heart sank. Not for myself but the fact that this is how these people relieve themselves on a daily. Needless to say I didn’t use the ‘bathroom’ for sanitary issues.

maximo

We headed back down the cliff to the Cristo Blanco, the large Christ statue overlooking Cusco. Here I met Maximo. An indigenous Peruvian flute and guitar player. He was thrilled to talk with me about the United States and his instruments. We also met a little girl and her baby alpaca, who we took photos with, something she was very used to from all the tourists.  

For me, Cusco has made such an impact in only three days, I am excited about the culture and the people I have yet to come to know.