Where's Grayleen?

(Note: this post was delayed by several days since we turned out not to have any internet in Cobanaconde.  Written on December 2.)

We spent a total of five or so days in Cusco sandwiching our trek to Machu Picchu. While Cusco is largely known for its history as capital of the Inca empire, we also found present-day Cusco to be very charming. It has narrow cobblestone streets, cute little restaurants and bars, and small shops perched on the steep hillside of the neighborhood of San Blas. It is very walkable, and a scramble up the hillside is rewarded with panoramic views of the city. We really enjoyed our time in Cusco and found it very relaxing. We especially enjoyed just sitting on our balcony overlooking the city.

Mugging for the camera with Cusco in the background

Of course, parts of the city are very touristy. Local people of Quechua descent dress in their finest traditional clothing and carry baby alpacas in hopes of getting a sol or two ($0.35 or $0.70 US) for a photo. I only succumbed once; how do you resist a baby alpaca being bottle fed? (Hint: you don’t.) In addition, in the course of three blocks I might hear ten different people offering, “Senorita, massage?” as well as other vendors beckoning us to look at their wares.

Mugging for tourists' cameras

Once you get off the main square and vicinity, tourists and touts disappear very quickly, as we found when we went to a local grocery store to buy goods for our trek. But the local Andean style of dress doesn’t disappear: you continue to see women everywhere with their full and ornate skirts, bowler hats, long braids, and colorful swaths of cloth fashioned into backpacks of sorts (used to carry babies, groceries, and whatever else needs carrying). Ditto at the bus station. No Samsonite suitcases for these ladies; all luggage is carried wrapped in brightly colored fabric on the back. I don’t have much in the way of photos since the Quechua people are very camera shy; actually, they seem to be very reserved in general, many times ignoring direct greetings. It was also challenging to communicate with them since their first language is Quechua, the same language as was spoken at the time of the Incas. Nonetheless, I found it surprising and rather neat that they retain so much of their traditional culture.

A trip to Cusco wouldn’t be complete without spending some time exploring its more historical areas. One cool place was Corianca, the Inca Temple of the Sun. When the Spaniards took over Cusco, they dismantled much of Coricanca. However, they used a lot of the original foundation and walls to build their own temple, the Church of Santo Domingo. Today, you see a fascinating juxtaposition of Inca archiecture and colonial architecture, as well as modern art on display within the building.

Colonial arches atop Inca walls

It’s also very cool to see some of the Inca stones that have been displaced, since they reveal the inner workings of the mortar-less building style of the Inca temples. Some of the Inca walls are so smooth that you cannot feel where one stone ends and another begins.

If you don't have mortar, you need nobs and holes and whatnot to hold everything together

We also spent one day with our New Zealand friends, David, Bec, and baby Emelia, braving the rain to check out the nearby countryside and ruins. It was fun until it really started pouring. Gray, ever the gentleman, hailed a cab and had it pick us up by the porch we were using as a shelter, and we retreated to a cafe to wait it out. When the sun finally broke through, we checked out Saqsaywaman (sounds like “sexy woman”). Saqsaywaman was the military base for Cusco at the time of the Incas and headquarters for a year-long siege of the Spaniards. There isn’t a lot of it left, since the Spaniards took many of the stones from the site to use in their own buildings. But pretty impressive nonetheless, and we found it particularly cool after reading the page-turner (which we highly recommend), The Last Days of the Incas.

David, Bec, and Emelia braving the rain

Also impressive was the amount of attention blue-eyed baby Emelia got from the Peruvian tourists. Bec likens her job to that of a celebrity minder. I can’t say that I disagree. Everywhere we went they stared and pointed. There was one group of young Quechuans that were touring the ruins in traditional dress. As they took photographs of their group, they kindly allowed us to photograph them, no doubt softened by seeing Emelia. When Bec asked if they wanted to take a few pictures with Emelia, they smiled and laughed excitedly, practically fighting to get a photograph holding her. Bec had to step in, but only after a few great photos!

Quecha girl holds baby Emelia

After many hours of bus rides (which thankfully went smoothly this time), we are now in Cabanaconde, preparing for a little hiking in the Colca Canyon. More pics from Cusco here.