Notes de Peru - 5

Whether it was the Andean herbal tea prepared by the cook of our hostel in Pisac or the vegetable soup from the German expat friend – Judy is feeling better on Monday. “Something she ate” is the general diagnosis.  Still, since she is not up to full speed yet, we decided that it would be a good time to move on to Cusco. Every day her energy level improves.  By Thursday, food is again looking interesting to her.

6.17… Cusco is a ‘tale of two cities’. – If you visit the San Blas district there are wall to wall-fancy boutiques selling to the visiting tourists – much of the merchandise is identical between shops, and prices are high.  The artisanal market is much the same… One of the leading industries in Southern Peru is tourism – mostly people headed to Machu Picchu. Wherever in the world you go, when you have a large number of tourists present, the culture and the economy change in an effort to make a profit from the visitors.

Cusco elevation 11,000 ft.

There is nothing wrong with traveling as a tourist – for some, time is limited, it may suit those who don’t know the language, or feel intimidated by a culture that they don't understand.  Judy and I are tourists, but we have our own way of traveling.  To see more, we limit the area that we hope to visit… We have sources like the Lonely Planet and Moon Guidebook series for each country to be a good starting point in planning our journey. We try to find a balance between  planning time for cities and small towns, nature, and foot-travel rather than spending our time being led around by guides. Our goal, as we travel, is to connect with the local culture and people.  We enjoy the process of fending for ourselves in a culture different from our own – solving problems and finding our way.

To see the second city of Cusco visit the San Pedro Mercado and the narrow streets below that point.  This is where the indigenous community comes to buy vegetables, meat, beans, bread, cooked food, herbs and clothing, a place for shoe repair, a place to sell surplus goods, a section for the over 100 varieties of Peruvian potatoes, iron work, coca leaves, & chocolate. At the moment, in the market there are vast supplies of sugar cane and coconuts being offered. It is a vibrant place for meeting and talking, sharing and laughing.  All prices are flexible and bargaining is expected.  This style of market has changed little since ancient times.  Judy is having a fine time selecting a variety of goods and bargaining for a sales price.  Bargaining here is a friendly back and forth exchange – and if you don't like the final offer you can always walk away. 

Peru is not a 3^rd world country but a developing one – sections of cities and towns have growing   middle class homes and well stocked shops…However the middle class people we have met still remain connected to their cultural roots. 

It feels like an old friend for us to return to Cusco - In some ways it is a city version of the Incan villages we have been visiting…We are staying in a charming place – the Ninos Hotel – where profits go to support street children.  A Dutch woman started the program years ago – and they now have 2 hotels and the Hacienda where we first stayed.  By the front door is a wicker basket for left over buns from the hotel café. Any child can knock on the door and ask for bread – they get their choice.

The city itself was a center of early Incan culture in pre-Spanish times – it was a city of great riches, looted by the Spanish… who removed vast amounts of gold and other riches to Spain. Incan origins are apparent in the large closely fitted stone-work in walls and walk ways - an Incan landmark, in the layout of older streets, and the remaining indigenous cultural patterns among the people.

For the month of June, the city is celebrating three things: Its' history, both' Catholic , and Incan traditions.  All of these are manifest in daily events, parades, concerts, and exhibitions.  Each day there are a variety of special activities.   We thought the parades in Ollantaytembo were grand – but here they are spectacular.  An endless sequence of parade units go by – each unit has a 10-foot figure of a saint figure mounted on a large wooden frame carried by 16-20 strong men, who dance their way under their heavy load.    The figures are brightly colored and surrounded by flowers.  Each unit is followed by a brass band playing loud Peruvian music… (I will miss the variety of music here when we return home.) The streets are packed so full with people that movement is impossible. There is also an event called “Platos typicos de Cusco” that appears to provide food for all –donations accepted…  I see piles of cooked guinea pig, chicken, cheese, bread, and the drinks popular in Peru… I asked who is buying all this food – and was told anyone who wants to contribute… they have tables set up to feed several hundred people at a time.

And to make it more interesting– Cusco is like a city following the ‘American world series’ - on steroids… now is the time of the World Cup of “football” (soccer to the US).  This is truly an international event – and followed here with intense energy.  It’s really nice that even smaller countries can compete well against larger countries.  The blockbuster event so far has been that previous champion Spain has lost two times to be removed early from competition.

6/20 One last excursion today … Negotiated with cab driver to take us to the location to catch a 'collectivo' – found bus instead of collectivo to Pisac – got out at the 13,500 ft. mountain pass – explored three important ruins.  It felt good to walk free in the mountains with strange birds, llamas, many wooly sheep, and the music of flowing water.  The high mountains here are so different from our Sierra mountains in California.  The people are so willing to be helpful when we don't quite know the way.  Snow of the peaks above us, flowers along our way, llama and sheep noises as they graze.

If you have enjoyed these travel blogs – stay tuned.  This blog is called “Spectrum” which allows me to deal with a wide range of topics.  It continues weekly - A new blog is posted each Friday – To receive the blog automatically  – click on the “Join this blog” button on the top right side of each blog posting.

We plan to fly home Sunday….

   

Snapshots de Peru - 4

6/13

Last day in Ollantaytambo. The ’dueno’ in our pension suggested that we ‘had’ to go to “Naupaiiglesia”…other local people helped us refine the trip to make it even more interesting… and so after another incredible breakfast we walked down our narrow street with the flowing water in the stone lined ditch.  We went to the Mercado (market area) and climbed into a collectivo about ready to leave – and off we went… We were dropped roadside near a small pueblo and walked steadily uphill for a couple of hours up another of the amazing canyons of the Andes.  Incredibly steep walls, a river forming bends and turns in a narrow flood plane, a narrow gauge railway, and a very narrow road.  

Today the sun was extraordinarily hot – and we were relieved to climb high enough to find a breeze.  Farmers along the way kept us on the correct path…and we inquired frequently.  Finally the site.  We left the “camino” and walked along narrow gauge rail lines for a distance, until we located a trail that led up to the ruins.  At first it was easy going, but it became progressively steeper until we were climbing hand over hand past steep terraces and rock walls.   This site is different from others here – it predated the time of the Inca – and represents a different belief system.  For these people, when the earth was formed there was no light and no dark – only a constant twilight. During these times the spirits were very strong in the land.  When the Sun God “Inti” brought night and day, the Naupa spirits were forced to retreat to the high mountains. Here the spirits lost much of their power at all times except dawn and dusk.  The grotto we visited was considered a “portal” for the spirits – and was a place of worship.  It is said to be dangerous to health to visit the site in dawn or dusk, when the spirits were most active. (The sun was shining bright when we were there).  When I entered the grotto I found a fresh earthen pot containing a libation for the spirits, also burnt Palo Santo – a local wood burned as sweet incense, along with shells from the ocean. Such evidence indicated that the spirits are still held in high regard by some of the local people.  Here in the grotto it was cool and pleasant to look down on the valley below.

After a rest it was time to climb down from the heights to the trail and we started back to the main road… we were hoping to hitch hike – but not a single vehicle came by… So we walked back to the main road  where we had more luck and got a collectivo back to town  - just in time for a late comida. Note – here we are eating 2 big meals a day – one in the early morning, one about 2-3, and a light snack in the evening.

 6.14     The large  unified Incan nation was only possible because of the excellent foot trail system that united the communities.  A system of human runners could deliver a message from one end of the kingdom to a far distant region within days.  (Much like our pony express – but with human runners).  Yesterday we hiked 6 hours along a trail from Qantus Racca down to Acchapata and on to Pisac. There is a great elevation change in the trail so we started the day early with a taxi ride to the top - Qantus Racca. Here the elevation is well over 11000 ft.  We found masses of tourists from busses at the trailhead – but lost them quickly as we got a short distance along our way.   Along our trail we visited a variety of Incan sites – some centers of residence, others military centers, government, astronomy/science, and religious sites.  The entire trail offered us incredible views of the Andes; much of the trail was carved into rock with an intense cliff drop-off to one side, with a drop of several hundreds of feet, and a wall rising high above us on the other side. The trail was wide enough to lead a string of heavily laden llamas.  It has been said that next to Machu Picchu this is the greatest Incan site.  We came away with the thought that this is different but in many ways equal in grandeur of Machu Picchu… it certainly offers more variety of communities and structures, and offers grand vistas for the entire region.  At one point I was taken aback to look over the edge of the trail and realize that I was inches away from ‘yikes’!… with no rail or warning of any kind. Today’s experience was incredible! And we went immediately to a favorite restaurant for a grand comida, however a bit late.  It is operated by a German expat woman, Ulrike’s – she has a great take on Peruvian dishes – but also wonderful German deserts.

6/15

Today is market day in Pisac.  Many indigenous people come down from the high lands to sell vegetables, herbs, and craft items.  However much of the regular items for sale are tourist schlock – the kind of stuff you see in all tourist centers …much of it is mass-produced.   The tourists are rushed around on a “few hours here and a few there” tours, and they miss so much of the real Peru.

Judy seemed to pick up a strange ‘bug’ today – so she has slept a lot and I have been doctoring her.  Our favorite restaurant in town is the previously mentioned Ulrike’s. She helped me select food for Judy’s sick tummy. (Not cheese cake).

We are generally sleeping over 8 hours a night here – nights are cold as air moves down from the higher mountains… most hotels are providing us with thick down comforters – and we have often been so warm we open a window.  Our current hotel supplies thick heavy wool blankets – we are sleeping under the great weight of 3 or 4 of them…

Notes de Peru - 3

        Once I get above 10000 ft, especially with a steep rocky hill to climb, I begin to move more slowly  – Yesterday Judy and I hiked about 5 miles to a major Inca fort  (round trip 10 mi. and all above 10,000 ft.).  The fort was magnificent – but like many things here, the journey is just as significant as the destination.  We walked for miles along a fast moving mountain river in a valley with steep cliffs on each side, we passed little adobe homesteads, cows, bulls, sheep, and horses and the everywhere friendly dogs.  We were not sure of our way much of the time as we sought to reach the Pumamarka fortress site. We asked several times along the way and the people we encountered assured us that it was “the way”. Later we discovered that they were sending us up the longer but less steep route…the terrain changed as we climbed higher – immense scree slopes at the bottom of steep rocky cliffs, small Inca terraces still functioning to support small farms, meadows with livestock grazing, corn, wheat, oats, quinoa all growing over 10000 ft. Frequent switchbacks led us higher to magnificent views of the entire valley below.  Much of this time we were not sure where we were due to the absence of any signs.  Finally we reached the top, to discover that the road did not climb the last several hundred feet to the ruins.  I made a frontal climb, puffing my way slowly up the hill, passing through fava bean fields, also corn, and quinoa… until I reached the fortress…it had a central plaza surrounded by thick red stone walls that rose to 15-20 ft. Inside were many chambers and overlooks.  I can imagine a heavily clad enemy climbing this hill and facing his opponent in a state of exhaustion.

     When we thought of returning to Ollantaytambo our instructions said that we could take the footpath back – but where was it? I called out to some farmers in their field of corn and asked for the “camino para pedir a Ollantaytambo” … they pointed in a general direction and off we went… after a moment we saw that the farmer’s teen age son was running to us – he made sure that we were on the correct path – so typical of the people here.  The footpath down was wet at times, scary with a steep drop beside us at times, through dense brush at times, and we lost the trail once… but it was all fascinating – Whenever we passed a habitation, the people came out to see who we were… I think they did not get many visitors.  Frequently I would shake hands with the men 4-5 times.  One man who we thought might be a bit drunk assured us that it was only 15 minutes to Ollantaytambo  (In fact it was two hours more.)  For a long distance we traversed the hillside wondering when we would descend.  Finally we found out – and the trail dropped very severely. By now we were watching the clock and hurrying a little – we did not want to get stuck on the mountainside in the dark…but we made it barely – and walked back into town in the dusk…We were a bit tired so we went directly to a restaurant and splurged by ordering Beef saltado… it is an incredible dish… that and a Cusqueno Negro beer did wonders to brighten our energy level.

6-11

      To travel is to be open to the unexpected – a breakfast conversation led to an invitation to share a taxi and travel back roads to Moray.  This is the grandest of the Incan agricultural research centers – immense, laid out in concentric circles providing a great variation in microclimates to determine the best growing conditions for each variety.  There is such beauty to the design of these Incan developments.  They were carefully planned to make use of natural springs to deliver water to all parts of the project.  The Inca seemed to have had a special love of well planned water projects – there are many springs and little stone lined canals throughout the region.  So here we were way far out on a mountainside exploring options for getting on to our next destination- Salineras de Moras.  We asked a couple of collectivos – but they were full… But as fate would have it, an empty taxi was just ready to leave… The drive was through vast high plateau lands planted in short-stem wheat. We had a fine conversation with the driver who told us much about the region. Hard for us to imagine that here there is no cold winter season  - only a wet season and a dry one.  Salineras is lower – only about 10,500 – and an incredible site.  A spring here has consistently produced an outflow of very salty water since pre-Incan times.  The people then and now have created a vast system of small catch basins to trap the saltwater and allow the hot sun to evaporate the water to leave salt that can be harvested.  Hundreds of individual “salt farmers” make their living here.  The water if the spring is divided into smaller and smaller channels to make use of every bit of the salt.

We walked a narrow 1-foot wide trail through the evaporating salt pools with steep drop offs on one side and salty water flowing on the other side… between the two of us we only had one saturated salty foot…

       Then we had a 2 hour climb down off the mountain of a very steep trail to reach Urubamba were we hitchhiked a ride back into Ollantaytambo. 

What North Americans call lunch is the main meal of the day – called Comida… it is the big meal of the day – served at about 2-3… In the evening we have a small meal called Cena – at 7 or 8.  We love feasting with a grand meal after a good hike!

Snapshots de Peru -2

Notes –as we travel, there are odd moments of waiting.  These times are when I jot notes for this blog. – If the blog at times is a bit disjointed – that is the reason…

Also – apologies is you have attempted to contact us – our internet connections have been rare

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The great golden condor wakes early and begins his flight overhead.  First the mountaintops are lit with his brilliant light, and then the light moves into the valleys below.  We wake; eat our breakfast of quinoa, papaya, yogurt, bread with butter and marmalade, and egg. Today our climb up to the Incan ruins begins before the first sunlight reaches us.  The trail we walk was constructed by the Inca in around 1400. By Sierra standards this trail is demanding.  We climb steep rocky terrain- much of it requiring our hands to scramble. After an hour hike we reached the grain storage warehouse on a south facing canyon wall.  We are continually amazed by the careful construction designs of the Incas – rocks are fit together without mortar. This granary stored corn, wheat, and oats for the village. From the granary we climbed to a higher point, which was a lookout in ancient times. From here we can see the entire length of the “sacred valley”.

But let me tell you more about where we are.

Friday was a a day of transition... Our plan was to take a taxi from the Hacienda to Cusco and then go by collectivo (communal taxi), to Ollantaytambo.

 In our travel we encountered a large street demonstration of medical workers who blocked the road for over an hour.  The police were escorting the delay! They were supporting the civic right of workers to strike…even if it totally blocked traffic! Cultural difference…

Much in Ollantaytembo has changed little over the centuries – it is an ancient Incan town laid out in the traditional grid fashion – streets 2-3 meters wide are lined with large cobblestones, - and many streets have sides made up of the large close fitting stone work of the ancient ones – unchanged and still functional.  Many of the streets have a stream of running water in a stone lined ditch running along the wall.  These ancient ditches produce music much like a mountain stream.  The elevation here in the bottom of the valley is just shy of 10,000 ft… At first we could feel the elevation – but have pretty much adjusted.

The people here live very close to the rhythm of the seasons and the ripening of each crop in its time.  This is the time for digging potatoes; corn is also being gathered in, and quinoa, fava beans, and giant yellow pumpkins.  Some of the corn is sprouted and fermented to make a very popular beer like drink called che-cha.

6/7 We followed general directions given to us to “go to the vegetable market” “ continue to the horse farm” “ ask permission is cross private land” and we would find the ruins of Quelloilakay… Of course we got lost in the process and met a remarkable Australian woman who is volunteering here in the local schools – She was a valuable source of information for us about Ollantaytembo.  These ruins were uncovered only 5 years ago…A reminder of how many Incan sites must lie still uncovered.

There are also the major ruins – a temple or hall of government on the hill above the town… Beautiful huge stones fit perfectly together with no mortar holding them.  The stones have been so carefully shaped that there isn’t room to push a playing card between the stones!  The Inca village was in the same location as modern Ollatautambo (and many of the living spaces have been in constant use since nearly times). Official buildings and storage buildings were built on the higher elevation hill sides.’  Terraces for growing crops extend fall up the hillsides – plants chosen for the microclimate conditions.

6/8 Last night was without a doubt the most remarkable parade I have seen in my life!  The people are celebrating the Christian day of Pentecost… but the parade showed the strong Incan traditions still alive with the people.  Some dances are also on the theme of history or human relationships; many deal with ancient Incan mythology.  Different communities or groups prepared masks, costumes and dance to celebrate an aspect of the culture.  This was a real celebration of the people –this is about the people remembering who they are – about their identify… few tourists are present.  .

We felt honored to see the 4-day event.

The members of one dance group each wore hideous demon masks to remind us of the Incan past and the evil ones who came from underground

These demons can only be destroyed only by the power of Jesus also portrayed as part of the dance group.  Another group reminded us of the once a year day set aside for settling scores with those with whom you have arguments – the dance represented fights with bull whips… A third group wore exaggerated black face masks…they retold the story of slaves brought from Africa- the white landowners were portrayed as evil white face masks with huge noses.  At a point in the dance the “slaves” pulled out broken chains and they changed their demeanor as they became free men – again it was due to the power of Jesus working to free them.  The white slave owners were humiliated at the end of the dance. 

All the dancers in every group carried a picture of Jesus on their costume – but the messages of the dances were often more local or cultural. We loved it!!  Later in the evening there were massive overhead fireworks just over our heads –sky rockets and then to everyone surprise in the audience, strings of large firecrackers had been stretched across the plaza - 15 feet over our heads – as they were ignited they dropping glowing debris on the crowd below – my wind breaker now has two nice new holes … Oh well part of the experience.

Saturday we took a combi van into the high mountains to a Quetchua speaking village to see the weaving of the local women.  The mountains are beautiful – the village fascinating – but the work of the local women is incredible.  The Inca had no written language but told their stories in their weaving.  We try to buy one nice piece from each trip – and we certainly are pleased with the piece we found…I had a nice exchange with 4 Quetchua boys – them speaking Quetcha, me trying Spanish – we all had fun…