IN AWE BEFORE THE MAJESTY OF A MYSTICAL JEWEL

Day 7 in Cuzco

I am at loss of words to describe the magnificency of the experience, but I shall try to convey in a few lines what has been one of the most extraordinary experiences in my life.
After four hours by train, on one of the most impressive and spectacular stretches in the world, from high, cold early morning plains down to lush vegetation in the frequently suffocating late morning heat and the loud screams of native sellers at all the stations where the backpackers train stopped, we arrived at the foot of the mountain Machupicchu. Then it comes an eight kilometer road of thirteen zigzag hairpins made in an acrobatic bus that takes visitors up the mountain. Once the bus stops, it is only a few steps and the city opens itself at the end of a thin alley.

The first sight of the complex got Me as the first kiss of love. And I remained standing breathless, admiring all of that beauty, while warm tears rolled down My face.

~December 3, 2006~

STROLLING INTO THE PAST

Day 6 in Cuzco

As I had given in and gone shopping with my colleagues, they had to oblige and off we went to visit Sacred Valley. There is only one town on earth where time stood still, that town is Ollantaytambo, the living Inka city located in the Sacred Valley. The Inkas used to plan their cities carefully, and even make models of the so planned cities, carved in big stone blocks (beautiful pieces of city models can be found in the many site museums around the city of Cuzco). Ollantaytambo is one of the few cities that still maintain the urban-Incan planning. The town is alive due to the fact that its inhabitants actually live in the ancient houses that were built centuries ago. They welcome the visitors that come to admire the living ruins of this ancient town.

The fortress-city was surrounded by a wall with pukaras (watching points). The main edification is the Royal House of the Sun, and the whole complex is truly amazing. How on earth ancient Inkas managed to sculpt the stone into shape and build such portents remains still unknown. Hyatt & Verril, in America’s Ancient Civilizations say as follows:

"How were such titanic blocks of stone brought to the top of the mountain from the quarries many miles away? How were they cut and fitted? How were they raised and put in place? No one knows, no one can even guess. There are archaeologists, scientists, who would have us believe that the dense, hard andesite rock was cut, surfaced and faced by means of stone or bronze tools. Such an explanation is so utterly preposterous that it is not even worthy of serious consideration. No one ever has found anywhere any stone tool or implement that would cut or chip the andesite, and no bronze ever made will make any impression upon it."

~ December 2, 2006~

LESSER ANDEAN DEITIES

Day 5 in Cuzco

Seen that my “intellectual” colleagues loved (not!) the colossal monuments visited the day before, they convinced me to have an easy day and go explore the local handicrafts market. So there we went, to visit the Mercado de Artesanía (the general handicrafts market) in Cuzco, where all kind of traditional goods can be found. Its stalls are in what used to be the old town jail. Right there we found (and purchased of course, after all it was three women set loose to shop!) all sorts of handicraft and handmade products. One of the charms of this market is that sellers still wear traditional garments. I found a very peculiar item. I had never seem anything like that in my country. It was an expensive but beautifully worked little piece made with young wanako skin (a wanako is an hybrid born from a llama and a vicuna, two Andean camelids). It had an allegory of some "boleadoras" (an inka war weapon). It was a foot length key ring with two loops, one to be fixed to the waist (has some kind of a button to open it) at one end, and a blind loop to the other end.

We bought this and that and whatnot, and on returning to the lodge at 10 pm with more bags than we were able to carry without looking awckward, we were a very evocative metaphor of an Ekeko, an Andean fortune bearer god that is depicted in art as a little statue of a man that wears ethnical clothes and that carries bags and baskets with grain and food.

~December 1, 2006~

OF MEGALITHS, SOPHISTICATED OBSERVATORIES AND WORSHIP OF NATURE

Day 4 in Cuzco

The working morning was over, and it was time to continue discovering the archeological shrine that Cuzco is. So we headed to Qoricancha (Qori = Gold, or what is most valuable; Cancha = place) the Inca Temple of the Sun, where some of the finest remaining examples of the Inca stonemasons' art are kept. This was just an appetizer for what we were to see during the rest of the day.

After waiting 15 minutes under the burning Andean sun for the bus to arrive, we were off to visit the ruins of Sacsaywaman, It is an impressive Inca sanctuary built with immense monolithic walls built from stones that weigh up to 130 tons each, all of them joined so perfectly that not even a razor blade can be slid in between. Ceremonies to celebrate the Inti Raimi (Inti = The sun; Raimi = celebration), the summer solstice and divination about harvests for the next year were held in here.

The next stop was the “amphitheatre” of K’enko. When the spaniards arrived in the capital of the Tahuantisuyo, Cuzco, they began to categorize buildings according to what was known to them. K’enko, because of it’s semi-circular construction, was classified as an amphitheater. Some of the remaining capabilities can demonstrate this was an accurate observatory to “read time and sky” (K’enko’s water mirrors, still working, can show specific constellations reflected in them, during clear nights). It is presumed to have been one of the most important sanctuaries in the empire. K’enko means labirynth, and within it it holds an underground chamber, the chamber of sacrifices (for it is said that this underground chamber could have been used to embalm the official spies and to hold human and llama sacrifices). It is made entirely from one single gigantic rock, where the floor, ceiling, walls, tables, shelves and doors or are all carved.

Next stop was the fortress of Puka Pukara (Puka = red; Pukara = a watching place), the watching point for all products and persons entering or leaving Cuzco, as this beautiful construction made with gigantic red rock blocks, offered expansive views of the Andean valleys and tracks that surrounded the capital of the Empire.

And eventually, just a few hundreds of meters away, stood the impressive ruins of TamboMachay (Tambo = a place to take a break; machay = cave), which is another fine example of Inca architecture made up of platforms, niches and still functioning fountains. This was a sacred site used for worship of the water deity, and one of the shrines that marked the system of imaginary grid lines that irradiated out to sacred spots or indicated the time and place of the ceremonies.

At the end of the day, I ought to say that trecking through this wonders at a height of 3.700 meters was challenging (two couples abandoned the tour as it was too harsh for them) but well worth (in spite of my colleagues commenting that “we have seen only rocks today”).

~ December 1, 2006~

ESCAPING FROM ALTITUDE SICKNESS

Day two in Cuzco

It seems I have been able to avoid altitude sickness so far! the numb tongue was worth! Cuzco is located at 11.000 feet over the sea level, and when people arrive from Lima, by plane (like I did) they are most likely to suffer from "Soroche", the local name for height sickness, a syndrome characterized by fatigue, shortness of breath upon very slight exertion (climbing a few stairs can do it), headaches, loss of appetite, nausea. Now if they evolve to a a harsh cough, then it has probably turned into a pulmonary edema, that needs immediate medical attention as it can be deadly.

I am staying at the traditional quarter named San Blas; the adress made me laugh: 7 little devils street, where it meets 7 little angels street!

The picture above shows the Bajada de San Blas (“Downhill San Blas”), my daily road (yes, spike streets indeed!). This is a traditional charming quarter up the hill north of Plaza de Armas. There are not outstanding museums or churches here, but the tiny alleys were my two colleagues and I wander around, either early in the morning or after 6 pm when we have finished our work. One tiny complain I have: besides the whole bunch of slopes and stairs all over town, we still have to climb up what seems an endless stone staircase to get to the lodge at the end of the day! So, on the second afternoon, and in order to take it easy, we had a “cultural shower” and visited three museums, most of them sporting pieces from The "Escuela Cuzqueña" or Cuzco School of art.

The Cuzco School was originated in the ancient Inca capital; it was a 17th-century movement which blended European and indigenous motifs to create a new world art form. Most paintings were devotional in nature (go figure, one whole afternoon admiring religious art) and richly decorated. One aspect I love about the Escuela Cuzquena is the fact that artists incorporated recognizable Andean elements into their oil paintings such as local flora and fauna, customs and traditions. I did enjoy the visit!

~November 29, 2006~

GETTING ADJUSTED

First day in Cuzco

Our hosts took care of just about everything and I was not allowed to even carry my own luggage. They said getting adjusted was compulsory during the first day, and I had to exert something that is quite a new concept to me: obeying.

I spent my first afternoon and evening in Cuzco having cups of Coca tea and chewing coca leaves, till my tongue got numb!. They said that was the measure of a good dossage for the first day.

~November 28, 2006~

GONE TO THE CAPITOL OF THE EMPIRE

In Quechua language it was called "Tawantinsuyu", the largest Empire europeans found when they arrived to america. Ruled by the Inca, the Empire was formed by great part of modern Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, northern Argentina and Chile.

Cuzco -Cosco for natives- was the capital of the largest native state that has ever existed in the western hemisphere. They constructed mountain roads and built sacrificial platforms that continue to perplex the specialists.

A last hour trip is taking me to Cosco. For that, I have thanked the Pachamamac, sharpened my senses and prepared my soul.

~November 25, 2006~