Famous sites in and around Cusco

Some pictures and history of the famous sites in and around Cusco.

The Basilica Cathedral of Cusco as we see it today was completed in 1668.  It was built where the palace of Inca Wirancocha once stood.  Much of the stone was from the Inca site of Sassyhauman, which Francisco Pizarro destroyed.  I did tour the inside of the cathedral, but no pictures were allowed.  There were many paintings and lots of intricate filigree work.  Very ornate like most cathedrals.

The second church on the plaza is Compania de Jesus, built by the Jesuits in 1571 during the last rule of  the unconquered Inca Empire.  The original church was destroyed by an earthquake and rebuilt as it is seen here in 1650.  The original church was built on the panaca palace of Inca Huayna Capac. 

I couldn't get any good pictures of the other side of the Sun Temple because of the narrow streets, but this is the backside of the Church of Santa Domingo, built on the site of the Inca Temple of the Sun or Quorikancha.   The Sun Temple was one of the holiest sites in the Inca empire, where only the priests were allowed.  The Convent and Church of Santa Domingo was built in 1534 on top of the site of the Sun Temple to demonstrate destruction and suppression of the ancient cult.  When it was the Temple of the Sun, much of the floors and walls were covered in sheets of gold.  An earthquake in 1950 uncovered the original Inca foundations and has since been excavated and can now be seen by travelers visiting Peru.

The inside square of the church.

Some of the Inca foundations and walls.  Some walls have been replicated, yet todays masons cannot equal the quality of the Inca builders.

The Inca builders used no morter, yet the blocks are fitted so tightly together, a sheet of paper cannot be inserted.  The Inca also built earthquake proof buildings, which is why many of the Inca buildings are still standing.  Also, the Inca buildings only had thatch roofs, which had to be replaced every few year.  The reason why more walls of the structures are standing is due to the Spanish using the Inca buildings for blocks to build their own churches.

Some of what made these buildings so sturdy was how the blocks used cutouts to be fitted together.  This kept them from sagging or falling easily.

This is some original mural Inca mural plastered over their stone walls.  It is now under glass to keep it from deteriorating.

Located on a hill above Cusco valley, this was the temple for the common people.  Because of its location and immense terrace walls it has been referred to as a fortress, but was designed by the Inca for ceremonial activities and also contained many storage rooms and the Inca considered it to be a Royal House of the Sun.  It is also theorized the very top had a three story cistern which provided water through a complex system of aquaducts down to the Cusco valley.  Saqsaywaman was completed approximately 1508.

Only the bottom walls and terraces are left today.

One of the great rock walls, leading the Spanish to call this a fortress.

Indication of the aquaduct system.

More of the aquaduct.

The large center ring was considered to have been built as a cistern to collect and hold water.

A picture looking down on the ruins.

The ruins overlook the Cusco valley.

These locals have full size Alpaca which they would love for you to pay to have a picture taken with them.

Next stop was a visit with a local curandero (medicine man) for a healing ceremony. 

Here he takes various items representing the things of the earth.  Then he wraps it up in a paper/cloth and ties it up in preparation for the ceremony.

Each of us came up individually and he patted us with it three times while chanting.

When everyone had been blessed the package was taken and burned, allowing its contents to be returned to the earth.  Again, these people consider themselves good catholics, yet they continue to partake in their traditional pagan ceremonies as well.

Next stop was for our home hosted lunch. Three generations live in this house.  

Our hosts.  The young lady on the right is also a guide.

The main dish for today is guinea pig.  Guinea pig is considered a favorite dish of the Andes people.  They usually have it for all holidays and special occasions.  They only served one for our entire group, enough so everyone could get a taste.  If they were serving this for a meal for themselves, every person would be served their own individual guinea pig.  I did try it.  Didn't like it much.  Lots of small bones, not much meat and a sweet tasting meat.  Most of the others liked it better than me.  It can be ordered in most of the finer restaurants in the area.

The next blog will be the journey to Machu Picchu.

Lima again and Cusco

Upon my return to Lima, I toured the Oro del Peru and Armas del Mundo museums.  Or in English, the Gold and Armor museums.  Like many places here, no photos were allowed.  This is a private museum run by a foundation.  The museum started as a private collection of Miguel Mujica Gallo.  During his life he collected  pre-Spanish gold, some over 2000 years old and the museum now holds over 8000 pieces.  It also includes real mummies, copper objects, and woven pieces, all from before 1635.  The arms museum has over 20,000 objects from all over the world, as well as different periods.  The collections includes fire arms, side arms, swords, saddles, body armor and even the 'Tizona de Pizarro', a bow sword, incrusted with gold made in 1539 for Don Francisco Pizarro.  It is also said to have a knife which once belonged to Hitler.  An interesting note, once Miguel Gallo died and the collection was being assessed for value, it was found that many pieces were not originals.  It is was thought he had replications made and he sold the originals on the black market for profit.  Those replications, some 5000, have since been removed.

OAT only uses guide who are from the specific region you are visiting.  So I said goodbye to my Amazon River Guide, Edgard, as I boarded the plane for Cusco.  My new guide, who would be from the Andes region around Machu Picchu, would meet us upon arrival.

The day we arrived in Cusco, the town was celebrating the Festival of the Cross.  

Celebrating the Holy Cross, believers process through town carrying a cross.  Picking up highland traditions from where the festival came, it features traditional music and dance all in elaborate dress.

The men are taking a break.  We were told most people rent the costumes as they can cost as much as $1000 if purchased.

Pachacuti Monument.  Pachacuti was the Inca King who ruled when many of the famous Inca ruins of today were built.

Looking down one of the avenues in Cusco.

Another statue of Pachacuti.

The waitress in the restaurant across from our hotel was dressed in native dress.  Some of the older generation who live outside of Cusco in the rural areas still dress in native dress.  If you see it in the Cusco, it is usually for the tourists.

Pacchu Fountain on Avenida el Sol.  

Backside of the fountain, sometimes called the 'Painted Waterfall Fountain'.  Legend has it the puma provided water to the town from its tail.  It was located across the street from my hotel.

The day we arrived our guide took us on a city walking tour towards the main plaza.  Our first stop was at the Center for Traditional Textiles of Cusco, a non-profit established in 1996 to aid in the survival of Andean textile traditions.  Demonstrations are provided by weavers and knitters from local nearby communities.  Most of the wool is Alpaca.  Notice these weavers are men.

A close up on one type of knitting.

A woman weaving on a lap loom.

An example of a finished wall hanging.  They sell everything from wall hangings to sweaters, rugs, purses, suitcases, belts and more.

Avenida el Sol.  One of the main streets in downtown Cusco, has many shops and historical buildings as it travels up hill toward the plaza.

Plaza de Armas was the center of Inca Cusco and remains so in modern Cusco.  During Inca times it was known as Huacaypata (Place of Tears or Weeping Square).  In Inca times the Sun Temple was on one side.  When Conquestedor Franscisco Pizarro defeated the Inca Empire, he made the square much smaller by building two churches and now the Sun Temple is a block off the square.  Shops and restaurants surround the other sides of the square.

It started to rain while we were out and before long the streets were flooded.   Most of the group opted to get a taxi back to the hotel.  Several of us stayed and waited out the rain, wandering in and out of the shops while we waited.

Yes, the older ladies are holding baby Alpacas.  They will come up and place the animal in your arms and then want you to take a picture, which, of course, they want you to now pay them for the opportunity to hold the Alpaca.

Many of the avenues surrounding the plaza are like this, barely wide enough for a vehicle.  And this was not a one way street or a pedestrian street.

Cusco is another city of about 500,000.  Although the center of the city is modern, much of the outlying areas are not.  Much of what you see here are the squatters who live on the hills surrounding Cusco.

My next blog will be on the famous sites in and around Cusco.

Towns along the Amazon, hiking in the forest and a Shaman Ceremony

After our canoe trip, we visited the nearby village of San Regis.  This village has about 800 people.  

They have a town square.

This is the sidewalk in front of the town square.  Most of these are homes, but a few are small shops in front.

This walkway is new and connects the town across the inlet.

This town has one of the high schools for the area.

These kids are enjoying swimming in the inlet off the river.

Even though this looks like a regular street, remember, there are no cars here.  Not even motorcyles.  But it makes a nice place for the kids to play.  They even have a volleyball net strung across the street.

Another beautiful sunset on the Amazon.

We got to visit a local Shaman and participate in a healing ceremony.

This Shaman is a woman.  The bottles hold the medicines she uses.  Amazonian Shamans use ayahausa as a window to the soul.  Ayahausca is a psychedelic brew from various plants in the jungle.  It has been used for centuries for healing.  Recently it has become very popular and there are many retreats in the jungle where you can go to experience ayahausca.  The shaman uses the drug to obtain an altered state of consciousness so they can interact with the spirit world and channel energies into this world.  Some say the shamans have centuries of theraputic experience.  It can also be a very dangerous drug and if not used properly or without someone to guide you, people have been known to die.  

She only used some smoke and chants to blow away the bad spirits for us.

This barge is pushing a load of lumber up the Amazon River.

The Amazonas  was built in the early 1900s and is still operational and in use on the river today.  It is the oldest ship on the Amazon River.

We arrive in Nauta town which boasts a population of 14,000.  It also has a road which now runs to Iquitos, the only road in the Amazon River Basin.

Here is a load of bamboo.

Here is a recently off loaded shipment of plantains.

Restocking supplies for the ship by purchasing some tiger catfish for supper.

The town square and local Catholic Church.

Hand made crafts for sale.

We got to ride in one of the local tricycle or tut tut.

A wall at the city park had murals of local fish, snakes, birds and animals.

There was even a small lake in the park, called Bird Lake.

We were driven in the tut tuts to this hill above the city overlooking the river.  Disregard the two children in the picture, they were not part of our group.

We only got to take one hike since most of the areas were flooded.  

 The hike was only 1 1/2 miles, but the point was to see what kind of wildlife we would venture upon.  We divided into two smaller groups for the hike, but even then they hired locals to go along and make sure we did not have any problems.

Coastal ginger, but it is not edible.  I tried to find out more info, but nothing is available under the name of coastal ginger.  Must be a local name.

Walking Palm

We were told not to venture off the path.  There are poisonous snakes and we wouldn't want to disturb something as dangerous as a bushmaster.  No need to tell me twice, I stayed in the middle of the path.

Poison Dart frog.

Porcupine Palm.  I wouldn't want to accidentally fall into this tree!

Leaf Mimic Forest Toad.  This is just a baby.  These are the largest toads in the forest and can grow to 4 pounds.

Rainbow Boa.  This picture just doesn't do the colors justice.  This snake shimmers in the light.

Pink Toed Tarantula.

Rubber Tree

Another Poison Dart frog.

So my Amazon River Cruise is now officially over and I head back to Lima.  There I will visit a gold museum before flying to Cusco in the southern Andes mountains of Peru to visit Machu Picchu.  So my next blog will be on my adventure to Machu Picchu.