Oct 21, 22, 23

Oct 23, Sunday

Interesting quote from a book I’m reading (Michael Gruber: The Book of Air and Shadows): “There are three kinds of history. The first is what really happened, and that is forever lost.  The second is what most people thought happened, and we can recover that with assiduous effort. The third is what the people in power wanted the future to think happened, and that is 90 percent of the history in books.”      How true.   Archaeology and scientific research are now assisting is in trying to determine what really happened, but will we ever REALLY know?   Or will there always have to be conjecture involved?

I did not leave my room until about 1:30, still running a fever, but a few things I still wanted to see.  I made my way passed Plaza de Armas and Plaza Regacijo to Plaza San Francisco. 

It’s Sunday, but all the church doors were closed.  There were a lot of people in the Plaza cooking and eating food;  my stomach could not take the smells.  

I walked through the beautiful gates  towards Iglesia San Pedro and the Mercado Central.   Since it was Sunday there weren’t as many shop keepers here as there would be on week days, but again because of the smells, I came in one entrance and went out again at the next one. 

Took a different route back towards the main plaza.  There were not many tourists here, just the locals out for Sunday strolls.   There were dark clouds in the distance, but no rain in Cuzco.   I stopped to take a picture of the drawing on the mountain side and caught this shot.  WOW !    I could have tried to take this type of picture and never managed it.   

  Kids playing with whatever is at hand

Got back to the Palacio de la Justica with its beautiful murals and decided to try to find the inner archeological courtyards behind it.   Although the map I have shows there are ruins, there isn’t anything left.   I walked down Intikikllu to the back of the Iglesia de la Compania and decided to go in to visit the church.   I don’t usually take a guide for these church visits, just walk around on my own, but for some reason today I said yes.   The young man was quite knowledgeable: Church founded by Jesuits, destroyed by earthquakes and rebuilt a number of times.  The altars are all spectacular:  carved cedar, covered with plaster, and then with some type of red wash to make the gold gilding adhere to it.  Sorry no pictures allowed.  

  From the second floor window of La Colonia, looking down to la Plaza de Armas

I decided to have a late lunch/early supper and then headed back to the hotel with the medication I bought in a “Boteca” along the way:   Decongestant for my cold and non-aspirin something for the fever, aches and pains.  Hope this works.

Oct 22, Saturday

It was almost 1 pm by the time I got out today.   First order of business was to go back to the ScotiaBank ATM to get more Soles, then to the market to replenish my stash of Electrolight and Water bottles.   I would have liked to purchase some plain yogurt as well, but the small Mercados only carry the fruity watery kinds that are full of sugar.   I walked around a few of the streets trying to locate another Mercado and instead came across a pastry shop.  OH  OH  !   I must be feeling a little bit better because I could not resist purchasing a cinnamon roll and a chocolate croissant.  

Went back to my hotel to drop everything off and get ready for the 2pm Trolley Tour departure from the Plaza de Armas.  

These old wooden trolley cars do a circuit of the city from the Historical Centre up to the new parts of Cuzco and then go up to El Christo Blanco ( a huge statue of Christ that overlooks the city), drives by the archaeological site of Saqsayhuaman, and then returns to the Plaza.  It’s about 1 hour and 10 minutes.  Unfortunately, that’s the time it takes the driver to do the circuit, so he doesn’t make many stops, or slow down for picture taking, or ensure that the trolley is facing whatever the guide is describing to us.  “This is the statue of a famous Peruvian author…..”  as we drive past the back of the statue !   Ditto for the monument “Hatun Rimaqpampa”.  

 Can you see the nice monument ?  

                                                                                       Neither did I !

I did learn a few more details however:  The Palacio de Justicia was built in 1957, even though it looks like it was built during colonial times.  El Christo Blanco was erected in 1945.   The Iglesia de San Christobal was built in 1542.   Kind of a waste of 20 Soles.

I did catch a few good photos of the Saqsayhuaman archeological site as we drove by however

I was there 2 1/2 years ago, and was hoping to go back to visit again, but that's up a big question mark right now.  Cold and windy up there and with my cold, maybe not such a good idea.

Back to the hotel to check my e-mails and find out that my flight to La Paz Bolivia is on Tuesday Oct 25, not on Monday.   So much for my fogged up brain and this #%^&*% cold !    Luckily the hotel can extend my stay for an extra night and it will give me a bit more time to rest and recuperate.   I guess it’s all for the best.

Oct 21, Friday

Woke up again at 5 am, but this time I was alert enough to hear the church bells ringing. AHA ! Mystery solved. Had a leisurely breakfast downstairs and spent the morning lazing around in my room. This flu / cold / bug, whatever it is, is slightly better but the rest is doing me good. I plan on only doing 3 to 4 hours of visiting each day and rest the remainder of the time. Today I did quite a bit of walking around, starting with the hill behind my hotel, where the Museo Inka is located. It has the best collection of Inca art (according to their brochure). Sorry no photos allowed inside, only of the courtyard. It also has a great display of textile art. (Yvette: You would have loved the weaving.) There are 12 artists working at reviving this decorative art based on Inca weaving techniques. From there I walked up to Plaza Nazarénas and down to Hatun Rumiyoc where the famous Inca wall with the 12-sided huge Inca stone can be found.  

The wall actually continues almost into a square enclosure, but according to the tourist map, there is no indication of what this building, or wall enclosure, contained. One of my better maps shows the ancient Inca sites that were used by the Spanish to build other structures on top. The Iglesia de la Compania was built on top of the Palace of Inka Wayna Qhapaq (Amaru Kancha). The building across the street from my hotel, which wraps around a good part of the Plaza Mayor was built on top of the Palace Inka Roq’a (Qoraqora). Another large colonial style building on the Plaza used to be the Palace of Inca Pachakuteq (Qasana). And the Inca stone walls are clearly visible as the base of these colonial buildings. 

There are 7 others on my map, one of them is Saint Domingus Church build atop of the Temple of the Sun (Qorikancha).   I visited this site on my first visit and it is simply mind blowing architecturally;  a MUST SEE if you ever come to Cuzco.

From the street of the “Piedra de los 12 angulos”  I walked down to El Monasterio de Santa Catalina de Siena,  which used to be (and still is in use) a Convent.  

Same cloistered group as the one in Arequipa.  In fact, the nuns from Arequipa moved to Cuzco in 1601 due to the earthquake damage.   The building which stands now is the one rebuilt after the 1650 earthquake in Cuzco.   The “dormitorio” kind of reminded me of the one I had in boarding school at Mont St-Joseph in Ottawa in 1970-71:   Half walls, only big enough to contain a single bed, desk and chair and a very small closet space, with a curtain drawn across the opening.   How times have NOT changed in the religious world.   It was about 3 pm by then and I only wanted something light to eat since I had the dinner/show that evening.  I settled for a coffee and pastry at a local café, then made my way back to the hotel to rest and finish updating the e-pics for my blog.

  Statue near Santa Catalina

  Front of the Cathedral

The dinner show was at a restaurant not too far from my hotel “Don Antonio”. It is a set up for tourists and the place must seat at least 200 people and serves a delicious buffet. I selected mostly vegetable dishes but did have a bit of chicken stewed in a delicious berry sauce. They actually had Cui Stew, of which I normally would have had a small tasting, but I decided to pass up the opportunity because my stomach is still very upset. The show consisted of a variety of dancers displaying the changes in style and influence throughout history: Quechuan, Spanish, African, Caribbean, etc.  

There was also a band at the beginning of the show “Arcoiris” and I bought their CD since I can play it on my laptop every once in a while  (2 flautists, 2 guitarists, 1 drummer).   They played traditional Quechuan, Peruvian (El Condor Pasa), Spanish, modern and classical music (Beethoven’s Ode to Joy, Rossini’s William Tell Overture).  I arrived for dinner just before 8 and was back at my hotel just before 11 pm.