Cusco and The Sacred Valley
Trip Start
Mar 27, 2008
1
11
42
Trip End
Jun 30, 2008
Cusco,
Peru
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
I paid a few extra dollars for the bus down here from Puno. The journey lasts about 9 hours, but on this particular bus you stop to see a few of the sights on the way (and there are plenty of sights to see). They give you lunch, and serve refreshments on board. I thought it was a bargain, but that extra few quid changed the profile of the average passenger completely. We moved from 70% Backpacker, to 70% Argentinian pensioner at a stroke.
The road to Cusco from Puno starts on the shores of Lake Titicaca, climbs steadily West and then heads North towards the Equator. For the first few hours the drive is across the Altiplano, then slowly the mountains close in, and the last 6 hours are spent in a valley full of spectacular scenery, all the way down to Cusco. At this altitude it´s easy to forget you´re in the tropics, and on more than one occasion the Altiplano reminded me of the Northern Pennines, or the highlands of Scotland
View from my room, Cusco
. One section of the valley between Puno and Cusco looks unnervingly like the Cuillen on the Isle of Skye - and then an alpaca wanders past and reminds you where you are.Peruvians, like people the world over, erect little shrines by the roadside where somebody is killed. I noticed one or two of them as the bus moved North, and then more and more, sometimes in clusters of 4 or 5, like little cemeteries on the verges. There were scores of shrines. On the assumption that I could only see about half of them (ie my side of the road), I decided that there were far too many, and that they must be there for another reason. I checked it out, but no, I was right first time. That´s precisely what they are - monuments to road-kill. But the traffic on this road is light, mainly long distance trucks and buses, and I found it hard to understand how there could be so many deaths. The penny slowly and sickeningly dropped, and I realised that a high proportion of these casualties are actually pedestrians. In this part of the world, the majority of pedestrians fall into three categories - the dirt poor (who can only afford to walk), farmers (or more often their wives or children) who graze livestock on the roadside verges, or school kids (in the countryside, they sometimes walk 2-3 hours a day just to get to school and back). This is not nice.......at all. I used to be irritated by Peruvian drivers constantly leaning on their horns, like Toad of Toad Hall, or the Road Runner
Curch at Andahuaylillas
. Peru has a constant backdrop of beeping and parping but I think I´m starting to understand why......Cusco itself is a beautiful city, and is a destination in its own right, although most people use it as a jumping off point for Machu Picchu, which is about 120 Km up the road. North of the main plaza, the streets are narrow, and there is plenty of Inca stonework to admire as you stroll around. Cusco is in the middle of a building boom, and the old houses in the centre of town are being gentrified and turned into Hotels and Restaurants. You´ll be delighted to learn that the city now boasts its very own Cross Keys pub, and a couple of Irish bars. Tourists are predominantly Americans, with a healthy sprinkling of Brits, Europeans, Hispanics and Israelis - all a´huffing and a´puffing in the thin air.
This whole area is Quechua Indian country, but central Cusco is staunchly Latino. As the tourist dollars pour in, the Quechua are pushed to the margins, bit-part actors in a film that is actually about them - they are the descendants of the Inca. As tourism takes over, the Quechua are reduced to selling finger-puppets, manning souvenir stalls, and posing with alpacas for photographs in their Sunday finery. For some reason this all reminded me of those ladies with spinning-wheels and tall hats that used to inhabit Welsh Wales and are now extinct. I prefer my Quechua to sell me coca tea and shave me for a couple of Bolivianos, not this emasculated pap that the Americans love to take photographs of.
And, moving swiftly on........in South American churches, idolatry would seem to be the order of the day. Fresh from the Brown Madonna of Copacabana (and a few other bizarre encounters on the road to Cusco), I was introduced to "El Niño Doctorcito" in the Market Church, Cusco. El Niño is basically a metre high child´s doll in a glass cabinet, resplendent in Christening gown, and with long curly hair
Cusco from San Blas
. El bueno Doctorcito has a slightly malevolent expression, and the whole thing had the queasy feel of paying homage to Chuckie. I left. Swiftly.On my second day in Cusco I walked up to Sacsayhuaman, which is an Inca fort in the hills above the city. This produced a few "how did they do that" moments (as in, "the largest stone in the fortifications weighs over 360 tons" - how did they do that? etc). The whole place is spectacular, atmospheric, and has fantastic views over the city - all in all, well worth the climb. Sacsayhuaman is also about a millimetre away from being pronounced "sexy woman". This is naturally a source of constant hilarity, particularly when someone asks you what you saw last night, what you are going to see today, etc, etc. Well, slap my thigh - oh how we laughed.........
And the other thing that happened on my second day in Cusco? I was nearly run over by a bus. Not your metaphorical kind of bus either; this was a proper job, made of steel and glass, and it had people inside. For the last few weeks, most of the streets I´ve crossed have been one-way, but not this one. I saw a gap in the traffic, went for it, and stepped out - straight in front of a bus. The driver managed to miss me (somehow), but that´s the closest I´ve come in many a year. Mea culpa, but now I look both ways when I cross the road - twice, and once more for good luck.
Doorway, Cusco
And for dinner....................Guinea Pig. I promised you a photograph (and I took one), but it was just a plate of meat. I was expecting them to leave the head on, for the full gross-out experience, but they sanitised my meal. Guinea pig is full of little bones, fiddly and messy to eat. It was nice, but it´s a bit like eating pigeon - you´re left wondering whether it was actually worth the trouble. And for those of you who have tried venison, at least I didn´t eat Bambi.Now it´s Thursday, and I´m in a bus full of Israelis touring the Sacred Valley of the Incas. This did pretty much what it said on the tin, especially Pisaq (although the village below the Inca site is a 2 Km long souvenir stall), and Ollaytantambo. Google them if you´re interested. I don't have the time or space here. There´s a couple of links to get you started below this post, and I´ve included a few photos to whet your whistle.
It´s 2 in the morning now, and I´m going to bed. My next stop is Machu Picchu, and I´ll catch up with you there............................
Your links are:
http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/South_America/Peru/South/Cusco/Pisac/photo520220.htm
http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/South_America/Peru/South/Cusco/Ollantaytambo/photo660163.htm
