March 18-25:
Cusco is the fabled ancient capital of the Inca people, which once supported the largest empire in the world, stretching from southern Colombia to Chile. We arrived in Cusco just in time for the Don Bosco ceremonies marking the Italian priest´s legacy of supporting health care and education for poor and rural people. The festivities were somewhat a transformation of Cusco history - the dramatic entry and pronouncements of the Inca ruler and musicians in the Quichua language, meeting with the Archbishop and Bosco representative, convergence of dancing school groups, parade of Don Bosco´s simulated body in repose, and then testimony to the good works over the last century-- all in front of the grand Cathedral on the central square with thousands gathered to watch. No conquistadors nor massacres, fortunately enough. The city and surrounding Sacred Valley are rightly proud of their Inca heritage, quickly overun to great loss by the Spanish conquistadors in the early 1530s. Today, the rust-coloured rooftops, arcaded squares, grand buildings and remarkable ruins of the area pay tribute to its history, survival and evolution.
We explored some of the city´s ornate churches, complete with gold, silver and carved wood artefacts plus Cusco School paintings that add Andean flavour to the period´s European Christian motifs. The hills and former Inca sites are now covered in Christian symbols and churches (a challenge to the multi-faith pluralism of we Unitarians). A 1950s earthquake topled part of one church to reveal the Incas´most sacred Temple of the Sun (Qorikancha), with incredibly fine masonry in their walls and reflecting a sophisticated astronomical and religious understanding. The Temple´s and other sites´gold and silver were looted by the conquistadores as the Inca ¨king´s ransom¨. Other remnants of Inca palaces remain in the city, again demonstrating a renowned masonry in the walls.
We spent one day exploring four nearby Inca ruins: the Sacsaywaman fortress-temple-observatory complex overlooking the city, with massive tiers of stone walls topped by the round temple that forms the eye in the puma design of the city; a massive rock carved into a temple; a hunting and administrative centre overlooking a valley; and a royal retreat and baths, with picturesque waterfalls flowing through Incan masonry. Another day we ventured further on an organized tour to the complexes at Pisac and Ollantaytambo (unfortunately, the tour did not stop at the prominent local markets, despite the itinerary). Both sites are perched high on mountain spurs overlooking the river valley and both contain incredible stone terracing, buildings, and observatories that catch the sun´s light at special times of the year. Again, we were impressed by Incan ingenuity and engineering, along with their and predecessors´agricultural adaptations (e.g. developing 1000 varieties of potatoes, and 50 varieties of corn and beans, all adapted to particular uses and elevations).
On our route, we also observed the remants of flooding and small landslides near the town of Pisac, which has suffered considerably this year during the rainy season and only now is starting to recover as the sun shines this week. The saturated soils and flooding of infrastructure has also closed the famed Machu Pichu since January, with rumours of reopening only part of the train route there next week (likely too late for us to visit). International tourism has fallen off in these last months, only partly replaced by visiting Peruvians supported by tourism incentives. Unfortunately, that has meant that we have borne our undue share of the on-street touting of tours, paintings, cigarettes, massages, and handicrafts at every step of the downtown core. Still, there are some fabulous weavings, metalworks and other artisan items on offer here, another legacy of Incan traditions.
It was Sue´s turn to be under the weather for a few days, due to altitude, pollution in narrow streets, and possibly from something she ate. Still, we have enjoyed great food here, in quaint restaurants overlooking the hubub of the central plaza - we even caught up with fellow travellers from Mississauga over a local specialty, the Pisco Sour. One evening we enjoyed an evening of folk dances as part of our expensive Tourist Ticket that allows widespread access to important sites. Overall, the city, Sacred Valley and their legacies are remarkable and we feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to learn and appreciate this historic and current centre of Incan culture.
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