At around 9am we set off for the market, and on the way we pass the plaza de Armas and the impressive cathedral.
The plaza is full of tourists, touts, people going about their daily business. There are also some children dancing in folk style, we can't figure out why they are doing this here, but we enjoy watching the show nonetheless.
From the plaza we walk south west along Mantas street and Marquez street. We pass a lot of tourist shops, agencies etc. This part of Cuzco seems to be largely dedicated to tourism and the central part of Cusco is easily walkable. The city architecture seems to be a real mix of colonial Spanish and Inca indigenous style. The buildings are generally white washed adobe walls, sometimes with an inca stone wall at the base, and topped with terracotta roof tiles.
Eventually we reach the market and stop for a couple of photos, it's mostly locals here and a handful of camera toting tourists like ourselves. Inside the market we see all sort of goods on sale. Interesting foods that we are not familiar with such as different coloured types of corn, potatoes, herbs, mushrooms. Some of the vendors do not seem to be all that pleased to see us, one in particular glares angrily at us and shoos us away. We stop to buy some bags off coca leaves, 1 soles per bag. We chew some but are unable to find the clay that Brendon says is often combined with the leaves to enhance the process. All around us, the locals are eating at the numerous food stalls offering chicken, soups, fruit drinks, corn dishes, and a whole lot more that we could not identify.
We make our way to the back of the market, where there is a butchery with every conceivable cut of meat on offer. The scene is an assault on the senses and it requires some fortitude to make our way through the butchery. We leave the market and wander the streets just off the market, which are crowded with even more vendors.
After a little bit longer we decide we have had enough of the markets and head back to the hotel. We stop for lunch at a restaurant named Deva. The food is excellent and the staff friendly and helpful. We get a complementary chicha de hora, a fermented corn drink. Some of the food we ordered included tamale (corn bread) and a quinoa soup.
After lunch we meet up with the tour at 13h30, and our guide introduces himself as Ricardo. The first stop on the tour is the cathedral. Unfortunately, no photos are allowed here. The cathedral actually consists of three churches connected together. We enter the first church which has a heavily gilded golden altar and chapels off to the sides. The guide explained that gold was important to the incas as it represents the sun, mirrors were also used to decorate the chapels (which was not usually allowed by the catholic church). Ricardo explains that the cathedral was damaged quite badly during an earthquake in 1950 and had to be extensively repaired. Statues of the Virgin Mary dressed in a large triangular dress feature prominently throughout the cathedral. Ricardo explains that the indeginous people of Peru equate Mary with the pachamama, or mother earth symbolized by mountains which have a triangular shape.
We proceed into the next church and Ricardo leads us past a solid silver altar which must have weighed several tons. Beyond the altar was a massive painting of the last supper painted by Marcus Sapaca in the 18th Century. An interesting embellishment of the usual painting of the scene, is a roast guinea pig (cuy) in the center, and other Peruvian food and drink like corn and chicha morada (non alcoholic purple corn drink). Ricardo points out the painting of Judas, which bears the resemblance of Don Francisco Pizzaro, the Spanish conqueror of Peru. This was a form of subtle protest against the colonization of Peru and the repression of Inca people. The Inca's learned the techniques of painting while working as assistants for the European artists that came to Peru. Next we pass a wooden altar carved in the rococo style dedicated to Saint Peter completed in the 16th century, apparently it was never covered in gold because the Spanish took it all. Further on Ricardo points out a crypt for interring bishops and archbishops.
Next up is a painting of the immaculate conception, painted by Francisco Pumacaya in the 18th Century, again with Mary and Jesus with a traingular shaped outfits. A snake, an important positive symbol to the Incas is painted across Mary's dress (the snake would be considered bad by Catholicism). The painting portrays the Spanish king and queen Charles 5 and Anna Maria. To the side of the painting is a depiction of the Spanish conflict with the Moors, the camels are painted as llamas because the painters had never seen a actual camel. Around the corner is massive gilded altar made of local cedar wood. Cedar is no longer available in the Cuzco area because it was all chopped out. Large amounts of eucalyptus trees were planted instead.
Further on Ricardo takes us to a chapel of the "lord of the earthquakes". In here is a wooden carving of Christ on the Cross. It got its name when an earthquake in 1650 was stopped while the carving was on procession. After that, people came from all over to burn candles, which turned the statue black from the smoke. In the Inca religion black is an auspicious colour. The statue is 'clothed' with a decorated blanket wrapped around the waist. This is changed on a weekly basis, sponsored by individuals and companies, and is considered an offering for good fortune. Once a year the statue is taken on procession during holy week. The inca people also equate this carving of Christ with Wira kocha, the primary Inca god. Finally we visit the beautifully carved choiristy, modeled on a choiristy in Toledo Spain. Ricardo points out several Inca embellishments. The work took ten years for the carpenters to complete.
We move onto the final church, the church of victory which commemorates the Spanish victory over the Incas. Built in 1536, but largely rebuilt after the earthquake. This is the most plainly decorated of the three churches. In the crypt below are the ashes of a Incan chronicaler, Inca Garcia Delavega, born to a conquistador and an Inca princess. This chronicler was unique in that all other chroniclers came from Europe and wrote from that perspective. Ricardo rambled on about the corpus cristi celebration, where the various statues are taken on procession and the people eat guinea pig.
We leave the cathedral and make our way on foot to the Korikancha. Once we arrive we stop to take a photos of the church from the outside. The church was built on the site of an Incan temple and is owned to this day by the order of San Domingo.
Ricardo showed us photos of the church bell tower that was badly damaged during the last earthquake. At this time the Incan ruins of korikancha below the the church were revealed. We made our way inside and Ricardo started to explain how Cosco (Inca for Cuzco), which means the navel of the world, was the center of the Incan world. The Korikancha, which means golden palace, was the most important sacred site in the entire Incan empire. Historical records indicate that the palace walls were covered in a 5cm thick gold layer! When the Spanish arrived they took all the gold and leveled the temple and then built the church. Further inside we can see the excavation of the superbly preserved Inca walls. These walls were built in the imperial style which means the granite stone blocks were perfectly carved to fit together with interlocking pegs and holes (like Lego), without the use of any mortar, to ensure the structure was very strong. Additionally the walls were not built straight up but at a slight inclination of 15 degrees to be earthquake resistant, which seems to have worked as at least 2 earthquakes had occurred since its construction. The windows and door frames were also trapezoidal in shape for the same reason.
The Incas learned and improved on techniques of construction from previous cultures, such as the chevin, they had conquered. The blocks were cut from bigger rock chunks by chiseling a series of holes and then tightly packing them with wood, the wood was made wet and expanded as a result which would generate enough force to split the rock. The blocks were then shaped using tools made of harder rock and finally polished with sand to the obtain the final finish. Construction of the Korikancha was estimated to have taken over 50 years. We wander around the courtyard inspecting the rest of the ruins and the cathedral. In some parts the spanish simply painted over the ruins to hide the stone work in order to erase the existence of the Korikancha.
We spent a bit of time admiring the steeply terraced gardens on one side of the Koricancha.
Outside the Korikancha we jump into the bus which drives us out to Saksaywaman (or sexy woman to make it a bit easier to remember). Once at the site Ricardo explained that the the original city layout of cusco had been modeled on a cougar, where the head of the cougar was saksaywaman.
The city was started by the 9th Inca emperor Pachakutec. The name saksaywaman actually means satisfied eagle, and it got its name from the eagles that feasted on the corpses of the fallen inca warriors that fought a battle against the Spanish at this site. The site is organized on a zigzag pattern, with a flat area flanked by 2 hills that have been covered by inca ruins.
The purpose of the site is supposed to have been as a temple. The fine stone work indicates its significance to the incas. We pose for pictures in front of the massive stone blocks while Ricardo explains how the site was constructed.
Archeologists theorize that the construction was conducted using earth ramps and wooden rollers on which the blocks of stone would have been dragged into place. Ricardo points out some amimal shapes, such as a llama, made up of a collection of stone blocks.
We spend some time wandering the ruins and climb to the summit to take some pictures overlooking the city of Cuzco below.
We leave Saksaywaman and are driven to Qenko. The name means zig zag. This site is dominated by an enormous rock that is split down the center in zig zag. Ricardo explains the site was used for burial preparation of important persons. Ricardo led us through the crack and to the underground chamber used for mummifying the body.
The chamber feels cool, perfect for stopping the body from decomposing. There is a large flat stone that feels especially cold to the touch, and this is where the body would have been laid for preparation.
The internal organs would have been removed and the cavity filled with leaves such as munya and coca to help preserve the body. The mummification process would have taken up to 3 months. A hole in the chamber opened up to the sky to the left of the stone slab, and a gold plate would have been placed against the wall to cast sunlight into the room. Three steps up to the slab symbolize the inca trilogy of heaven, earth and underworld. A pit below the slab was found to include lots of llama bones, evidently offerings to mother earth made during the embalming process.
Next on the itinerary was Tambomachay at 3765 meters above sea level. We climb the hill to the inca site in the gathering darkness, and arrived out of breath on account of the altitude. The inca temple included some water fountains fed from streams flowing down from the hill below. Two of the fountains represented the first inca king and queen. Tambomachay means water reservoir. Ricardo points out the route that leads to Pisac and onwards to Macchu Picchu. The purpose of Tambomachay was for travellers to Cusco to purify themselves before proceeding.
The final stop on the tour is to a shop offering clothes and other items made of alpaca and vicuña wool. The saleswoman explains in great detail how to differentiate between the real thing and fakes made of wool or synthetic. Alpaca feels cool to the touch. The saleswoman also explains a bit about natural colours of the wool and vegetable dyes. Everyone spends time shopping and Nicki & Wendy buy some beautiful alpaca wool sweaters.
The three of us end the day with dinner at Victor Victoria restaurant in Cusco where we enjoy a meal of roasted half guinea pig, alpaca steak and chicharron (deep fried pork). The guinea pig is a novel dish and takes a bit of getting used to. The tiny animal had has any meat on it and we had to carefully pick the bones clean in order to get all the meat. It was somewhat disconcerting that the head and teeth were still attached. After dinner we head back to the Andina for a well deserved rest after a full day of sightseeing.
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Location:Cusco, Peru
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