Peru the fifth
So, on to Puno. Ah, puno, what can I say? Not much. By the time we arrived, my chest hurt and I felt like I couldn't breathe. I had to take oxygen, and my heart rate was so fast the doctor did an ECG (it was fine). also Hanbury was starting with the temperature/nausea combo. Anyway, after some rest and pills we were feeling a little better, but decided to skip the strenuous trip to an island with no medical care, so no lake Titicaca. A day of resting in our room playing card games seemed pretty good at that point.
End of puno, then a long bus trip to Cusco. We went along the 'Route of the Sun', which includes stops at various sights. I don't really remember the order, but I think it was:
-A museum on old Andean cultures, which the guide seemed to know a lot about, even if she did start talking about new age mysticism and chakras. We learned about the symbol of the Andean cross, and the importance of pacha mamma, and we have a lot of game notes.
-An old pre-Incan temple, which had no roof (the sky being where the gods live, and not much rain here). I wandered back early because there was no shade, it was very hot, and we were at altitude. I did however buy a quena, which is an incan musical instrument. Fingering very familiar, like a tin whistle, but the mouthpiece is very strange, like playing a flute only downwards instead of sideways.I can play several tunes already, but need to work on sound consistency.
-a view of glacial mountains at the highest point. I didn't really get out here as I thought I should take it easy at altitude.
-A colonial cathedral. I didn't bother to get out into the hot sun to see this, and tried to figure out how to play my new quena instead.
The following day was the city tour of Cusco. We went around the main cathedral. There was a lot of artwork that the locals had made after the Spanish took over; this was quite fascinating, as a lot of them contained hidden symbols and messages from the Andean culture. Interestingly, our guide said 'we' when talking about the Inca people, and 'they' when talking of the Spanish, as have most of our guides.
Next we went to the sun temple. The original Inca walls were built on by the Spanish, and stayed up when earthquake knocked down the colonial walls. The stonework was interesting, intricately tessellating stones held together in an inwards trapezoidal shape by interlocking innie/outie joints. There were various windows that aligned with the sun on the Solstice or equinox, and examples of the underground aqueducts the Incas used.
Up on the mountainside overlooking Cusco was Sexy Woman Sacsaywamán, a former fort where some Inca resisted the Spanish after Cusco was taken. We saw how Cusco is shaped like a puma, and how there are as number of `lines' radiating from it, on which the important temples lie.
We also saw a temple dedicated to water, with a lot of fountains, and we went through a cave, which was dedicated to the earth mother pacha mamma and contained a stone table for (animal!) sacrifices. That takes us up to end of Tuesday.
End of puno, then a long bus trip to Cusco. We went along the 'Route of the Sun', which includes stops at various sights. I don't really remember the order, but I think it was:
-A museum on old Andean cultures, which the guide seemed to know a lot about, even if she did start talking about new age mysticism and chakras. We learned about the symbol of the Andean cross, and the importance of pacha mamma, and we have a lot of game notes.
-An old pre-Incan temple, which had no roof (the sky being where the gods live, and not much rain here). I wandered back early because there was no shade, it was very hot, and we were at altitude. I did however buy a quena, which is an incan musical instrument. Fingering very familiar, like a tin whistle, but the mouthpiece is very strange, like playing a flute only downwards instead of sideways.I can play several tunes already, but need to work on sound consistency.
-a view of glacial mountains at the highest point. I didn't really get out here as I thought I should take it easy at altitude.
-A colonial cathedral. I didn't bother to get out into the hot sun to see this, and tried to figure out how to play my new quena instead.
The following day was the city tour of Cusco. We went around the main cathedral. There was a lot of artwork that the locals had made after the Spanish took over; this was quite fascinating, as a lot of them contained hidden symbols and messages from the Andean culture. Interestingly, our guide said 'we' when talking about the Inca people, and 'they' when talking of the Spanish, as have most of our guides.
Next we went to the sun temple. The original Inca walls were built on by the Spanish, and stayed up when earthquake knocked down the colonial walls. The stonework was interesting, intricately tessellating stones held together in an inwards trapezoidal shape by interlocking innie/outie joints. There were various windows that aligned with the sun on the Solstice or equinox, and examples of the underground aqueducts the Incas used.
Up on the mountainside overlooking Cusco was Sexy Woman Sacsaywamán, a former fort where some Inca resisted the Spanish after Cusco was taken. We saw how Cusco is shaped like a puma, and how there are as number of `lines' radiating from it, on which the important temples lie.
We also saw a temple dedicated to water, with a lot of fountains, and we went through a cave, which was dedicated to the earth mother pacha mamma and contained a stone table for (animal!) sacrifices. That takes us up to end of Tuesday.