Semana Santa Day 4- Part IV

Sacred Valley, A guided adventure in 4 parts
Chinchero

It is getting dark and we are driving on, out of the Sacred Valley back towards Cusco. In the distance we can see the snowcapped mountains of Mt. Veronica (Wilca Wanka) and Puma’s Paw (Puma Wanka). As the sun is setting we pull into the small village of Chinchero, or the birthplace of the rainbow. We take the small cobblestone streets up the hillside. Here villagers have their stores open and are sitting drinking their coca tea and watching the tourists parade up the hill. The time of day is perfect and the street lights bathe the street in a warm and inviting glow.

As we reach the top of the hill the street opens into a small square outside the church. A small market is set up here and children play in the grassy area in the center. The backdrop to this city square is a massive Incan wall that now sits just below the colonial church. The church is built on the old Incan foundation and stones of the former religious, political, and military complex were used to build the church.

We look off to our left into the darkened valley were there are remains of the Incan fortress that sat along the old Inca road between Cusco and Machu Picchu. Due to our late arrival it is very difficult to see and the chill of the altitude is starting to set in. We head to the inside of the church to see the artwork and get warm.

This church dedicated to the Virgin of Montserrat and has a large beautiful alter with hundreds of mirrors used to reflect the alter candle light into the room. In small alcoves, with large Incan walls there are beautiful 17th century paintings from the Cusco school. Many of the paintings portray Mary’s life, including her childhood. This theme of Mary’s early life is seen in many works of art throughout Cusco and causes us to reflect and question how much of her early life is known and recorded. Neither of us remember any mention of her childhood in our Sunday school classes.

At around 7:00pm we leave the church and wind our way back through the streets of town. We stop and look at a few vendors’ wares and then climb back onto the bus for the 20 minute ride back to town.

Semana Santa Day 4- Part III

Sacred Valley, A guided adventure in 4 parts
Lunch and Ollantaytambo

We stop for lunch at a buffet style restaurant in the town of Urabamba. It is nothing special, having been set up primarily for the different tour groups coming through. There is good conversation and we get to know the other members of our group a bit better while we sample stewed llama and alpaca meat. With our bellies full we head on to the next stop, Ollantaytambo.

Ollantaytambo, or the resting place of Ollantay, was initially inhabited by the Antis ethnic group. This group's name was mispronounced by the Spaniards as Andes, and thus the name of the mountain region was named after the people who lived there. Ollantay was an Antis chieftain who helped Inca Pachautec conquer the northern Peruvian coast. Ollantay fell in love with the Inca’s daughter, however, and as in most legends of love, this was denied because of Ollantay’s less than worthy origins. Ollantay rebelled against the Inca and moved to what is now Ollantaytambo. Later he was crushed by Inca Pachautec, who then developed this town as his royal estate.

Before we reach the ruins themselves we drive through the narrow streets of town in our large tour bus. Water channels run down the middle or sides of each street. Ollantaytambo is the only Peruvian Inca settlement in use that still retains the original layout in the shape of a trapezoid. We reach the main square, where locals have set up their fruits and vegetables on the steps. Everyone is in traditional dress and the color red is everywhere. As we walk down a side street we walk through a small tourist market and look straight up into the monumental terraces that scale the steep mountainsides.

This is the view, with the addition of thousands of archers, that Pedro Pizarro and his Spanish troops were greeted with right before their devastating defeat during their conquest of the Incas. In 1537, right after his defeat at Sacsaywaman, Manco Inca garrisoned his forces here. While the Spanish retreated in a hailstorm of arrow fire, Manco Inca dealt his final blow. He broke dams that redirected the Urabamba River, flooding the plains and sinking the fleeing Spanish horses. However, the Inca's victory did not last long. Later that year the Spanish regrouped, quadrupled the attacking forces, and stormed the fortress a second time. Manco Inca, seeing his position as hopeless led his army farther into the jungle to his last stand at Vilcabamba.

We carefully climb over 200 steps up through the terraces and enter the religious sector. Walking along one of the top terraces we pass through the remains of the Temple of Ten Niches. Around the corner we find 6 huge stones polished flat, standing upright and creating an unfinished wall. On the wall you can see carvings of the Southern Cross and the three-level Incan cross. These huge alter like stones were moved from 6 km away, down one side of the valley, across the river, and up the hillside to their present location. Evidence shows that the Incas never forded the river with the stones, but instead would drag the stones to the river’s edge and then redirect the river around the stones before continuing on dry land.

We then pass through the residential sector of the ruins back down the terraces and into the Baño de la Ñustra, or “Bath of the Princess”. Here there is a smoothly polished rock with a fountain. While we are there a young boy is busy playing in the water and presents an irresistible photo opportunity.

Across the valley from this point we can see several buildings carved high into the mountain side. These buildings were food storage houses. To us they seem so far away and inaccessible up the opposing mountain side. Can you imagine waking up in the middle of the night and craving a snack? Historians argue that the locations of these storehouses are logical because the coolness and ventilation provided helped preserve the food. Above the storehouses in the rock face of the mountain is the (naturally formed) face of a bearded man with a large sack of gifts on his back. This is not Santa Claus but the mythical father of the Incas, Manco Capac, the son of the sun. Mythology says that he emerged from Lake Titicaca and declared Cusco the navel of the Incan empire.

Semana Santa, Day 4: Part II

Sacred Valley, A guided adventure in 4 parts
Pisac Market and Pisac Ruins


One of the reasons the town of Pisac is so well known is its local market. (Even featured in this year’s season of the The Amazing Race!) It is open three days a week, Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Sunday is known to be the most traditional day because it is when people wear traditional dress, their Sunday best, not for the benefit of tourists but because of their own tradition. Also, on Sundays when mass lets out in the town square at 11:00 the entire congregation leaves the church in a colorful procession led by the mayor of Pisac. We had read, seen pictures, and heard from friends about how amazing this market was. We couldn’t wait to see it.

Our bus pulls over in the parking lot and we are told we can get off to look around, but be back in 15 minutes! Shocked, we run off the bus at full speed. We had come with the idea of buying some specific things and getting great pictures. Instead we find ourselves in our own Amazing Race. We opt for shopping. We see a woman selling traditional Peruvian tapestries, top on our shopping list. We start the polite chit chat, then the bargaining begins. As Heather haggles, Sean tries to ward off pick pockets and snap a few pictures at the same time. We leave with 5 beautiful tapestries, wallets intact, and about 30 seconds to spare to get back to the bus. We never even made it to the main square! Before frustration and disappointment can take time to settle in we are off for the ruins. We make a mental note about tour groups; you can pack a lot in, but what are you missing while you are rushing between sights?

The Pisac ruins sit high on the hillside above the town of Pisac. Again, like at Sacsaywaman, the rocks that built the huge Incan complex of Pisac were dismantled by the conquering Spaniards to build the Spanish city below in the more sensible area of the valley floor. But the amount of ruins that remain are amazing and much larger than we expect. Again on the tour we can only see a small part of the ruins - we could take a day or two exploring. We head off to the religious sector.

We walk along a path that curves along the mountain side. Pan pipe music floats up to us from a young boy sitting on the rock serenading the Apus or mountain gods. Farther in the distance are the ruins of the priests’ dormitories and domestic sector. Then we turn right and head up hill, through the Incan gate to the old city of Pisac. We are now in the remains of the religious sector.

Here there are three well preserved temples. The temple of the sun dominates the area with its Intiwatana stone-or hitching post of the sun. According to Incan tradition the Temple of the Sun would have been completely covered in gold. Next to this temple stands the Temple of the Moon, once covered in silver. Farther on are the ritual baths and fountains.

We try to take a few pictures, cropping out the hundreds of other tourist groups on their Sunday whirl wind tour of Pisac. Hot and sun burnt, we head back to the bus, passing the piper boy walking up the path. We ask to take an up close picture, offer him a small tip, and rush to catch up with our ever moving tour group.

Semana Santa, Day 4: Sacred Valley, A guided adventure in 4 parts

Part I- Voting, The Sacred Valley, Urubamba River, and the Milky Way

Today we are taking our planned tour we purchased the first day with helpful Katherine, who got us to our hostel from the airport. The plan is an 8:30am-6:00pm tour of the Sacred Valley. But remember we are running on Peruvian time. The bus picks us up at our hotel at about 9:00am and we meet the others on the tour: An Aussie couple, an older English gentleman, 2 Peruvian women traveling with their English friend, a French woman about our age, and four others from the states, all about our age, who we talked with quite a bit. There was Tom from NYC via San Jose, Denise and Billy from San Diego, and Hoang from Washington D.C.

After we have been on the bus for about 20 minutes we reach the outskirts of town. Our bus pulls over at a service station. The driver gets out, gets into a cab and drives away! We find out from our guide Guillermo, who arrives about 5 minutes after the driver leaves, that because today is Election Day in Peru our driver has decided to quickly go and vote. One must always do their civic duty. About 45 minutes later he returns and at about a quarter after 10 our tour begins.

A little less than 30 minutes away from town we make our first stop: an overlook of the Sacred Valley and the Urubamba River. El Valle Sagrado, or the sacred valley, is fertile farm land that lies along the Urubamba, Willacamayu, or Vilconota River. It really is just one river but the confusion comes from the use of Spanish and Quechua (traditional Incan language still used by most locals in their homes and daily lives) as well as the tradition of naming rivers in sections. Most people now refer to it as the Urubamba River. The valley stretches through 300km of the Incan empire. However, the term Sacred Valley usually refers to the section between the towns of Pisac and Ollantaytambo that we will be visiting today.

From this overlook we are able to see a long, straight stretch of the river the Incas called the Willacamayu, or sacred river. Incas believed it was the earthly counterpart to the Milky Way, which they called Mayu, or River. During the summer months the path of the Milky Way would be shadowed on earth by the path of the Willacmayu, or Urubamba River.

This heavenly significance is one reason historians believe that all the major Inca sights on the river have large temples dedicated to celestial viewing. All of which, including Machu Picchu, far down river, have the Southern Cross and other constellations featured somewhere in their construction.

Semana Santa, Day 3 (The Evening)

La Catedral and Paddy O’Flaherty’s

La Catedral is the focal point of the Plaza de Armas. The Spaniards built the cathedral in the same site as an Incan temple. This was a well used strategy, destroy a major Inca site, but utilize the strong foundation and the use of stone in the reconstruction of a Spanish monument or building.

The Catedral contains more than 400 paintings from the Cusco school of art. One of the largest and most interesting paintings is of the last supper where Christ and his apostles are feasting on cuy, the Andean delicacy of guinea pig. This is a prime example of the Cusco school’s blending of European art styles with traditional Andean customs. The Cusco school of art began at the end of the 16th century and was the major school of art in South America for over 200 years. In that time is estimated that over a million canvases were painted and distributed all over South America and as far north as Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Inside La Catedral almost every wall is covered with a painting. The only areas not ordained with paintings are lavishly decorated with precious jewels and metals. The golden Tabernacle is covered with pearls, emeralds, and diamonds. And the enormous main alter is completely covered with silver.

While we are there one of the most important relics of the church is placed at the main alter: Señor de los Temblores, Lord of the Earthquakes. This large black Jesus figure is Cusco’s main religious icon set upon 26 kilos of solid gold. In 1650 a great earthquake shook Cusco and did not stop until locals removed this large crucifix from the cathedral and paraded it in the square. This “miraculous” event was said to repeat itself in 1950 during another major earthquake. On Monday there will be a large festival where the crucifix will be paraded through the streets again. The festival occurs every Monday of Holy Week.

After enjoying the cathedral we headed to the corner of the Plaza, next to the church, where we noticed a Guinness harp on the second story window of a restaurant. A religious like beacon to those down below. This was the first sign that we had found Paddy O’Flaherty’s Pub. (The highest Irish owned pub in the world.) Our friends who visited Cusco earlier this year told us we needed to find the Irish pub. For North Americans living in Colombia this is the closest to home cooked comfort food found on this continent. After ordering some beer, shepherd’s pie, and a spicy veggie pita pizza we found ourselves surrounded by English speakers from around the world, many with heavy Irish or English accents. A great meal and end to a busy day.

Semana Santa, Day 3: Part V

A walk outside Cusco in five parts: Christo Blanco


We continue to walk through the country back toward the city and Sacsaywaman. About 30 minutes later we arrive at Christo Blanco, a large Christ statue modeled after Rio de Janeiro’s overlooking the city. To Jesus’ left hand side are three large wooden crosses. These simple crosses have silver detailing of Jesus’ face, hands, and feet. All of the crosses are identical except for their coloring, (each of the crosses are painted in bright colors), and their differing bases. The cross furthest away from the Christ statue has a simple base with palm leaves carved on the ground. The middle cross appears to have a small mausoleum with candles inside at the base. The third had no ornate base but people hve tied flowers to the cross. Due to our visit being during Holy Week and Lent each of the crosses were decorated in ornate cloths.

At first we thought the three crosses represented Jesus and the two thieves who were crucified with him. But why would they all have the same face and detailing, as well a ceremonial coverings for Lent? Our next guess was symbolizing the three days before the resurrection (the Christ statue itself)? Or could they symbolize crucifixion, burial, resurrection? Though we found lots of references in town about Christo Blanco we never heard any information of references about the crosses. Maybe they are there for religious reflection? Anyway we found the crosses to be much more photo worthy and interesting to look at than the large Christ statue.

After looking around we started the 30 minute walk back to town, where we plan to visit the cathedral and eat dinner.

For more pictures from day 3, click here.

Semana Santa, Day 3: Part IV

A walk outside Cusco in five parts: Qenqo

As we stood atop the stones at Salumpunku we looked east to the old Inca road to Pisac, and Machu Picchu farther on. We decide to leave that adventure for another day and head west back toward town and a few other ruins on the way. We walk for about 20 minutes through pasture land and relatively new plantation of eucalyptus trees. Then we come to another natural stone outcrop that has been carved a shrine called Qenqo (“zig-zag”).

This limestone outcrop has been carefully carved into a waca using the natural shape of the rock. There are several caves; some have what appear to be alters in them. One alter is an Intihuatana, or place for sun worship. Like in the temple of the moon, the altar was aligned in specific locations to maximize the timings of the solstice. During the sunrise on the winter solstice the shadow of a protruding rock casts the image of the face of a puma on the altar. This again becomes a reoccurring theme in many of the Incan ruins we will visit. There are also several rectangular niches carved in the wall were it is supposed that mummies of lesser Cusqueno royalty were kept.

Carved stone steps lead around and to the top of the rock where many intricate and mind boggling carvings are found. There are several animal shapes (snake, puma, condor, and llama) carved in the rock leaving the shadow of the animal in a pool like divot in the rock. This is opposite to the style of relief carving we saw at the temple of the moon. Several Zig Zag channels lead down the rock, some ending in these carved shapes.

One tour guide we “overheard” said that Incans would pour chicha (corn beer) or llama blood into the zig zags, and the direction the liquid took and shapes it filled would predict the next year’s agricultural crop and upcoming weather conditions.

Semana Santa Day 3, Part III

A walk outside Cusco in five parts: Temple of the Moon


After we took our fill of pictures, ate our picnic lunch, and bought a doll from a young street vendor we caught a cab to another near by Inca waca, or temple: Salumpunku, the temple of the moon. This is a natural rock out cropping that was carved and chiseled into a temple. Inside one of the natural caves is a polished stone alter alleged to be bathed in moonlight at midnight on the full moon closest to the winter solstice. But the entrance of the cave has the most interest to us. Carved in the stone in three dimensional reliefs are the distinct shapes of snakes, a puma, and a condor. A local man, willing to help with history, explained to us the importance of the Incan trilogy.

The Incans believed in three layers of earth, the under earth where our body rests when we die (represented by the snake), the surface earth where we spend our life (represented by the puma), and the heavens where the spirit goes when you die (represented by the condor). The Incans represented this trilogy in a three layer cross that also mimicked the Southern Cross, the most important constellation used by the Incas. After the animals were pointed out to us and the symbology explained, we were finding these three animals, also joined by the image of a llama (the most useful animal in their daily lives) in every Incan ruin we visited.

Semana Santa, Day 3: Part II

A walk outside Cusco in five parts:
Part II: “Sexy Woman”

Farther up the road we turned onto a trail on the way to Sacsaywaman (a.k.a. “Sexy Woman”), used during Incan times as a temple, intellectual center, and military fortress. It is most known for the great battle fought there between the Incas and Spaniards in 1536. After the Inca defeat many of the smaller stones were carried down to the city to make the cathedral and housing for the conquering Spanish. The awe inspiring ruins that are left are a testament to Incan masonry. Many of the stones used to make the fortress were just too big to be moved by the Spanish. But yet the Incas built Sacsaywaman in approximately 50 years moving the stones over 10km. Then cutting them and positioning them so precisely no mortar was needed to keep them in place.
The most striking characteristic of the remaining construction is the zig zag configuration of the outer wall. This could have been used as an ingenious defense tactic, for any storming army would be surrounded on all sides from above. Other scholars claim that it is evidence of the religious significance of the fort was to the god of lightning. My personal theory, granted with no sound research backing, is that the zig zags are the teeth of the puma. The city of Cusco is said to be laid out in the shape of a puma, Sacsaywaman is known to be the head. And what do you think the most memorable and fear inspiring feature of a pumas head is? Of course those jagged zig zag teeth!

Semana Santa, Day 3: Part I

A walk outside Cusco in five parts:
Part I: San Cristobol Church

We woke up around 5:30 and left the hostel around 8:00am. We walked down to Procuedores street and ate at La Tertulia Grill. We had some tortillas (omelets) and hot chocolate to give us an energetic start to the day. Then we did some quick shopping of necessities for the hike in a few days. Finally, we were ready to jump head first into our first tourist day in Cusco.

A small 10 minute uphill walk from town we stopped at San Cristobol Church. This church was christened by the last Inca (even though it is called the Incan civilization, the Inca was only the king) who outwardly converted to Christianity and built this church over looking the city. This was most likely a very smart move to stay alive. Though Cristobol Paullu Inca was well known as a puppet Inca of the Spaniards, unlike his predecessors during the time of the Spanish invasion he was able to keep his head! Here there are beautiful views of the city and families in traditional dress waiting for a few soles ($$$) to pose for a picture.

Quickly, a small boy named Alfredo comes up to us and he practices his English and we do the same with our Spanish. We agree to take his picture if his younger sister joins him. We never caught her name other than HERMANA, HERMANA (sister, sister). But they were cute kids and the city backdrop was great.

Semana Santa, Day 2 (later)

As we enter the terminal in Cusco we walk the gamut of tour operators calling out to us. We meet a nice woman Katherine, she works for a different hotel and tour agency, but offers to take us to our hotel and wait and see if they have room for us a few days early. We get to Niños Hostel, where we have reservations in three days. They have room for us. While they are checking us in we sit down with Katherine and she gives us some very low pressure information of what Cusco has to offer. We sign up for a Pisac and Sacred Valley tour on Sunday. We check into our room and sleep until 1:00pm.

After our nap, hunger wakes us we decide to go for a walk. Getting our bearings in town we walk to the Plaza de Armas (the main square in every Peruvian town). We walk up a few side streets until we come to Chez Maggie’s. We order a starter of Chocolo con Quesito (a corn cob with enormous kernels and soft cheese) and a cuatro estaciones pizza (a wood fired pizza with four sections: cheese, ham, fruit, and vegetables). We have discovered food with flavor, something Colombian food is seriously lacking. We instantly reassess our plan of grocery store meals, and opt for spending more on this vacation than we thought, but getting our fill of all the food that we are missing from home.

A little later we find SAS, the tour operators we are taking for the Inca trail starting on Wednesday. We reserved with them about three months ago to get the last two spots on the trip. We sit down at the desk, give our names. Hmmm…we aren’t on the list. Please let something on this vacation go the way it is supposed to. The woman helping us goes back to search through the books with another worker. We sit for about 10 minutes sweating. Our Inca historical vacation, not quite the way it should be; no birth place of the Incas at Lake Titicaca and now no famed trail to the hidden golden city, Machu Picchu, the celebrated El Dorado. We did arrive in Cusco, the navel of the Inca kingdom. Is this all we get, a fuzzy navel of a vacation? They find our names, all is okay. We get a quick run down of the trail and are told we need to come back on Tuesday at 7:00pm for an orientation with the rest of our group.

We walk the streets and try to find a yarn store identified in the guide books. In the land of alpaca and llama one must have their priorities. Unfortunately, the guide book published three years ago does not have a correct location, the building is gutted and in the process of a large remodel. We head back to the plaza, Heather buys Peruvian and Colombian flag patches for her backpack and Sean buys an alpaca hat for 10 soles (about $3 dollars). The lack of a full night sleep starts to hit hard. We walk back to the hotel and read and relax. At 7:00pm we are both in bed. It is cold! Three thick alpaca wool blankets and one small lighter llama wool blanket help us get comfortable as we drift off to sleep.

Semana Santa, Day 2

We wake up in the Lima airport at 4:00am. We check the boards for our La Paz flight. There is still no listing. We walk around the international terminal to find all the shopping centers open, however, there are absolutely no airline personnel. At the security gate we ask a guard. She called our airline, LAB; our flight is cancelled. The only way to talk to anyone associated with the airline is to immigrate into Peru and get to a help desk. Luckily, at this time there is no line at immigration. We are now tourists of Peru, about three days earlier than expected.

Once in the main terminal we find a customer service counter. Unlike in Colombia, all airport service personnel also speak English. We never thought we would be so happy to be back in the land of main stream tourism. A very nice woman, outraged for us, helps us file a complaint and searches all airlines for flights to La Paz. The next flight leaves at 9:00pm on another airline, or 6:00am tomorrow on LAB and our tickets would be transferred. After about 20 minutes of deliberation we decide to skip the Bolivia portion of our trip. For this trip there will be no Lake Titicaca, no hammocks in Copacabana, no Island of the Sun (mythical birthplace of the Incas). Instead we opt to find a flight to Cusco and start our time there three days early.

The woman at the help desk points us in the direction of a travel agent who can get us tickets on a flight to Cusco in an hour. We go up stairs and find Inka Wasi travel agency, there are two workers; one is behind the desk and the other is curled up in a chair in the corner with his coat over him. Remember, it is a bit before 6:00 in the morning, we are all a bit tired. The man behind the desk has very little English and he wakes up the man in the corner. We tell him what we need. And the second man tells the man behind the counter what he needs to do to help us. As the man behind the counter is typing in our information a medic team arrives and starts taking the vitals of the man in the corner. He is not sleeping but very ill. Is it a heart attack, flu, we are not sure? We suddenly feel like our cancelled plane is nothing in the grand scheme of things. However the man who speaks English continues to help us purchase our tickets, while his blood pressure is being taken and the medics are helping him into the prone position and administer a few shots. We get the tickets, along with a good story, for about $100 each and we rush on our way to the gate. At 7:00am we board the plane to Cusco. We sit back, drink some Inca Cola, think of all our friends boarding the school busses for one last day of work before Semana Santa. (We took our personal days to get a jump on the vacation.)

Semana Santa, Day 1

We left school at 3:30pm in Hugo’s taxi. Hugo is the taxi driver we use most when we are taking Henley places or for longer planned trips. He is kind enough not to charge extra for the dog and seems happy to have him along for the ride. Because of this kindness we use him when we don’t have Henley with us, like today. Unfortunately, for this 20 minute trip he charges 40,000 pesos, the same price as most of our hour long trips up the mountain to visit friends. Sean is shocked, but we pay anyway. Throughout most of the vacation at random times he will stop, shake, his head and say “40,000!”

We hang out in the airport for 2 hours or so waiting for our short flight to Bogotá. Once we get to Bogotá we quickly get lost in one of the most confusing airports ever. We take the bus to the international terminal, so we think. We get out, wander around, realize our mistake and try again. After two hours of inside, outside running around in a down pour we finally find our gate and board our plane to Lima, Peru.

Two and a half hours later we arrive in the Lima airport, very nice, clean, and comfortable. It is 11:00pm. We check the departure board for our 6:00am flight to La Paz, Bolivia. Other flights that leave at 7:00 am are posted. We decide to ask a worker at one of the gates. He assures us that airline doesn’t update their flights until around 4:00am. It is too early yet, so we grab a couple of seats, lay down on surprisingly cozy airport chairs and fall quickly asleep.