Day 89 07.10.15
I slept well and had some relief, which was all I was hoping for and which made me hopeful for the trek. Obviously I had to watch what I was eating, but at least I was able to do the trek the following day. From out window we had a spectacular view over Cusco, saw some little cats strolling over the roof and we saw several rooftops of colonial style.
The first stop we took that day was at the coca museum. The coca museum explained us some of the history of the coca leaves and its usage especially during the Incan times and its benefits for altitude and some of its detrimental features in terms of cocaine production. Have a look at this statue, its pre-Incan and already depicts someone chewing coca leaves in one cheek of his mouth.
Here is an overview of the different coca leaves and what they stand for when you are reading them, or what they can be used for.
Here an overview of the different products that contain coca leaves for example cookies, truffles, sweets etc.
The museum I thought wasn’t very well structured and had a lot of everything in it. For example this elongated skull, again deformed by cranial manipulation.
It was informative and they even had a whole board showing how to make cocaine, but I was happy to get out and explore the city a little bit more, now feeling 10 times better.
We walked back to the main square and from thereon started wandering about.
The streets themselves are really pretty, well preserved and bring you back to colonial times.
Everywhere you see little balconies. Especially these blue ones were gorgeous in a different square.
The flag that you can see in the far distance isn’t actually the gay pride flag, but the flag of the indigenous demonstrating that they can come from different areas of Peru (and Ecuador for that matter as they have the same flag) and still be indigenous and heritage driven.
I was so obsessed with these doors!!!
We moved on towards another church, I think this one was of San Francisco.
We passed an archway where the traffic was passing through one-way. The actual arch was beautiful too, and obviously not made for cars, but still worked well.
The street signs and postings were beautiful and added to the charm of Cusco.
We headed onwards to a local market where we found different handicraft stalls, juice stalls, flower stalls, as well as anything to do with ingredients for meals as well as properly prepared food. We walked about and promised to come back again after our hike.
On a little side note; I have come to realise that the mannequins used in shops around all Peru are very frightening. I think some of them are being used for different purposes. We saw one mannequin (I think he was displayed in a military shop before) wearing a blue dress and heals with an expression of bellowing out orders on his face. If not scary at least comical. Another of these candidates was this fellow who was to be found at a shop selling medical gear. See for your self.
Cusco sports several different murals, which depict the content or activities of their adjacent buildings. For example this mural can be found at the car park of the justice building…
We headed down the avenida del sol and finally reached the church / cathedral built on top of an Incan sun temple. We chose to take on the help of a guide to show us around and to tell us a little about the functions and history of this temple. So we entered the Museum of Qorikancha and let our guide tell us all about it during her 30 minute tour in a speed that was indescribable. We often had to ask her to repeat what she was saying, plainly because she was rumbling down her monologue as fast as she could to attend to the next group.
The shapes of the walls as well as the windows of these temples are mainly made to resist tremors or other seismic activities. These windows in the temple walls also demonstrate their desire for symmetry.
Again this sun temple honouring the Incas highest of gods is a great example of their great architectural talent of stacking up stones to fit together perfectly. This stone is the smallest that can be found in the entire temple…
The open space of the former temple is now covered in a colonial courtyard that is to this day used partly as a museum partly as a monastery for possible monks of the Franciscan order.
This is possibly an altar table in the middle of one of the rooms of the temple. After the sacrifice had been made, the blood, most likely of a llama, would drain through the three holes at the bottom of the wall behind the altar and be used in special traditional drinks mixed with the alcohol produced from corn called chicha.
The way the Incas managed to produce all these monuments without concrete is by producing custom made puzzle pieces that would like together either by purely fitting together at a specific point, or by being interlink by bronze structures that would harden around the two stone pieces, strongly joining them together.
This stone is a perfect example of a spirit level. Water was filled in the holes of this stone and when all the water levels in the holes were even or level, then the stone was positioned straight.
Here you can see how the two temples intertwine nowadays.
From the courtyard we headed out to a little balcony from which we could see the gardens from a different angle.
A very important image is embedded in the grass in front of this little balcony. It is the puma that indicates the present, the condor that indicates the future and the snake that indicates the past. Maybe you can make out these three animals on the grass.
The terraces unfortunately are no longer the original terraces, however the wall around the church foundation still is the original one used for the sun temple.
Here is a picture from the national flower of Peru in different colours.
When the Spanish arrived, they illustrated the Incan calendar through this overview. The yellow plates represent the calendar based on the farming habits of the Incas, the white ones on the traditional and festive habits of the Incas (Giving special offerings in special months, harvesting corn or potatoes in specific months etc.).
Most of the walls of the Incan temple were once covered in gold to imitate the light of the sun. Also different paintings and murals decorated the walls around the temple just like this one, which has been restored.
We moved on to a special image, showing the relationship between the Incans and the stars. They believed that the dark parts of the Milky Way represent different animals, such as a llama, a snake, a toad and a fox. Its definitely a different form of interpretation.
Moving on to a different image, we saw this picture that illustrates the centre in white being Cusco and all the Incan temples and religious sites as little dots in the different districts. It is not quite correct however as there are many more of these temples as there are dots on the individual lines.
Back outside we headed back towards the restaurant Jack to have some linner (lunch / dinner). Along the way we saw another example of the constant restorations going on in Cusco, for example this wall being stabilised with wood in order for it not to collapse.
Again I got to see these beautifully carved balconies, which were just beautiful!
More streets with Incan walls as foundation! (White is colonial, stones is Incan)
We got to Jacks and because I was looking after my stomach I only had a hearty pea and ham soup with some tea, while the others were digging in on lemonade with mint and some great sandwiches and nachos and cheese. Oh the envy was real.
We headed back to the hotel to rest and finally pack our bags for the treks leaving the next day. I was to do the Quarry Trek (3 days trekking, 2 nights camping) whereas others did the Inca Trail (4 days trekking, 3 night camping) following the original walkway of the Incas to Machu Picchu on many many stairs. I was excited for the next couple of days and also a little anxious to see how my body would cope with the hiking and also how it would recover from the last couple of days.
I went to sleep feeling prepared and ready to get going.
