Friends Chuck and Jean met up with
us for 12 days to see the sights and
sounds of Lima, Cusco, the Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu and Lake Titicaca.
Each of these were awesome! This picture was of us with the Citadel of
Machu Picchu in the background.
We began our tour at Plaza de
Armas, the birthplace of Lima, including the presidential palace that dates
back to 1535 when Lima was the capital of nearly all of South America.
Lima was once known as the City of Kings.
The
political turmoil of the current president recently resigned a day before the
congress was set to start impeachment proceeding. Security kept the tourists back
while the noontime "Changing of the Guards" was being performed.
On the same plaza as the
presidential palace, Conquistador Francisco Pizarro, laid the first
stone to construct the Cathedral Basilica of Lima. The church has been
extensively remodeled since then.
The
interior includes this massive sanctuary with a gold plated alter with 70
wooden choir stalls with carvings of religious leaders and saints. The
carvings were truly exquisite.
In addition to the main alter,
the church has 14 side alters, each would out shine most main alters
in an average church. One room housed these awesome religious
paintings.
This
room is where the priests and bishops would get dressed for mass and other
formal functions. Below are drawers for the garments and above are wood carved
images of religious leaders.
Joined to the Cathedral was the
Archbishop's Palace. Construction also began in 1535, with several
renovations, some due to damage from earthquakes.
The
grand staircase is the center of the palace and leads into a moderate size chapel.
Offices, bedrooms, and large spaces for entertaining occupied the three floors.
The
center of the building consists of an atrium that includes a glass roof.
The palace is now used as a museum dedicated to the Virgin Mary.
Two
blocks from the plaza is St Francis Monastery built in the 1670s. Along
with serving as a church, the building has a huge convent, library and
catacombs.
Religious leaders and benefactors
were buried separately in tombs such as these.
The
catacombs included instructions on how wealthy families were to be buried.
The
catacombs included space for ordinary parishioners, but they were all buried
together. This crypt is one of several where the bones of the deceased
were separated and placed to create better space within the catacombs.
This
museum was dedicated to the Peruvian inquisition that started in 1570 and ended
in 1820. Persons accused of heresy, sorcery, and other superstitious practices
would go through this tribunal, but final judgment was made by the King of
Spain.
There
are
lots of places to shop in Lima to buy souvenirs. This colorful
plaza is called Centro Artisanal San Francisco.
At night, the Plaza and all the
buildings that lined the plaza were lit and what an awesome sight that was.
We met up with friends Chuck and
Jean Busch in the district of Miroflores. Unlike the city center, this
place was all modern, with skyscrapers, parks and shopping.
This
shopping mall along the ocean resembled an upscale mall in the states.
Lots of stores selling clothes made from alpaca and baby alpaca.
Between the historical district
of Lima and the upscale district of Miraflores, the week we spent there was
more than what we expected.
The weather along the Pacific was
warm but not humid. Earlier in the day, the beach was loaded with surfers.
We used the sunset to say farewell to Lima.
Our next stop was Cusco, the
former capital of the Inca Empire, where the history and culture dates back
to 1500 bc. The main plaza proudly displays a statue of the final
ruler of the empire.
Peru is noted for producing some of
the finest alpaca fabric in the world. Baby alpaca wool is a higher
quality wool and prices for the clothing goes hand and hand with its quality.
The
vicuna, a relative to the alpaca, produces the highest quality Peruvian
wool. During the Inca rule, only royalty could wear vicuna garments.
Here we are touring parts of the
Sacred Valley, which stretches from Cusco to Machu Picchu. This 45 mile
stretch, along Peru's Andean highlands formed the heart of the Inca Empire.
Overlooking the city of Cusco is
the Inca fortress known as Sacsahuaman (pronounced Sexy Women). The
complex consists of stonework laid without mortar that created three
terraces some 1,500 feet long.
After the conquest by the Spanish
conquistadors, most of the Incan people were forced into labor, however a few
Incans escaped and had safeguarded the sacred knowledge that is now practiced
by Shamans.
The
Spanish introduced bulls to South America, which later became part of the
Inca culture. Today, small figurines are placed on roof tops and believed to
help protect the home and those that live there.
The Pisac Ruins reside about an hour
east of Cusco in the Andean highlands. One of the most impressive part of
these ruins are the massive terraces that were cut into the mountain and used to
grow crops.
The
ruin complex sits on a small ridge with a panoramic view on all sides.
It is made up of dozens of buildings made from pink granite.
This
picture of the terraces jam packed with tour busses, includes the winding road
along with the awesome valley below.
Our next stop along the Sacred
Valley was the royal estate of the Inca emperor who conquered the region.
Today it is a major tourist attraction and the beginning of the four-day
hike on the Inca trail to Machu Picchu.
Along our tour we drove past snow
packed Salkantay Mountain the larger peak within the Sacred Valley. In
Spanish, it means savage, which is what hikers along the Inca trail have to deal
with.
Our last stop of the day was in
Chinchero, a small Indian village where the Inca ruins is incorporated into
the village, including the terraces and the aqueduct.
As a part of evangelization into
Christianity, the church dismantled the Inca temple, extracted all the gold,
silver, etc. and built this church on top of the temple.
Our final stop on our day-long
bus tour was a potty break at another market. We were in awe by the
intricacy of this lady weaving an alpaca table runner.
This
lady gave us a presentation on different methods of dying the wool of the alpaca
using berries and other 100 percent natural dyes.
We took the VistaDome PeruRail
from Cusco to Machu Picchu. This statue stands in the main plaza
of Aquas Caliente, the closest town to the citadel. Click to watch some Traditional Dancing
on "The Day of the Cross" a religious holiday.
Aguas Caliente can only be accessed
by train. There are no cars in the town, only busses, that run from town
to Machu Picchu.
We toured the Machu Picchu
museum, which gave us a great introduction to its history, its culture and the Inca's who
lived there.
Next to the museum is a small
botanical garden that presents lots of the native plants and flowers that grow
in the area.
Being in this spot was pretty
overwhelming to us. We must have taken 50 pictures and all left us
breathless. Click to view a panoramic view.
We arrived at
6:30 am and left about 3:00 pm. Throughout the day, we had sun, clouds and
some rain.
This
entry is the Main Gate and designed to frame Wayna Picchu, the mountain in
the background.
The
Sun Temple is designed to denote both the summer and winter equinox with the
sunlight shinning through the window.
t
These
large terraces were used during ceremonial events for guests to observe
performances on the open field below.
This picture depicts how the Inca
architects used stone pins set in the block wall to hold the weight of the
rafter for an overhang on the gable end of the buildings.
One of the cool features is how
the architects blended large existing granite into creating their walls.
The
roofs on these buildings have been added to show how they looked centuries ago.
After touring Machu Picchu, we went on a hike along the Inca Trail to the Sun
Gate, about a mile south of the temple. Machu Picchu lies in the
background.
On the way down the mountain, we ran
into this young man who we met at the museum the previous day. He is a civil
engineer from Peru and loved the "engineering."
On the way back to the bus and
the ride back to our hotel, we stopped to touch the citadel one last time.
That afternoon, we met up with Chuck and
Jean. Larry decided to get a sampling of alpaca, which was great.
After a wonderful time touring
Machu Picchu, we boarded the VistaDome for a three-hour train ride back to
Cusco. Click to watch Glorine doing some traditional indigenous dancing called Sagaa on the train.
The
Inca Empire only lasted just over 300 years. This chart indicates the names of
the different cultures that date back to 5000 B.C. We were told that as
the Inca's conquered different civilizations, they incorporated their cultures
into the Inca's way of life.
The
Inca Empire stretched from Ecuador to the middle of Chile and parts of
Argentina, Bolivia and Brazil.
This
wall, built by the Incas has withstood earthquakes and other natural disasters.
However, it could not withstand
the forces of the Spanish Empire, who destroyed the Inca Temples and used
the foundation to build Cathedrals like this one.
After eating an alpaca, Larry decided
to make amends, by holding one of these baby alpacas and paying this lady for the
opportunity to take the picture.
We decided to tour the Pisco
Museum, which we later learned was more of a bar and less of a museum.
Pisco Sour is the national drink of Peru and Chile.
On the bus ride to Lake Titacaca, we
stopped by La Raya (14,222 feet). From this point, water runoff either
flows to the lake or toward the Amazon.
We also stopped to view a new
project to rebuild storage buildings like those used by the Incas in the 1400s.
We were
amused by the appearance of
these Peruvian women, who have held on to the ancestral dresses. Note the
braids - two means she is married.
When we arrive in Puno, these
children were among several bands celebrating the police and military
schools.
We toured the Dreyer Museum,
dedicated to a German who worked to preserve the culture of the area.
We took a day trip on Lake
Titicaca, the largest lake in South America and the highest navigable lake
in the world. The lake is shared by Peru and Bolivia.
Our first stop was the Uros,
an indigenous group of people who live on floating islands about three miles from the
mainland.
When we arrived, we took a boat
ride on a reed boat, called a Baisas. It is made mostly of dried reeds
pulled from the lake.
Chuck and Jean enjoyed riding on the
lower deck. The boat is used to move people and cargo from island to
island. Two ladies paddled a boat load of people.
This mock up shows how the floating islands are made. Dense roots from
the reeds are used as the base with dried reeds laid on top. The
islands are nine feet thick and 100-foot square and last for 30 years.
These islands support two to three families per island, with families consisting
of up to ten children. The homes are also made from the same dried reeds.
Reeds are continually being added to the island floor.
The interior of these homes is extremely modest. Solar energy has been
introduced which allows for lights and small appliances.
A school provides education for the
first six grades. For those who go on for further education, they are
taken to the mainland by boat each day.
From the floating islands we
traveled to Taquile Island, one of 41 islands on Lake Titicaca. Here
we are welcomed by this archway as we walked from the tour boat to the city
center.
This
island is about a mile wide and 4 miles long and is mainly used for agriculture.
The people who live here are of Inca and pre-Inca descent and spend their time
much as their ancestors did.
The
buildings are very modest and multi-generational families live and work
together.
The
only religion on the island is Catholicism, but with a twist of Incan
spirituality.
In addition to agriculture, many
like this young man have learned to weave, knit and make other textile art.
We were treated to a meal of traditional foods and entertained by some
traditional dancing. Click to view.
These motortaxis are a cousin to the tuk-tuks of Thailand and the auto-rickshaws
of India. They are cheap and fun to ride. Maximum of two passengers and
they have no seat belts So hold on, as they go head to head to the real taxis.
From here we said farewell to Chuck and Jean and took off for Ecuador, our last
country on our ten-week tour of South America.
