Cusco - Navel of the Earth

Sometime around the 12th century A.D., the god, Inti, looked down on Earth and found the people in need of some serious organization.  So, the first Inca, Manco Capac, and his sister-wife, Mama Ocllo were created on Isla Del Sol (Sun Island) out on Lake Titicaca.  Manco Capac was given a golden rod.  Inti instructed him to find a place where he could plunge the rod into the ground until it disappeared.  This place would be the world's navel or qosq'o in the native Quechua language.  Manco did as he was told, and obviously, he had a long walk from Lake Titicaca to find this place. He subdued the local natives, and founded the longest inhabited city in South America: Cusco.

Incan history is fairly well documented, first through oral history, and then with the writings of Garcilaso de la Vega, the son of an Inca princess and a Spanish military captain.  The Spanish entered Cusco on November 8, 1533 headed by Francisco Pizarro.  The Spanish kept their own chronicles and history, and added Inca history as it was told to them.

Cusco, a mixture of Inca and Spanish traditions, is a vibrant city of about 400,000 people.  It is a city that is not for the faint of heart.  If a person wants a spa vacation, this isn't the place! (Although, there are plenty of places to get a much needed massage!)  However, I am an adrenaline junkie, and  love frenetic places.  Cusco was like Heaven to me!

This is an example of Colonial (Spanish) architecture. For those of us who have lived in  the Middle  East, this is familiar architecture.  The Moors brought this to Spain

The architecture is a combination of Incan, Colonial (when the Spanish came), and modern building.  Many buildings are built on Incan ruins.  Several of the Catholic churches are built with stones pilfered from Incan temples and palaces.

Cusco sits at 11,000 feet above sea level.  I left Lima, which is at sea level, and was in Cusco in an hour - by jet.  By bus, it takes 24 hours of driving through the Andes.  I could feel the lack of oxygen as soon as I got off the plane.  As I type this, I still have a splitting headache, despite my Tylenol,  Gatorade, and two servings of coca tea-yep, I have cocaine in my system! (Not only did my pulmonologist insist I bring my sleep apnea machine, she also insisted on using the coca tea within reason.  It tastes like an herbal tea, and I am not high. I have asthma, and the last thing I need is to end up in the hospital.)

La Catedral

I met up with my group of nine people, and we went with our guide to have lunch and to see a nearby cathedral- known as La Catedral. The Spanish started to build this church in 1559. To either side of this cathedral are the churches  of Iglesia del Triunfo (1536) and  Iglesia de Jesus Maria (1733). I was not allowed to photograph the interior, but it was very beautiful and ornate. The above mentioned  Garcilaso de la Vega was born in Cusco in 1539 and died in Cordoba, Spain in 1616. In 1978, King Juan Carlos of Spain had his remains returned to Cusco, where they are interred in La Catedral. My biggest regret is not buy postcards of the interiors of these churches as we left them.  A few days later, when we returned to Cusco, the postcard vendor was nowhere to be found. One of the paintings we found was of the Last Supper with cuy (guinea pig) as the main meal.  Serving cuy as a holiday meal is an important part of Quechua culture, and this painting was done by a native Quechuan.

Detail of Iglesia del Triunfo

Outside the cathedral, a festival was going on.  Children from different groups-schools were dancing in native costumes.  Women were selling handmade items, and I got a chance to practice my bargaining skills, getting two presents at a very nice price.  By this time, we all went our separate ways.  I went back to the hotel to blog.

I am told it does not snow here.  While we are high, we are also close to the equator.  The days seldom get above the sixties, and the nights are almost always freezing.  The next morning as I was walking through the hotel courtyard, I could see my breath.

Tomorrow, we leave for the Sacred Valley.