This morning shortly after the ship docked in Callao,Peru, the port city for Lima, I left the ship, headed for the airport and caught my flight to Cusco. Cusco is the jumping off point for those who will be visiting Machu Picchu. The flight is fairly short, only an hour and a half, but it is the most efficient way of getting there. I was told by my guide that the drive from Lima would take about 24 hours due to the state of the roads, the mountains and the winding switchbacks required to scale the mountains between the two cities.
Cusco is somewhat of a destination in itself since there are many archeological sites in the immediate area. I spent the balance of the day with a guide who took me to many of these sites. The city itself, once a quiet mountain village, still contains the vestiges of its past. Narrow streets paved with bricks now thwart any quick passage from one place to another. It, like all Peruvian cities and villages, has it central square. I was told that all of these squares in all cities go by the same name : Plaza De Armas. Reportedly there is a ceremony each year where the military presents its weapons in front of the people of the city. Armas refers to the weapons. The one thing that hits you right as you step off the plane is the altitude. This city is situated high in the Andean mountains at 11,152 feet. Apparently, others have noticed the effects of the altitude as there was a store just inside the terminal building selling bottled oxygen. While I did not need any I did have a minor headache throughout my day there and through the night. All of the buildings have the same tile roofs which makes for a very pretty appearance especially when viewed from a distance. Unfortunately, all of the “modern” buildings are from adobe which is reinforced in some cases with concrete and steel. All of the homes appear to be built strictly of adobe. These won’t last when the earthquakes come along.
My first excursion took me to some historical sites in and around Cusco. These sites contained similar stone work to that found in Machu Picchu. In fact, having now seen Machu Picchu as I am writing this after my return, I would say that Cusco has the finest stone work. This is exemplified in the Church and Covenant of San Dominic. Here the Spanish utilized the buildings created by the Incas and built their Church on top of the walls built by the Incas. The straight lines and the consistent trapezoidal shape of the walls is amazing. I can’t imagine finer work being done today with the sophisticated tools we have at our disposal. Once the Inca “temple” contained gold, silver and precious jewels to decorate their building. These were quickly claimed by the Spanish and carted off for their own use.
After I left the church I visited an outdoor religious site which contained massive stone boulders. I have attached some pictures which don’t do justice to the size of the boulders used in the construction of these sites and the craftsmanship with which they are assembled. The tightness of the fit between these stones is simply incredible. I have included two pictures of some of these boulders. One is from a distance and another is a close-up of the same stones showing the fit between the stones. It is hard to imaging how these stone/bronze age artisans were able to fit these stones together with such precision. Much less move and place the stones to create the wall.
Throughout my trip into the mountain region of Peru I saw many locals still embracing their native dress. I have included a picture of a native woman we passed who was spinning wool as she sat beside the walkway.
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