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Published: March 4th 2012
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Cusco
Cathedral at night Day 143 Friday 2
nd March
The mornings always seem to be sunny when we wake up, but by the afternoon it is pouring. Today we started off by checking out the next hotel which we need to move to tomorrow for the start of our trek. It is not too far from our current hotel so we will be able to carry our backpacks here without a taxi.
The first touristy stop today is the Museo de Sitio de Qoricancha which is a small underground museum which is included on the initial tourist ticket we brought for the first tour. I am glad we did not pay for this one it is only small and not a lot in there, but every little bit of information adds up. We then walked up to the main plaza again and to the Cuzco Cathedral, this complex is made up of three churches and you enter through the Jesus and Mary church. Inside we were given an audio tour and map so we could take our time and at each section press the button for information, this is a great idea and is full of interesting stories and history. The
Cusco
Church around the corner from our hotel at night Jesus and Mary Church is beautiful in its own right with gold and silver decoration, it was built in 1733 and is connected to the Cathedral by a large arch. Once inside the Cathedral you see that at the sides there are many small chapels each to different saints, Mary and Jesus one chapel is to the negro Jesus who is prayed to as the protector from earthquakes. If you enter from the main door there is a large chapel (Screen) that blocks your view of the main altar, this is so people entering and leaving do not disturb if mass is in progress. Behind this area is the choir area which contains carved chairs and walls containing different saints and also two organs. The main alter is made of pure silver sheets and is magnificent which is a later addition, at the sides are two wooden carved pulpits. The main Cathedral took 100 years to build due to earthquake, a change of architects and an underground stream running under the site. The site was originally the Inca Viracocha Palace and they had channels that managed the drainage, but the new builders had not taken this into consideration. To one
Cusco
Looking over the town side of the alter is a large painting of the Last Supper by Marcos Zapata which has included Indigenous elements such as the roasted cuy (guinea pig) in the centre of the table. We quickly looked into the crypt under the alter area and then into the tabernacle room which behind the huge closed doors contains many treasures which you can’t see. We then proceed through to the oldest church El Triunfo built in 1536 here you can see the original cross brought from Spain in 1526 by Francisco Pizarro. In this church we also saw some restoration work being done on a large painting and its gold gilded frame.
After this we were unsure what to do next as Scott said he was “potteryed out”, but I got him to go to the Museo Inca where we could see more broken pottery. This museum had a lot more to see other than pottery, like weaving, weapons and a few very stressed looking mummies. An interesting thing we have learnt today is how babies of certain classes had their heads bound with wooden frames and straps to give their skulls a deformed elongated shape. There were several examples in both museums plus some skulls that showed evidence of surgery, apparently if you had brain surgery after an accident you had 65 percent chance of survival not bad odds for 15
th century. Unfortunately at all the Museums and churches today we were not allowed to photograph, which is a real pity because the interior of the cathedral was spectacular. I can agree with no photography at a church that is conducting a service or if there are people praying, but at these churches there are set tourist times and non- tourist times (which is when there is a service and no tourists are allowed inside). We sort of feel especially as we had to pay to enter it becomes a tourist attraction and therefore photography should be allowed but maybe the no photography rule is so you will buy postcards at the exit.
When we left the museum it was raining so we headed back to the hotel and it proceeded to pour rain for the rest of the afternoon. We went out for an early dinner to get out of the room by now the rain had eased, so afterwards we looked around the shops for some last minute supplies for the trek.
Day 144 Saturday 3
rd March
Last night we had arranged at reception for a late checkout so we had till 10.00am to get out of the room. We took our time before we left as the next hotel said check in was noon but finally it was time to say goodbye to here and we threw the backpacks on and paid the bill. Thankfully it is only a few blocks and a few busy roads to cross and mainly downhill to the new hotel so it was OK to walk. The new hotel is basic but friendly and we dropped our stuff off and walked back to a Café we had discovered that does a decent cappuccino. Did a bit more shopping like new socks and chocolate for the trek on the way back to the hotel we passed another parade I think that they maybe quite common in this town much to the frustration of the car drivers.
Back at the hotel we met two Aussies from Melbourne that will be on the trek tomorrow but in a different group.
We went for an early dinner/late lunch at 3.30pm at the Dragon’s Palate and had a great hamburger and chips to prepare us for the trail. We were back at the hotel for the 6.00pm group meeting. We found out more information and think we are as prepared as we can be and we are lucky the porters will be carrying most of our stuff. We will be up for 5.00am breakfast and on the road by 6.00am and will not be contactable for 4 days. Here’s hoping we make it and return in one piece.
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traudy glasencnik
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How exciting!!!
Its raining here too, like lots!!!!! I couldnt believe it took me 80mins to get from Belmore to Camperdown this morning. Cooks river was overflowing into the walk way and park, never seen it like that before. Cant wait to here about the trek xx