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Published: July 19th 2012
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The first city we visited in Peru definitely didn’t disappoint. Cuzco, once the capital of the infamous Inca Empire is now the capital of tourism in the country. And there is a reason why. The city is immaculately maintained and differs little from many years ago. It is a place that is steeped in history, South America's oldest and continually inhabited city.The main square, known as the Plaza de Armas, is a large area surrounded by two massive churches and lots of two story balcony laden buildings all restored to the colonial fashion (the Spanish finally attained the city from the Quechan people in the 1500s). The big US companies such as Mc Donald’s, Starbucks and KFC that are on the square are not immediately recognisable as they could not put their commercial signage or style anywhere on the outside of the buildings. That is the way to retain the history and façade of a historically important place, just tell those big wealthy global fast food places, No!
We sped up our trip through Bolivia to reach Cuzco in time for the biggest festival of the year here held on June 24
th each year. It is known as Inti Raymi
or The Festival of The Sun. This is a celebration that has continued since Inca times that honours Inti or the Sun God, one of the most important to the Quechua people (the indigenous people here). This celebration is a way for them to ensure that the Sol or Sun continues to come so that the lands can be fertilised for sowing of crops to ensure livelihoods are maintained.
We were happy that we hurried along because the celebration was spectacular. In the Plaza de Armas there were thousands of spectators lining the entire square to watch a re-enactment of the ancient ceremony. For about 2 hours there were recreations of scenes with one “Inca” or King, his wife, known as Qoya and other attendants or important figures. Then there was a serious influx of chorus women and men, drummers, royal entourage, imperial armies and various guards. It was a colourful powerful scene with continuous synchronised choreography and we wondered how they managed to have it all so brilliantly rehearsed! After a few scenes were played out the whole group followed in a procession to a nearby Inca ruin of Sacsayhuaman (pronounced sexy woman). This procession mirrors what the
locals would have done as part of the celebration in Inca times. When there the group would continue with more re-enactments for the remainder of the day culminating in the Inca promising obedience, respect and adoration to the Sun God. A ticket to that part of the show was over 100 dollars so we skipped it! Over the following days we would run into processions, parades and partying to continue the celebrations of the festival. There was a really nice atmosphere in the place!
We managed to see a large part of the city on a Free Walking Tour! Yip, free (well you tip the guide). We learned about different parts of the city, got to taste food and drinks in the restaurants and got tips on travel or how to save money here. Cuzco is an expensive place, especially after coming from the Bolivia. The tourist industry is booming and with that comes price hikes and gringo pleasing menus and foreign geared atmosptheres in bars/clubs/restaurants. Saying that, we had a few good nights out in Cuzco particularly as we stayed in one of the party hostels here called Wild Rover (yes it is an Irish run place) but
also because we went out with some new travel buddies and also met up with Chris and Tamsyn who we toured the Salt Flats with and we had a crazy night of Salsa and mad dancing in one of the night clubs! The late nights bring quiet days to follow but it was all part of the fun!
Walking around the town you can see how important this place was and still is to the inhabitants. It was found because an Inca King was told by Inti (Sun God) to find qosq’o or the navel of the earth. When he found Cuzco he may just have been right. Immaculately laid stone walls dominate some streets. Some even made to fit so precisely and with purpose that it is a wonder they had time to do anything else (one set of stones shown to us had the outline of the three symbols of the Incas – the Puma, the Snake and the Condor interweaving). The little cobblestone and stepped streets give you the feeling that you are still part of the olden times and climbing them at 3600m above sea level is a nice challenge for the lungs! The artsy
part of town known as San Blas brought funky little pubs and artisan sellers in a beautiful little square. There is even a street called the 7 Angels because they have outlines of 7 angels in a building. We also went to a mirador or viewing point to look out over the city. From above the tiled roofs dominated the scene but the height of the city is kept to a minimum by planning rules that no building can be higher than the steeples of the churches, again stopping this place in time.
Our final thing to do in Cuzco was to book our tour to Machu Picchu and that we did. Next stop, a 4 day Jungle Tour to reach the lost city of the Incas
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