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Published: September 14th 2007
CUSCO - INDEPENDANCE DAY
Independance Day celebrations....groups of young boys and girls dress in traditional dress. Not sure what for other than for us tourists to take photos of...but I am sure that they had more purpose than that I just never saw itI am not really sure where to start with Cusco as I stayed there for over a month and the whole experience was great. So maybe a little history to start with.....Cusco was once the foremost city of the Inca Empire and is now the undisputed archaeological capital of the whole of the Americas. It is also the oldest continuously inhabited city on the continent......so it holds a lot of titles. Legend has it that in the 12th century, the first Inca Manco Capac, was charged by the ancestral sun god Inti to find the qosq'o (navel of the earth). When at last Manco discovered such a point, he founded the city. The ninth Inca Pachacutec was a warmonger and also a sophisticated urban developer who devised Cusco´s famous puma shape and diverted rivers to cross the city. He also built the famous Coricancha temple and his palace which is now situated on the biggest plaza named Plaza de Armas. In 1533 the spanish conquistador Francisco Pizaaro killed the 12th Inca Atahualpa and then marched on Cusco where he appointed Manco Inca as a puppet ruler of the Incas. Manco rebelled a few years later and laid seige on a spanish
CUSCO - INDEPENDANCE DAY
Independance Day celebrations....well they went for days....lots of marching in the streets occupied Cusco.....only a battle at the Saqsaywaman ruins saved the spanish from defeat and Manco was forced to retreat to the town of Ollantaytambo. Since this time there hasn´t been really any historical events of significance. There has been a few major earthquakes in 1650 and 1950 and also the rediscovery of Machu Picchu which have affected Cusco more than any other event since the spanish arrived. You can feel the history in this place and you can not go to Cusco without talking in what has happened in the area. The city is full of cobbled stoned streets, of which most are very steep, and massive Inca-built walls line them. There are many plazas which are surrounded by buildings from the colonial time which are very grand and give the city an old and slightly european feel in parts. The main touristy centre is around the biggest plaza, Plaza de Armas, which is constantly full of tourists and with that comes all the touters that are constantly hassling you to take tours, massages, manicures etc. At first I was put off by all the tourists and also the touters but soon realised that it didn´t take long to get
CUSCO - INDEPENDANCE DAY
Independance Day celebrations....well they went for days....lots of marching in the streets. People dressed in formal military dress but also people dressed as if they were about to go into combat out of the area and back into where all the locals hung out. There was a great big market called San Pedro that had the comodor (many stalls serving cheap lunch of vegetables, meat, rice and potato and where the locals eat), all the juice ladies who will whip you up a fresh juice in no time, cheese stalls, fruit and veg stalls, shops to buy dried fruit, nuts, grains and flour and all the other good stuff that I love. I would do all my shopping in this market as I love the experience of talking with the women who work there......I had a juice lady that I would visit each time and she could speak a little english so it was much easier to communicate and I would always get a small spanish lesson while drinking my juice....none of which I can remember! Also near this market was many streets where you could buy meat and chickens, which are hanging or lying at the front of the shops which are right on the side of the road. This is just what puts me off eating meat in these countries as there is no refridgeration, no covers and lots
CUSCO - INDEPENDANCE DAY
Independance Day celebrations....these people were selling flags, badges and all other paraphenalia for the celebrations of pollution from passing cars etc. Along the side of the roads there were many women selling fruit and veges, they come in from the areas around Cusco and sell their produce there. In different parts of Sth America this is allowed and the people don´t get hassled to move on....I did see one day that a policeman was hassling a lady selling oranges to move on, a little unnecessary I thought as she was doing no harm.
While I was there it was Peru Independance Day, which we were told would be over two days on the weekend, but for the whole week leading up to the weekend there was parades everyday. Come the weekend there was no celebrations....we couldn´t work it out. The Peruvians are very proud people so in all their glory there was people from the army, retired soldiers, school kids dressed like little soldiers etc marching around the square every day. They do this funky march were they have to kick their legs as high as their hips.....quite a lot of energy when you are at altitude and it was showing on the people by the time they got to the end. Every night
CUSCO - INDEPENDANCE DAY
Independance Day celebrations....displaying their culinary traditions....you could try all sorts of dishes from starters to dessert there was fire crackers being let off....actually they happened all the time and I really don´t know why as they were so frequent.
On the hill above Cusco is a statue of Christ, named Cristo Blanco, which looks down on the city. It is no comparison to the one in Rio, but you do get a great view from the top of the hill. Other than visiting that I mainly just walked around the streets and took in the sights that way. I did visit the Musuem of the Incas which very interesting and contained many artifacts that had been found in the area...many of which are in great condition. This included a couple of mummies, many of them children, which was interesting to see even if it was a little gross.
I also decided that it was time for me to take some more spanish lessons while I was here and I had great intentions of studying and improving enormously. As it turned out with working, doing volunteer work and then my recreational activities I hardly had anytime to go over what I had learnt in class. So this meant that most classes, especially my first class,
CUSCO - INDEPENDANCE DAY
Independance Day celebrations....more marching with the requirement that you have to kick your legs up to waist level each step. By the time the groups got to the end they were barely making knee height and were out of breath I sat there looking extremely vague at the teacher thinking to myself that I had a hell of a lot to learn. I had decided to take private lessons so I couldn´t even hide at the back of the class and pretend I knew what she was talking about. My teacher, Dora, was lovely and I enjoyed my classes with her but I was so drained by the end of it and overwhelmed with what I didn´t know and all the special rules that exist, that my brain was about to explode. I have also had all the good intentions in the world to make sure that I keep studying once leaving Cusco but to be honest I haven´t opened my book once....maybe when Sharyn gets here she can teach me.
Whilst I was in Cusco I had decided to get some work while I used some time while waiting for Sharyn to arrive and also in an attempt to not be spending as much money. For months I had been trying to get a diving job with no luck so I decided the best thing to do was to work at a hostel. The hostel I got a
CUSCO
An older lady walking in the streets job at is called Loki Hostel and was established by a group of guys 2 years ago and they have managed to create a massive hostel in Cusco and another two - one in La Paz and another in Lima. I had spent time in the one in La Paz and found the owners really lovely and was made to feel right at home, so had no hesitation when offered a job in Cusco. Basically you do 4 shifts a week, around 20 hours, and you get your accommodation, a meal at night and then cheap drinks and food from the bar. Along with that you get to hang out in a great place which is kind of like a gringo bubble where you don´t have to speak spanish and you get treats from home like real bacon and baked beans. The people I worked with were all great and even though everyone came from different countries and backgrounds I loved hanging out with all of them. I especially made some great friends with the girls, who again were all very different but very interesting to speak to and live with. Most of the full time staff are local people
CUSCO
A typical street in Cusco....this is out of the tourist area and where the locals shop and I thoroughly enjoyed working with them, they are the mostly friendliest, hospitable and beautiful people. I created many opportunities for them to laugh at me whilst trying to communicate in spanish, but after they would laugh they would spend the time to explain things to me. I felt very lucky to have worked and had the chance to met so many local people. I was especially amazed at one of the security guards, Raoul, who spends his whole shift sitting out the front of the door and who every time I left or returned to the hostel would ask me how I was and always with a smile. Just down the road where I took my washing was his girlfriend who again everytime I passed would say hello, smile and ask me how I was. Near the end of my time there I got sick with a bad cold and one day when I arrived at the hostel via taxi the girlfriend ran up the stairs and gave me a kiss and asked if I was ok. I was a little blown away by her genuine concern for my health and after she told me that I had to
CUSCO
Large characters that I think were used in the celebrations for the Inti Raymi celebrations, for the winter soltice, that are on display at the Art College wear more clothes and do this and that, I went inside smiling. The hostel is a party hostel and every night all beds are taken....the guys are definately on a winner here.....so they would also host many parties and encourage everyone to dress up. While I was there we had a 70's night and a Playboy Mansion party and then the owners decided to get a 70´s rock band in for one night. I had to work that night but Emma and I had the best fun working behind the bar, so did the two owners who are usually not so relaxed but came out with air guitars and air drumming...never knew I enjoyed that music so much! Cusco has a very active night life which is happening any night of the week....so many nights were spent out with friends dancing until the wee hours of the morning....except I got tired of going to the same places all the time and then I found that there was live music venues and had a much better time. As I said near the end I got sick with a bad cold, more than likely caught from the volunteer kids I worked with,
CUSCO
A lady wearing a crazy hat....I am still amazed at the hats that the women wear. They even wear them when working in the fields luckily for me I didn´t cope it bad like some of the other girls. Three with broncitus and one with broncital pneumonia.....we were a sad lot and spent many days in bed coughing our lungs up. So it was an awesome month at the hostel.....meeting great people from all over the world, lazing around in the hammocks, hanging out on the grass and in the sunshine and living with and sharing a room with some great chicks. Was very sad to leave but I was proud to say that I only left one day after I had said I would leave.....unlike many people who stay much longer.
Cusco was my first stop in Peru after leaving Bolivia and instantly you could see that there seemed to be a lot more money here.......but as usual that was just on the surface and it didn´t take long to get into areas of Cusco that had extreme poverty. The centre of Cusco is beautiful and geared fully to the tourist, but just out of town people are living in mud huts with no heating and possibly without the basic amenities. Kids are out at night selling finger puppets and confectionery to the
CUSCO
The shoe shine men...it is not so frowned upon here as it is in Bolivia gringos as they move from bar to bar. The parents send them out as you are more likely to buy from a 5 year old than you are from an adult. I really don´t agree with that but I guess that the parents are using their best option to make money. The kids could be out on the streets till 3-4am when they finally sell their last finger puppet......many of us would feel sorry for them and buy more puppets to let them go home earlier. I also decided to give some of my time to undernourished kids who came everyday to a day care centre to be fed and looked after while their parents worked. It felt very shallow for us to be having a wonderful time and living it up whilst people are struggling to find the money to eat every day.....this is a recurring scene that I have been witnessing in Sth America and again makes me realise how very lucky we are in the western world. So after a month and a rather large leaving party I packed my now very full backpack and jumped on a bus out of Cusco.
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