A holiday in Peru (2011-10-07 to 2011-10-24)
A holiday in Peru, and all the linked pictures, by Andy Pepperdine
is licensed under a Creative
Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
For several years, I've had a casual interest in the old civilisations
in Peru at the time the Spanish arrived to demolish the structures
aided by a civil war that had just broken out. They had no writing, no
money, no beasts that were useful, no wheel, and yet in about 100 years
from 1430 to Pizarro's arrival in 1531 they extended their influence
from north of Quito in present-day Ecuador to south of Santiago in what
is now Chile a span of over 4,000 km. Their centre was the so-called
Sacred Valley in modern day Peru, in the high Andes. The autumn of
2011 gave me the opportunity to see the terrain and get a feel for the
engineering that had been done and see how extensive it was, including,
of course, a trip to Machu Picchu.
An early morning flight from Heathrow meant I spent the Friday night in
a hotel, and at the airport, 6 of us found one another before boarding
the short hop to Paris where we rushed through to the transatlantic
flight, where we waited on the aircraft for half an hour. The 12-hour
flight to Lima was uneventful, and the group was met by our guide,
Efreim. Two others had made their own way to the hotel, and the
group of eight,
plus guide, got together for our first supper. (I'm behind the camera).
As you can see, there were seven women, me, and the guide.
The following day, Sunday, we had a bus tour of parts of the town. Lima
is divided into about 24 independent "boroughs". Our hotel was in
Miraflores, and we also saw parts of San Isidro and Lima, seeing the
Spanish colonial legacy and churches and
the cathedral (example).
At the National Museum, the local guide (whose name I did not record)
gave us a brief history of Peru as far as it is known. The displays are
well organised, and it is a pity I was still suffering a bit from
jetlag and did not take it all in. There were some examples of stone
carvings, and a description of the Inca
empire, Tawantinsuyu, as a
federation of four separate regions, set in a comparative chronology.
The word Inca applied only to the ruler of the whole empire, and the
Spanish referred to it as the Inca Empire. The people called themselves
Quechua, and spoke the Quechua language and its dialects and
derivatives.
In one of the squares in Lima, there was a piece of popular art, a step up from the graffiti
of most places.
Lima is on the top of a cliff at the sea's edge, where there is one of
the most renowned parks called the "Love Park". The main sculpture (El Beso) follows the
theme, and was created by
Peru's principal artist, Victor Delfin. From the park, a pier can be
seen on which there is a restaurant,
serving very fresh sea food, and many crabs
were visible as we walked to it for lunch.
Almost all of Lima is now post-colonial in nature, but there are some
earlier remains, like the Huaca
Pucllana made of mud bricks, and dating possibly to 1500 years ago
to the Lima culture.
Monday saw us on the plane again, this time to Cusco early in the
morning, but after a brief visit to the main
square, we took the bus to Urubamba, which is at a lower altitude
to acclimatise better, and our first
stroll in the Sacred Valley. Our hotel, Eco Andina, was just outside the town.
The next day, Efreim showed us his own village, Yucay, where he was
brought up. Quechua was his native language, and he had to learn
Spanish at school in order to be educated in other subjects, all of
which are taught in Spanish. The walk included a track,
between retaining walls. The level of the fields was at the top of the
wall, and these walls are still standing after centuries, so good is
the drainage to prevent a buildup of water behind the wall. Every now
and then, we would stop for a talk on
how a particular plant was used, for a dye, medicine, soap or shampoo,
for example. The Incas knew how to make the most of everything that
grew there.
Their water management skills were also clear. Here is a deliberate cascade to reduce the
splashing and wear when water drops to a lower level. In this area,
there is enough flat space to have recognisable
fields of crops.
Later we took a bus to Pisac (or Pisaq). The Quechua language was never
written down before the Spanish arrived, and even today there is no
agreed spelling - the letters c, k and q often seem to be
interchangeable, although it may reflect local dialect and
pronunciation. Lunch was outside at a sort of small square with its own
civic decoration. The shape on the
left with a hole is considered a good omen and was seen in many guises
and places. Guinea pigs, a local
delicacy, were also being kept on site, fed by a type of grass that is
farmed and harvested for just this purpose.
After lunch, a walk among the terraces
of Pisac was an introduction to more typical paths and topography of the Sacred Valley. The ruins
began to give us a feel for the extent and type of building. In one
place, were more important buildings, as could be seen from the care of
the shaping of the stones for the walls, like this example of a corner
in which can be seen stones that are carved
to go around the corner in an L shape. Here is a picture to show
the height of the terraces.
Wednesday started with a visit to the market in Urubamba, where you
could get anything. Zooming in on t he red shawls of the men in the
distance shows that they have woven into them strips of patterns.
Each family will record its history as a series of mnemonic diagrams,
since the local languages are not written down. These strips are that
record. Here they are on shawls, other groups will use belts to hold
the records.
Then we went high up to Chinchero and beyond to about 3,800 metres
above sea level, where from Raqchi we had a
good view of the valley below. Also from there we could see the proposed site
for a new airport to replace the one at Cusco which cannot be expanded
further. One of the difficulties with the present one is the altitude.
When tourists arrive there, and stay in Cusco it can be too high for
easy acclimatisation. this new one is even higher, but is much closer
to Urubamba, which being at about 2,800 metres is normally much easier
for new arrivals. It is also closer to the centre of the Sacred Valley
where most tourists are heading anyway.
Also in this photo you can see some eucalyptus trees. These were
introduced about 100 years ago and grow quickly and straight. They can
provide good building timber as well as wood to burn. The native qeuña
tree cannot provide wood for fuel in such quantity, nor is it
suitable for pillars in buildings. So they were thought to be a great
blessing and the locals obviously make the most of them and they are
found in many places. However, they also remove any water that is
around and can starve local plants. In addition, the oily leaves do not
rot in these foreign lands. Consequently, the government has now banned
any new plantings, asking them to plant qeuña instead. Needless to
say, this not a popular measure, although understood.
As we walked down towards Urubamba again, we had a diversion to hear about the natural dyes
used to colour the yarn. The principal one is cochineal, and by mixing
it with other things, like lemon juice, various shades of red can be
made. They claim 20 different shades. Other colours, blues, yellows and
greens, can be obtained from various plants in the area. Undyed, alpaca
wool comes in white, black, and shades of brown in between.
Later, there was yet another example
of good Inca engineering. There's a lot of it about. and still standing
even after earthquakes that frequent the region. The tracks are well-kept and often restored
after heavy use. And if you are sceptical about the seismic activity,
what about these vertical rock strata.
Not all of the water channels are of ancient origin, new ones are concrete, and
reminiscent of the levadas of Madeira.
The next morning found us at Ollantaytambo. One of the most striking
features was the old food store,
The walls are punctured with many open holes, but this is thought to be
a primitive cooling method. It happens that there is almost always a
westerly wind blowing cold off the Pacific at this location, and the
swirling air currents would keep the contents dry and cool. Another
example of the Incas knowing what they were doing.
Stone carving was their speciality. They even carved alcoves out of the very rock of the
mountains. Or angle pieces,
possibly for corners of buildings. But how they did it is apparently a
mystery. The only metals they had were gold, silver, copper and tin,
and these are not hard enough to chisel out the hard granite of the
rocks, 7 on Moh's scale according to the guide. Bone and wood are
obviously not hard enough either. If you have any ideas, don't tell me
- talk to the archaeologists.
In the afternoon, two of us started
the hike
along the Inca trail with our guide Jaime. The Peru government has
tightened up on the regulations controlling who can use it, and how.
Each guest should be accompanied by at least two porters. Each porter
is allowed to carry no more than 20kg plus 5kg of his own possessions.
At the start and occasionally along the trail, there were check points to make sure that the
weight limits were adhered to.
Soon we could see the mountain known as Veronique,
or Sacred Tears. The legend is that the last Inca when he was
retreating from the Spanish, climbed to the top of the 5,800 metre peak
to see Cusco one last time. It is probably false, as I later discovered
the peak is not visible from Cusco. Only the very highest peaks have
any snow this close to the equator, and the high peaks are in a range
that is not visible from most of the Sacred Valley.
The Incas took observations of the night sky very seriously. Along the
extent of the Milky Way, more visible in the southern hemisphere than
the northern, there are a number of black patches, which we now know to
be caused by occluding dust. But to the Incas, they were important, and
they had given them names of animals, such as condor, puma, snake etc.
They mapped these onto the range of the Sacred Valley and devised towns
along the river associated with these animals in the same sequence as
the along the Milky Way. They even planned them in similar shapes. Here
is one of them, the snake, which can
be seen in the lower part of the picture.
The first campsite was at Llactopata.
The
site had tents for each to sleep, for us to eat, for the chef to
produce wondrous tasting soups and meals, and even a toilet.
Friday entailed a climb from about 2,800 to 3,800 metres, steady all
the way, but not steep. As it happens, there was a poster showing the altitude profile
of the trail, and we would go this day from about the 5km mark to just
short of the highest point. Later in the day, we could see it, the Dead Woman Pass (Warmiwañusca). The
walking was along well maintained
tracks the whole way, until we camped at Llulluchupampa.
The following morning, we got a better of view of why the pass has its
unusual name. It is not because of any unfortunate fate that a woman
suffered, but simply because of its appearance
with the head on the left, and the breast on the right. We had only a
brief rest at the top of 4,200 metres (here looking
back the way we came) before continuing into the next valley before climbing again to a
lower pass at about 3,900 metres. The feeling was of a valley a little
more moist with a waterfall supplying
it. It was also more misty and cloudy. As we approached the pass, there
was an old Inca guard post with a
good view of the path below.
Into the next valley, and the vegetation
became greener. But the path undulated,
through a natural cleft in the rock,
until we were greeted by the usual llamas
at the final camp site at Phuyupatamarca.
Dawn on Sunday showed us the clouds
lying in the valley where we were heading, but I had to be quick to
take advantage of the opportunities for photographs as the mists
swirled around us. We had a short ritual to
thank the porters
and provide them with some extras in a raffle that the guide organised.
Even then, one of them had taken his load and left to carry some of the
things down to the hotel where we were staying that night in Aguas
Calientes.
As we descended into the jungle, it was noticeably more humid and
warmer. Butterflies abounded, including some very large ones (up to
20cm wingspan according the the books) of a type called Morpho. There
are many species in this genus, and the one we saw twice was large, and
had an iridescent translucent blue and yellow hue - very striking and
attractive, but flying too fast to get any pictures. We had an early
lunch at Wiñay Wayna. This was not
discovered until 1956 by an archaeologist who was chasing an employee
who he thought was slacking when he stumbled on it in the jungle. It
has now been cleared, but you can see in the background
the trees that could easily cover it or other ruins. It consisted of
the usual high standard of stonework
and had a commanding view of the
valley below.
We do not know the name the Incas would have given this place. The
present name means Forever Young, because of the orchids of that name
that grow in the district. The legend is that there was a Romeo and
Juliet -like couple from opposing tribes who eloped and drowned in a
river when they were found by the following armies. Where their bodies
were recovered, this orchid, and another that grows in association with
it, were found in abundance and the name was given to commemorate the
lovers.
Eventually, we got our first view of the
ruins
known as Machu Picchu. The road you can see snaking its way up the
hillside is the way that tourists are ferried in buses up and down all
day. The picture was taken from Inti
Punku (the Sun Gate). We also
got a good look at the steepness
of the sides of the valley through which the river ran. In the evening,
we met up with the rest of our group, and had a superb dinner at the
Indio Feliz, one of the two best of the entire holiday.
On the Monday, the two of us who had walked the Inca Trail, went early
to Machu Picchu for a guided tour before the hordes of tourists
arrived. The place was larger than I expected, and it is full of
interest almost everywhere. The Incas had carved the moutain itself, and built it into their structures.
Their walls varied from straightforward dry stone construction to
accurately carved strong walls for important places. Where the roofs of
the sleeping accommodation had to be anchored to the gables, they had rings made of stone. They shaped the
rock to channel the water. Even
some of the steps were manufactured on
the spot.
Some of it was decorative, like this stone shaped to match the skyline behind it.
An attempt has been made to re-construct the
huts to show what they might have looked like with roofs of grass
supported by short local wooden poles.
Leading off from the main site, is a track to the "Inca Bridge". The engineering
of the track is astonishing in both the height of the stonework to
support it, as well as the difficulty of how to form the foundations on
such a sheer cliff side. Beyond the bridge, the path traces the green line across this cliff side.
The bridge
itself spans a difficult section of the track, and the central part has
wooden logs across it. The public was not allowed onto the bridge, nor
onto the track beyond it!
The town of Aguas Calientes is a small tourist trap, reckoned to be the
most expensive place to live in Peru because the only way of getting in
and out is by train. There is no road, and the river is not navigable.
Since the way to the station is through the market, I thought of the
place as a museum with "Exit through the gift shop" as its motto. But
the restaurants were first rate. It has a pleasant little square at its centre, while the buses
to ferry the tourists up to and back from Machu Picchu form a continuous conveyor, and one of the water
features is full of fish. Then we
left by train and minibus for Cusco.
The next morning we visited Saqsaywaman, which looked like a set of
terraces to seat giants as they watched games in the space between two
small hills, one of which had a quarry from which the stones to build
the walls on the other side were taken. The scale is monumental. One estimate goes
as high as 200 tons for some of the stones. Even so, the corners were built with
extraordinary care. On the way back down to Cusco, the size of the town of
500,000 inhabitants became evident, as it spreads over the natural bowl
and up the hills.
After lunch we learnt how to tell the difference between the various
qualities of alpaca and acrylic fibre at a factory
specialising in weaving alpaca wool. And then on for another short
stroll past the Temple of the Moon,
now to be restored or conserved. The Incas held their empire together using four main trunk
routes, this one is the shortest,
leading eastwards into the Amazon jungle.
Over dinner we were regaled with a music
and dance show with bright costumes.
Wednesday found us on a long pleasant walk, with lunch in a delighful glade of eucalyptus trees.
Later we passed kilns where the
Spanish fired their roof tiles, and everywhere there were traces of the
terracing left behind by the Incas.
Three of us were to go on to Lake Titicaca, and we had Thursday off to
investigate Cusco. It started to rain a little, but not seriously. The
place has several civic art works, like this water sculpture, and a fountain in the park. Along the
Avenida del Sol outside the Palace of Justice, there are guards to prevent people crossing the road.
Further down is a gigantic mural
in bold strokes and colours portraying the history of the region. There
are a number of museums in the town, but not as many dedicated to the
history and indigenous cultures as I expected.
On Friday we boarded the "Orient Express" south to Puno. It's a 10-hour
journey to cover about 350km. We left Cusco on a wide plain
but soon drew into more mountainous terrain as the track slowly climbed
to the highest point of the holiday at 4,300 metres at the pass of La
Raya, where we stopped because
there was a market, and a chapel. On resuming, we dropped 400
metres down onto the altiplano
which looked dry and not suitable for many crops, and this went on and
on and on, flat and uniform under a cloudless sky, until we reached
Juliaca. This is a frontier town with a reputation for lawlessness.
Being close to the Bolivian border, cheap imports of everything from
machine parts to DVDs, from woven goods to mobile phones was available
in the market, which the train went through the centre of. This picture
was taken from the train as it squeezed slowly past the stalls with
inches to spare. Then on to Puno where we met our guide Cesar, an
Aymara speaker who knew Quechua as well.
Saturday was Titicaca day. It started with a trip out past the reed beds
to the floating islands of Uros, where the locals maintain their way of
life by assigning part of their time to playing to the tourists. It is
the only export they have from the area. To attract the fee paying
visitors, they continue to make reed
boats,
but now they do so in pairs and put a wooden frame between them so they
can carry more passengers. They also said they now fill them with empty
plastic bottles to aid buoyancy.
We had a lecture on how to make a floating
island.
They start with squares of cut root balls of the reeds whcih grow in
water 2 to 3 metres deep. These roots are so light, that they float
like cork. By lashing them together with cords they can create the
basis for an island, which is then topped up with reeds laid along and
across it until the total depth is about 1.5 metres. On top of that
simple houses can be built. Where we were, the island floated over 18
metres of water.
The next stop was on a real island, Taquile, where lunch was
accompanied with a dance
showing the rituals associated with planting. Taquile has a Quechua
speaking population, and all the restaurants serve the same menu at the
same price; they do not want competition. It has a town square near the top of the hill, but
is otherwise rather unremarkable.
We then returned to Puno, which has a couple of small squares, one of
which had some simple decorations.
Otherwise it has the appearance of a small town struggling to attract
the visitors it relies on for a living.
The last day of the holiday started with a flight back to Lima from
Juliaca, followed by a trip round Lima with a new guide Erica, when we
saw a few places we did not see on our first day in Peru, such as Barranco. And some we had seen before,
like San Isidro's olive groves.
Then onto the long flight back to Heathrow via Amsterdam, and home.
Andy Pepperdine
2011-11-07
A holiday in Peru, and all the linked pictures, by Andy Pepperdine
is licensed under a Creative
Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.