Last Updated: 29-NOV-2019
DAILY WRITE UP - Today we spent the entire day exploring Cusco. We went to an old Cemetery which was very interesting as you pay by the month and if your family didn't pay they yank you out and throw you in a big bone pile. The cemetery started out very old but it's still currently used. Nobody gets buried in the ground you get placed in this tall condo like thing that's about 4 feet deep. In the front foot is glass shelf that you can put all kinds of things in there. People had beer bottles and little solar-powered toys and photos. Another thing that was interesting as most people don't put when they were born only when they died. And since you're above ground a couple of spots in the cemetery you could smell something that wasn't very good so it must take time for you to dry out in your little box.
Then we went to their huge Market and walked around we went down the meat isle and the smell almost made me give up my breakfast. We saw a number of guinea pig vendors and I snapped a really nasty shot of a bunch of hairless guinea pigs in a row. They had so many different fruits and vegetables that none of us had ever seen so Marco and a vendor set up a tasting and we had a zucchini that looked kind of like a cantaloupe and tasted like a cantaloupe so I'm not sure what the story is with that thing. They sold so much cocaine candy, tea's, leaves but you can't bring that stuff home--at least you're not supposed to. The place was packed which I find odd on a Thursday but hey this is a metro area over a million people at 12,000 feet.
So the next place we went to was the Cathedral of Cusco (Catholic Church) in the Town Square. They did not allow you to take photos inside the church and they were watching pretty close so I didn't sneak some but I must say there's probably a billion dollars' worth of gold in this church. It's filled with what they stole from the Incas and it's actually built on top of the Inca Church which they started building this church in the 1560's Is very interesting and it continues to make me question the Catholic church because of the amount of wealth that is inside of this building compared to the amount of poverty that is outside of the building. We ate dinner last night right across the street from this Plaza and looked at the church which is pretty cool. The sad thing is right next to the church is a Kentucky Fried Chicken and a McDonald's but we were told that no locals ever go there, it's only the tourist.
We went to another one of these multi-course lunches. This is the second or third time that this has happened on this trip of really good food and food that you cannot be picky because it's all kind of weird stuff but we were full. It ended up being our dinner too.
So tomorrow morning is going to be a lot of fun since our wake-up call is 3 a.m. We have to be out at the bus at 4 a.m. then a quick ride to the airport and go through all the Immigration and Customs and we say goodbye to Peru and fly about 3 hours to Santiago Chile. Not sure if you seen in the news that Santiago has been on fire due to riots but the only way we can get to Easter Island is by going through Santiago. So we'll get the Santiago around 1 and we have the rest of tomorrow and then all day Saturday in Santiago. What's interesting is these rioters really ramp it up on the weekends so who knows what's going to happen we're staying at a Hilton property and Road scholar tour company has gone through this before.
So should be an exciting next couple of days
Using a GPS tracking software to see exactly where we traveled each day. Here it is overlayed onto Google Earth. We really did not travel much today. The entire day in the Cusco area.
ROAD SCHOLAR WRITEUP -- Almudena Cemetery, Qoricancha Palace, Free Time in Cusco
Cuzco
B,D
Hotel Costa del Sol Picoaga
Activity note: Driving approximately 3.5 miles total for the day; less than one hour combined, with stops for field trips. Walking approx.four miles total; about three hours total throughout the day; periods of standing at field trip locations.
Breakfast: Hotel buffet.
Morning: After arriving via bus, we will set out on a walking exploration led by our local expert to visit the Almudena Cemetery and the iconic cathedral, construction on which started in 1560 C.E. and finished in 1664. The cathedral contains some of the best manifestations of colonial goldsmithing and wood carving, as well as a valuable collection of canvases from the Escuela Cusquena (Academy of Cusco). Afterwards, we will take a trip to San Pedro Market and the Qoricancha Palace, which was the most important temple in the Inca Empire. Dedicated to Inti, the Sun God, the walls and floors were once covered in sheets of solid gold. We will have some time to take a look around the market with our local expert and Group Leader before exploring the temple and learning about its history.
Lunch: On your own to enjoy what you like.
Afternoon: Free time.
Dinner: At a local restaurant, enjoy a plated meal with coffee, tea, water included; other beverages available for purchase.
Evening: At leisure. Be sure to prepare for check-out and transfer in the morning.
Lots of communication systems. The cell system here is very good. Equal to better than what I see in the in the US.
Very old tree. I forgot the story
This is Almudena Cemetery, the oldest one in Cusco and it is unlike any cemetery I have ever been to. This location was formerly a church and convent. Over the years, the cemetery expanded to 7 acres. More than 23,000, including some of the most famous were entombed there. If one has money, one can have their own mausoleum. However majority of the deceased were in stacked crypt. Families have to paid annual rental fees to keep the bodies there. What made this location unique were the decoration-figurines, photos etc. celebrating the life of the decedent, displayed behind glass in front of each crypt.
Entrance skull and stone
Cemetery various views
Jade plant ?
Some of the murals on the Almudena Cemetery wall
Looking east - Translated - Mountain range located east of the city of Cuzco. There are some of the most important peaks in Peru, as is the Ausangate Snow (El. 20,931 feet) (the fourth highest mountain in the country). It highlights the presence of numerous glaciers in the mountain range, the Quelccaya glacier being the largest in the world within the tropical zone.
Crossing the same tracks that we have looked at (and rode) for days. Narrow gauge PeruRail from Cusco to Machu Picchu to Aguas Caliente to Ollantaytambo
I see they can run narrow & standard guage on the same track
What a wire mess
On our walk between the cemetery and San Pedro Market
You really have to watch where you walk. These were all over the place on the sidewalk and I am not sure what they were for.
Bordado means embroidery. Modas means fashions.
On our walk between the cemetery and San Pedro Market we walked down a narrow street. Lapidas means tombstones.
The San Pedro Market in Cusco, Peru (Mercado Central de San Pedro) is a huge food market, open seven days a week. The building itself is one block long and three blocks wide. Vendors are packed into every bit of space inside. Outside, indigenous women and children sell foods and herbs they lay out on blankets, including guinea pigs on a stick. They have many varieties of potatoes.
Our guides stopped at a fruit stand and we sampled local fruits, like lucuma. Lucuma (loo-coo-ma) , is a delicately-flavored fruit native to the cool highlands of the coastal valleys of Peru and parts of Chile. In Peru, the sunshine like color of its flesh is also referred as "lucuma".It is used to make ice cream, and desserts, which we enjoyed. Markets around the world have beautiful produce and assortments of vegetables, but I've never been to a market that sells such a wide variety of items.
Busy place on a Thursday
Baby goat - They probably wanted $$$ for the photos
Guinea pigs ready to cook
Strange stuff
Coca products (Cocaine)
Dried baby alpacas used in witchcraft
A penis face mask and other weird masks
PeruRail across the street. Busy place
Cooked Guinea pigs out on the street
Qoricancha Palace - which was the most important temple in the Inca Empire, built in the mid 15th century. Dedicated to Inti, the Sun God, the walls and floors were once covered in sheets of solid gold. Now it is a bizarre combination of Inca and colonial architecture, topped with a roof of glass and metal. In Inca times, Qorikancha (Quechua for 'Golden Courtyard') was literally covered with gold. The temple walls were lined with some 700 solid-gold sheets, each weighing about 2kg. There were life-sized gold and silver replicas of corn, which were ceremonially 'planted' in agricultural rituals. Also reported were solid-gold treasures, such as altars, llamas and babies, as well as a replica of the sun. But within months of the arrival of the first conquistadors, this incredible wealth had all been looted and melted down.
Various other religious rites took place in the temple. It is said that the mummified bodies of several previous Incas (kings) were kept here, brought out into the sunlight each day and offered food and drink, which was then ritually burnt. Qorikancha was also an observatory where high priests monitored celestial activities.
Some of the remaining stonework ranks with the finest Inca architecture in Peru. A curved, perfectly fitted 6m-high wall can be seen from both inside and outside the site. This wall has withstood all of the violent earthquakes that leveled most of Cuzco's colonial buildings.
Once inside the site, you enter a courtyard. The octagonal font in the middle was originally covered with 55kg of solid gold. Inca chambers lie to either side of the courtyard. The largest, to the right, were said to be temples to the moon and the stars, and were covered with sheets of solid silver. The walls are perfectly tapered upward and, with their niches and doorways, are excellent examples of Inca trapezoidal architecture.
Various views
Amazing that they could do this
Need to remember what this was. A portal ?
Nice courtyard at Convento de Santo Domingo
Sagrado (Sacred) Garden
Where the Spanish damaged the Inca walls
Various views
Cute critter
Fuchsia of two colors
The pure rainbow flag in Peru
Another look at the Cathedral of Cusco
Compania de Jesus (Jesuit) Church in Cusco
A puma. This is on a light post
Our lunch menu.
Our flight changed. Before we were going to fly from Cusco to Lima then Lima to Santiago taking up an entire day. Now we had a VERY EARLY flight directly to Santiago. We have a 3am wake up. which at 12,000 feet you don't sleep very well so it was easy to get up.
The balconies of Cusco are colonial balconies found in much of the city of Cusco, Cusco Region, Peru. These balconies are most dated to colonial times and some other to the early-Republican time.
These constructions are located in the corners of colonial and republican palaces and convents of old streets. They are of Mudejar and Baroque styles.
Some scientists say that these balconies have a type of discreet enclosure that kept women hidden from the sight of people in the exterior; in this way, these balconies or windows, served so that women could snoop without being seen from the street.
Balconies are a typical colonial Peruvian feature that can be seen in other colonial towns of Peru. We ate at a restaurant on the square in one of these balconies.
More coca leaves
On the 500th anniversary - Glory and honor to the anonymous victims of the invasion and to the heroes of the Andean resistance.
... and they shall not kill us!
The flag of Cusco is the official flag of Cusco, Peru. It is a rainbow flag. The order of the colors is: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Sky blue, Blue, Violet. The flag was introduced in 1973 by radio host Raul Montesinos Espejo to commemorate the 25th anniversary of his Cusco station Tawantinsuyo Radio.
Mc Donald's. Looks like the same in the USA menu. We did not buy anything.
On to Day 8 - Fly to Santiago - Chile
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