Peru
Cuzco
This city high in the Andes will take your breath away - literally. The flight over the mountains to get here is breathtakingly beautiful. Once you're on the ground, you'll simply be breathless.
Cuzco
This city high in the Andes will take your breath away - literally. The flight over the mountains to get here is breathtakingly beautiful. Once you're on the ground, you'll simply be breathless.
At 3,000 metres above sea level, Cuzco requires a slow and easy entry to prevent altitude sickness, with its accompanying rapid heart beat and fatigue. Just take it easy the first day – and drink coca tea, or chew coca leaves. Yes, this is the plant that is the essential ingredient in cocaine, but we're not talking drug addiction here. It's perfectly legal to use coca in its natural form. The ensuing little buzz is rather pleasant, too. Or, perhaps, that buzz was the altitude. Whatever ...
Once you have found your footing, so to speak, this is a fabulous place to spend some time en route to Machu Picchu. (No one comes to Peru without visiting Machu Picchu.)
Once you have found your footing, so to speak, this is a fabulous place to spend some time en route to Machu Picchu. (No one comes to Peru without visiting Machu Picchu.)
And it's easy to relax on your first day: Grab a table at any one of the little restaurants around the Plaza de Armas, the "most beautiful Plaza de Armas in South America," says Jose Gongora, who grew up here and graduated from the city's National University.
Most of the dining rooms are on the upper floors of the restored Spanish colonial buildings, offering a view over the plaza, the cathedral and the Jesuit church. The Plaza de Armas is part of what, in Inca times, was known as the Wacaypata, or Weeping Square. (Writer Peter Frost notes that one morning in 1997, it "really was the Weeping Square" when residents learned that during the night Cuzco's mayor Raul Salizar had ordered all the native Andean trees in the square bulldozed. The trees were replaced by "sparse, pitiful flowerbeds.")
Most of the dining rooms are on the upper floors of the restored Spanish colonial buildings, offering a view over the plaza, the cathedral and the Jesuit church. The Plaza de Armas is part of what, in Inca times, was known as the Wacaypata, or Weeping Square. (Writer Peter Frost notes that one morning in 1997, it "really was the Weeping Square" when residents learned that during the night Cuzco's mayor Raul Salizar had ordered all the native Andean trees in the square bulldozed. The trees were replaced by "sparse, pitiful flowerbeds.")
Nevertheless, it's a pleasant place to spend a few hours over a meal and coca tea or water (alcoholic drinks are not a good idea on the first day this high in the Andes).
In the afternoon, you could grab a pew at the Cathedral ... after negotiating your way across the plaza where dozens of small - and charming - boys will want to shine your shoes. (They'll wait while you check out the church.) Two sols (about 40 cents) for a shoeshine, but watch it if you have suede hiking boots: "It's special. I use a special brush. It's 20 sols," a young entrepreneur tells me after he has completed his work.
Built between 1550 and 1650, the cathedral can only be described as opulent. It contains nearly 400 paintings from the 17th-century Cuzco school; the main altar is a single piece covered in sheets of beaten silver; in the two side churches that adjoin the cathedral, the altars are of wood painted with gold leaf, the centrepiece of one with a stunning painting of the Holy Family.
(Pity about the nearby mannequins of the Virgin Mary clad in garish costume.)
In the afternoon, you could grab a pew at the Cathedral ... after negotiating your way across the plaza where dozens of small - and charming - boys will want to shine your shoes. (They'll wait while you check out the church.) Two sols (about 40 cents) for a shoeshine, but watch it if you have suede hiking boots: "It's special. I use a special brush. It's 20 sols," a young entrepreneur tells me after he has completed his work.
Built between 1550 and 1650, the cathedral can only be described as opulent. It contains nearly 400 paintings from the 17th-century Cuzco school; the main altar is a single piece covered in sheets of beaten silver; in the two side churches that adjoin the cathedral, the altars are of wood painted with gold leaf, the centrepiece of one with a stunning painting of the Holy Family.
(Pity about the nearby mannequins of the Virgin Mary clad in garish costume.)
Near the main altar is a magnificent intricately carved wooden choir featuring statues of the saints. Back out on the square, the boys wait with their shoe polish. As do small girls (sometimes alone, sometimes with their mothers) dressed in native Andean costume and clutching little lambs – of the living, breathing variety. They will pose for photos but expect payment. And who can resist? It's hard to find a more beautiful people, most of whom are descendents of both the Inca and the Spanish.
And it's hard to forget that 70 per cent of the people of Peru live in poverty. But no one pushes; there is no harassment. An inherent courtesy is evident in young and old, as you will discover if you wander through the fascinating streets and squares off the Plaza de Armas.
And it's hard to forget that 70 per cent of the people of Peru live in poverty. But no one pushes; there is no harassment. An inherent courtesy is evident in young and old, as you will discover if you wander through the fascinating streets and squares off the Plaza de Armas.
The walking tour is best saved for the second or third day of your stay, though. Cuzco is situated in the shelter of the Andes and its homes and shops and churches are built along a fascinating maze of narrow, steep streets.
Everywhere there are tiny restaurants and bars, arts and crafts shops, pretty churches and crowded - or quiet – parks where native Andean trees still grow. In the shops is a colourful array of wall hangings, blankets, sweaters, socks and mittens, many in the rainbow colours of the four quarters of the Inca empire.
Cuzco is a town of adobe homes with red-tiled roofs, white colonial buildings with brightly painted balconies, lovely in the bright southern sun of day or in the glow of a cool evening as the city lights sparkle under the stars.
The Spanish heritage is that of much of South and Central America (or Texas and California) but the Inca heritage is unique to this part of the world.
Everywhere there are tiny restaurants and bars, arts and crafts shops, pretty churches and crowded - or quiet – parks where native Andean trees still grow. In the shops is a colourful array of wall hangings, blankets, sweaters, socks and mittens, many in the rainbow colours of the four quarters of the Inca empire.
Cuzco is a town of adobe homes with red-tiled roofs, white colonial buildings with brightly painted balconies, lovely in the bright southern sun of day or in the glow of a cool evening as the city lights sparkle under the stars.
The Spanish heritage is that of much of South and Central America (or Texas and California) but the Inca heritage is unique to this part of the world.
While most of the Inca ruins are outside the city, the Coricancha, once the Inca empire's richest temple, is in central Cuzco, hidden from sight within the Santo Domingo church, which was built on the temple foundations. Only the stonework remains; the Spanish conquistadors looted the building of its precious stones and metals.
"The Inca nation was invaded in 1532 by Spaniards," says Nicholas Yataz, who is of Inca decent. "There was no conquest. It was an invasion. And during colonial times, from 1532 to 1825, the Spanish killed 10 million people from this huge Inca nation."
"The Inca nation was invaded in 1532 by Spaniards," says Nicholas Yataz, who is of Inca decent. "There was no conquest. It was an invasion. And during colonial times, from 1532 to 1825, the Spanish killed 10 million people from this huge Inca nation."
Inca culture "is very, very strong in Cuzco. We are Catholics, but only for traditional. Not for practice; not me," Yataz adds, as we walk through the courtyard of the Dominican church monastery en route to view the temple ruins.
"The Catholic church is a symbol of European domination," he says. "We continue with our Inca beliefs."
The Inca museum is also a must-see: beautiful textiles and pottery, some domestic items, some designed for ritual use; metal and gold work, jewellery - and mummies.
Along the street, the Museum of Art is housed in what is said to be the palace of Inca Roca, the sixth Inca, or king. The massive Inca wall of the palace runs the length of Hatunrimiyoc or Street of the Great Stone. The street is named for the 12-angled stone that is about halfway along the wall.
"The 12 sides represent the 12 districts of Cuzco during the Inca reign," a pre-teen boy explains in impeccable English.
"The 12 districts form the shape of a puma," a sacred symbol to the Incas. With a huge grin, he tells me his name is James Bond. James is the English translation of his Quechuan name (Quechuan are native Andean people).
And Bond?
He just smiles.
For more information, visit the Peru website. G.A.P Adventures of Toronto offers many tours each year to Peru and other South American nations.
©Vivian Macdonald, 2008.
©Vivian Macdonald, 2008.