Cusco: 2 and 3

I decided that while Erin was still sleeping, I´d run down to the nearest ATM and grab some more soles.  This should have been a quick walk downhill to the Plaza de Armas, but that ATM wasn´t working, so I had to venture further afield to the Avenida del Sol to find one that did.  At that point, I was already close to one of the sights I wanted to see, called Qorikancha.  This was the most important Incan temple compound in the city of Cusco and had been resdiscovered thanks to an earthquake in the 1950s.  The Spaniards, when they came, had repossed the building as a church (Iglesia de San Francisco), and so much of the Incan stonework had been hidden by the Spanish additions.  When the earthquake struck, the Spanish parts didn´t withstand the shaking, fell the the ground, and left the Incan temples to be standing

The Incans built all of their buildings with the walls at a 6 percent incline upward (sort of trapezoidal with the widest parts at the bottom).  This, along with two masonry techniques, meant that although many Spanish buildings were destroyed in earthquakes, the Incan temples were more likely to withstand the shaking of the earth.  The other techniques they used were to unite two stones with bronze to function as glue, and the machahembrada.  Machahembrada literally means "male-female" and it meant that one stone would have a recess, while the other stone had a protruding peg to fit into the first.  I´ll leave you all to figure out why the name was as such.

I came back to our B&B, refusing to use my map and thus extending my walk by a few accidental blocks, thinking about Cusco.  In comparison to any other Latin American city, it´s much less modern.  No high-rises, and despite the multitides of stores selling alpaca wool godos, leather-worked ítems, and jewelry, it reminds me of a city you may have seen a few hundred years ago.  It´s more or less a city for its residents and a jumping-off point for travelers, akin to Independence, Missouri on the Oregon Trail.  It´s also very manageable- I feel very at home by the end of 3 days, and feels fairly secure (using smart traveler practices).  It´s a fascinating change of pace.

Erin and I then set out to run some errands, most importantly checking in with our trekking company.  I think we both felt greatly relieved afterward: there are stops every 15 minutes or so, lots of ruins and scenery to enjoy along the way, and we´re at camp every night by 5 at the latest.  There is a pass called Dead Woman´s Pass, which we´ll have to go through on our second day, and it looks pretty tricky.  Good news is that we reach camp by 2 or 3 PM that day!  We´ve both been bothered less and less by the altitude, which is also a relief.

Erin then headed back to the B&B while I returned the the Plaza, the city residents were already starting to form a crowd for a procession (religious parade) for Nuestro Senor de los Temblores (Our Lord of the Earthquakes- in the 1850s an earthquake struck Cusco on Holy Monday, and they've held  the parade ever since to honor God for allowing the survival of those who didn´t die).  That said, when I asked one of the guardia how long till the parade, he told me an hour later, so I had lunch (Tequenos con palta, which is basically cheese wrapped in a wonton, fried, and served with avocado) then met Erin.  Little did we know that the procession actually lasted into the late hours of the night!

That afternoon, Erin and I ran trek-related errands and picked up the last few things needed (small bills of soles to buy water and treats along the trek, more bags of coca candy, made from the same plant as cocaine, it actually helps fight the effects of altitude sickness, etc).  After climbing the hill (third time that day for me, and I wish so badly I had a picture so you could see what it was really like), it was nap time.  Our dinner that night was at a local sándwich joint, where the man Juanito does masterful things with meat.  Mine was lechon with salsa de pina.  Lechon is a traditionally roasted pig that´s very common in the área, and he tops it with pineapple sauce since this is also a locally available fruit.

We finished the night in a Café Cultural across the Street from our hostel, where a small boy (Aloum, the son of the owners) had us bent over in hysterical laughter as he lugged a tiny blue guitar around, went up the the mics onstage and yelled "Hola todos, es Dinosaurio por Big Boy" (Hi everyone, this is the song ¨Dinosaur¨sang by Big Boy).   It reminds me of a certain younger brother I have who used to call himself ¨Brady Daniel Haughney, Big Boy¨(love you bro!). 

Today I woke up not feeling so great- I had chalked yesterday´s runny nose up to allergies or altitude adjustments, but an additional cough convinces me that this is not the case.  So we slept in (last night that I´ll be able to do so until April 6 between trekking, flights, and work) then worked on packing our bags for the trek.  We each hired the services of a porter to carry 6 kilos for us (11 pounds), which will amount to our sleeping back, our sleeping mat, and a spare change of clothes.  In our own bag, we have to carry wáter, snacks, cameras, and things like gloves, hats, bandanas, fresh socks, and toilet supplies that we may need at any given momento.

*I just realized the line above said momento, and I should add that the keyboard I{m working with is not particularly reliable, so please ignore the typos, random capitalizations, and punctuation erros.

Brunch was cappucino french toast served with fresh fruit (so much fruit!) and brightened my morning.  We passed by a shaman shop just to see what this is about.  Shamans are traditional healers whose tradition lasts thousands of years.  In particular, you can go on trips (doublé meaning) with shamans: in Peru, ayahuasca (similar to peyote) is completely legal, and people go on shaman-guided spiritual trips aided by this psychadelic plant. 

After some shopping and coffee, the rain has chased us back to the hotel to finish packing, shower, and prepare for our last real night in Cusco (I may be trying the local specialty, cuy, or guinea pig if it´s available wherever we go). 

We are getting picked up by the trekking company at 5:20 tomorrow and don´t return to Cusco until Saturday night at 10:30, which is followed by a flight the next morning to Lima, so it will be a while until I write again.  Wish us luck!