and again a day in Cusco... see the Inca leftovers... 8. Day

Did you know you can click on the pics on my profile... then they can get bigger and you can watch them all in one...
Well, now you know..
8. Day and again a lot we gonna do... this time we gonna drive around Cusco and watch villages, and Inca leftovers... to be true... Cusco and the area around is or better was an Inca village or town.. There are so many leftovers of different kinds, that it feels more or lesson like one place... but then we we also drove to other villages and got some beautiful outlooks and where on a famous market place... 
The guide will maybe tell you he drives you to "the holy valley of the Incas", when it's about the tour around Cusco, but most leftovers are not to find in a valley, you find them on the hills... 
So....
First we started with the ruins of Sacsayhuaman............

dow there is Cusco

just one of those stones can be 5 meter tall and all is made by hand

of course a dog is hiding in the pictire

Cusco

Then we took a walk to a place made inside stones, which was for celebration of the dead and a moon calendar in one...It is believed so... At the entrance there where reliefs of a gondor, a snake and a panther... also you could see kind of a door and a place to lay flowers and other things on for the gods...

Then we went up a hill to see how the place look where the priest was sitting in the morning, when the sun rises, to greet them and to celebrate the sun and the power of gods...

the #sun bank#

But believe me, if you expect getting some  or even bigger spiritually experiences or that you would feel something powerful when you touch the stones or stand on the places... no my dear... you won't... these stones are old and all is hidden somewhere deep inside... Nothing to feel ... just as stones feel like... everywhere you knew it...
But you get insight of how much they did and wonder why they had (the Incas) a very good road network but did not invent the wheel... Instead they had relay runners... who run three kilometers and then gave what they had to give to the next relay runner... so we saw a place, called the home of such relay runners....

Then it went on to Pisac and on our way we also stopped by at a place made for tourist to see the difference of a Lama, Alpaca and so on...

like painted like a giraffe.. 

In Pisac they is the famous market, which is an Indio market and so tourists are always welcome to find something there to take home.. actually the prices are good and not too expensive... And for those who are vegetarian, they is an option to get a vegetarian meal too... 
And then again those women in traditional clothes... you can make a pic of them, if you give them a Dollar and often they have a kid by the side or a little lam ... or baby alpaca.. the animal welfare would be on the top here in ol' Europe if we did take those little lams with us on market places to be touched and pushed around... 

the market is down there and it's this white stripe you see

look up..optional vegetarian food!

So this extra Tour makes sense in every way, not only because you could be bored in Cusco.. if you stay there alone... ;-)
But before we drove back, we took a turn into a restaurant- a real restaurant of the natives...
To eat what...? Guinea pig. It tasted good, kind of a mix of a chicken and rabbit.. kind of...and did not felt heavy in stomach. And the best thing is... it's original and cheaper then in town...!

By the villages we passed have a normal name each but the natives gave them another one to make it easier... cos a lot have not much education in the back... so one is called the pig village, the other the chicken, the shaman and then another the garbage village... Why is this so? It's because the have specialized over the years and the names just tell you in what.... 
What else more to tell? We saw market places along the streets.... for the native, not made for the tourist.... that was interesting to see... we saw a lot eucalyptus farming... and never to oversee the big yellow and blue advertising of the Inca Cola.. which taste like chewing gum with a lot of sugar... :-) Not my thing... but those Inca yellow is to find on a lot of adobes... 
And of course we see a big big Jesus on several places and the Jesus from Cusco seems to float when it's dark, the light which shines on him is bit green and around him is no single light.. so it really seems he comes down, flying, floating to us.... Our guide said the Jesus is a gift from portuguese... some came in world war the second to find a place to hide and so... the children or them self gave this back as a sign of gratefulness.... Don't know if this story is true.... didn't found anything about it yet... 

that is a wood today... like in Europe..made...

Eucalyptus 

LOVE & LIGHT

Lima- Cusco... 7. Day

Now the next part comes along and I already had started to drink my coca tea every mornin'.
In the airplane we've been shaken up a view times and again, the food was more something like ..what the f.. is this.. no thank you.. I said it again.. but it's just an two hour flight. 
And again you see not much then clouds and hills and some hills with snow and then the town Cusco and you wonder...is this the right town..? And the airport with it's runway... is in the middle in the town... well, Cusco- the town lies in a valley. 
One runway... no more, a very little airport and old and they seem to change this airport into a modern one... this is in my opinion very necessary... older luggage treadmills did I never saw... stone time old... 

can you see the runway/ airstrip? in the middle of Cusco

When we got up to get off the plan a women immediately had a lack of blood pressure and went to ground of the plan... well this happens... better to remember starting with a coca tea and take a chewing gum while you fly.. the difference of the highs is much... from next to the sea level to 3300 meter over the sea level... the air is thin, the sun is stronger, and so your body has to fight a bit, although for the most it is just to slow down a bit and after a day you should be alright.. mostly you feel it when you look around or inside your body.. it's like having problems with seeing, or a tingle in your bones or just you must breath stronger... you need more to rest then to walk fast... 

looks better then it actually was

view from my hotel room

Cusco does not at all look like the pics from the prospects you got home... they seem only to catch the hidden beauty... somewhere here.... it was much like "Are you kidding me?!" in my mind.... and most of the faces around me looked the same.... Cusco is poor, that's clearly to see and nearly the most houses are unfinished... 
Simple, but I am no one to give up to soon... the day just stared... let's see what it brings... It's warm and now I am back in Germany I can also tell you it's cold there... in the nights... from 27°C on the day to 9- 10°C on the nights... cold, cold, cold and if the hotels did not had something to head up the room, it would not pleased you you stay a night longer... 
Let's walk to the centrum of Cusco, we are just about 15- 20 minutes away.. Well, first day and your body is still fighting with the new area, it is a challenge, but we made it and there we saw the first signs of the Incas... and of course, because of the time and history, the spanish people destroyed a lot but could not all... so they build a church above the Inca buildings... leveled out, painted over...half destroyed and half year... There it is the monastery Santo Domingo, with it's colonial arches and paintings, with it's frescoes and under and around the Koricancha- the Inca temple in honor for the sun god Inti.....It is said this was the richest Inca temple... golden, with statuaries... lifesize art of the animals... well we just saw the walls, the gold is stolen and somewhere.. no one knows... The conquistadores did all the work...

inside the S.D., part of the temple

the patio

cyclamen... did not expect them there in Cusco

Inca wall... very good work...

Inca and spanish as one...

After this long visit and a lot of people/ tourists with us we went to the "La Catdral". The first christian sign in Cusco and big as possible... typical catholic church. 
It's full of gold everywhere, a lot of very big altars and of course this church is not only so famous here, because it is the first thing from the spanish people in Cusco, it also is known for the school of Cusco.. what does this mean... well the spanish people could not take enough artist from Europe to Peru, so they though the peruvian to paint and like this... but so it became, that on the holy pictures you always find flowers and plants and animals of Peru... So the Jesus eats and guinea pig at his last communion instead of the bread. Next pics shows you part of my traveler book, so forgive that it's not so good and one pic I took by myself...

After all, for me it was interesting to see all this inside, but it all was so big, so much, so kitschy, so unreal and had nothing to do with christ or what Jesus said.. no feeling of spirituality, no feeling of some holy.. it was -and for the time when they build those churches and cathedrals- it was the! way to talk to people- for me just and all about propaganda. A very big propaganda in gold for the "better" people, the spanish.... I mean, all faces looks european, all good is white and all those morality on the paintings... Interesting, but I was happy when i stepped out of this big and oversized building... a power thing... to rule... people... O.K: done with it..:-)
The afternoon rises.. as everywhere... it's getting colder... and we went back to the hotel.. alone... me as always.. watched TV and eat a bit I bought on the way back to the hotel... Shoppin' is never hard to do for me... ;-)

LOVE & LIGHT

Lima....Sightseeing 6. Day

Sorry for letting you waiting a bit, but had something to do... but now, let's go on, to see what had happen and to watch new pics...of course... Before I started to write this post I was searching in the internet and also had my eyes on the swedish press and what did I saw... a traveler agency is calling you to make a journey to Peru.... and shows a pic of the Machu Picchu... and then I did read about a Bus who had a crash in the Anden and fell down about 250 meters.. well I can imagine that very well...
Part of the streets I was on the way in Peru where very close to the hill and also close to the abyss.
Well nine in the morning I met the other four guys which became my new companions... All of them are from Germany and had booked the same trip... more or lesson... and because the new guide decided to start her tour "the sightseeing" later on the day we discuss and till the end I was the one who took 'em out for a little walk through Miraflores and to the beach, then to the shopping streets, back over the olive grove to the hotel, but before we where back, we stopped next to the Kennedy park and sat down in a coffee to drink beer and coffee... and one of us was also eating a bit. On the way through town we saw cats around the Municipalidad cathedral.. which stands on the side of the Kennedy park and this Park is connected to an other park the Park central. The church had an organization which tried to get you to adopt a cat. The cats actually looked all healthy and comfortable being around the church and walkin' through the parks...
Around ten minutes before we had to start the tour in a bus with our new guide we arrived in the hotel and refreshed. She spoke quite well german and told us a lot about the areas we where driven through and she answered the question the guys had well too, like how is it with money and work, what if you don't have any, and of course she talked about ....the San Francisco church, also was with us in the church and told us the history and what it means today for them and about the art and yet, there is really something to learn about this church... from outside it does not look so big, but nice and yellow, with white stripes, but inside it is very big over the earth but when you go down the stairs... big, bigger, hugh ... bit like a town under a town became this church...  Once down the stairs people where hide, mostly immigrants... then people died and so they had a place there to to find rest and so it became a big, big cemetery under the earth.... a lot of bones are still to find there and like big tanks and manholes... the bones - the dead .. well they lay each over each... no space, so no big deal... bones over bones... dead over dead... and we went through corridors. Over and overand over again.... The church is by the way also a monastery and on the floors they found frescoes in the beginning of the renovations... sure all they look very beautiful and tasty.... At the end, before we had some free minutes left to make pics outside, she showed us a room with portraits of priests... and furnitures... the looked really real, but was actually a fake... not all but the most, the truth is... these furnitures where doors to the underground... we had the luck to take a look when they are open...
The Church otherwise is nice and when you stand on the door lookin' out to the street you see a simple building, classic and nice... Once there lived about two thousand poor people inside... but with just three toilets inside the whole building - well, this was nothing to last for long.... just now this nice house is standing still and empty... just with the memories of those people..
By the way a funeral cost about 3000,- Dollars and so the poor people can't effort this... What do they do? They go outside the town and have a illegal ceremony... cheaper and kind of hide... All the mayors knows about that, but they do not say anything about it. Why should they... to change this they have to eliminate poverty.... Why is it so expensive? Well, a ceremony in the church, some music, some walk and a real and open casket, then the burning and then the graveyard..... You don't make it cheap there, just burning and lying in grass... they want to celebrate you, when you're dead... want to show you respect and give you as much love as they can... give you your own parade... and orchestra... not just music from a CD....

San Fransico

inside the church 

from inside the church lookin' to the house where once lived those poor people

While most of the time of or tour we sat in the car, some parts where filed with a walk.. and so we could see the big churches, parliament houses... the places and Palace...at rest... and colorful houses on a hill, where poor people live and it looks so much like those colorful houses you know from Italy... 
At least we landed in the district Monterrico with it's private Museum which shows a lot of Inca riches, gold, cloths..... and other things, mummies and some pics... our guide also guided us through the museum.. Well, to be true, I did not listen much to her, 'cos I have already read so much about it that I prefer to watch carefully, take my time to understand and see and if there is a question, I read what is written on the wall or keep it in mind and google or read after the visit...
Otherwise.. for me.. I think you miss too much of the exhibition...

Placa de San Martin

catedral from Placa de Mayor / Place of the Weapons 

Placio de Gobierno/ Presidential Palace on the Pl. Mayor

wooden balconies of the archbishopric next to Pl. Mayor

the colorful houses on the hill... 

At the Placa de Mayor  we could not go over the place... security kept us away.. it was, because they was and official parade in the morning, which was not anymore when we came, but those things have often the problems in the back, that a lot of young and not so young people are waiting in the streets to find a chance to demonstrate.. which is understandable... when you think about the wage and the high rate of people out of work... 
Anyway... again a day with clouds in the sky, a lot of walkin' and talkin'....
See you next.... and, yes...
I always watch TV at the end of the day, it helps so much to get to know a country better and to know what is going on and in Peru you can watch a lot of channels on the hotel TV and of course free internet and a must is always ...take a look into the press, the newspapers... gives you more than you believe... if you really want to get a touch of the place you stay... 

LOVE & LIGHT