Day 3:  Costco! Not Cuzco !

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The first full day started bright and sunny, Mike and Bone headed to break their fast at a breakfast buffet with a speciality coffee stand (which was VERY popular!) As the troop's gathered Liz had Bruce share his BIG and provided the following poem.

Bruce’s Strength: Service To Be of Use:

To Be of Use ~ Marge Piercy The people I love the best jump into work head first without dallying in the shallows and swim off with sure strokes almost out of sight. They seem to become natives of that element, the black sleek heads of seals bouncing like half-submerged balls.  

I love people who harness themselves, an ox to a heavy cart, who pull like water buffalo, with massive patience, who strain in the mud and the muck to move things forward, who do what has to be done, again and again.  

I want to be with people who submerge in the task, who go into the fields to harvest and work in a row and pass the bags along, who are not parlor generals and field deserters but move in a common rhythm when the food must come in or the fire be put out.  

The work of the world is common as mud. Botched, it smears the hands, crumbles to dust.

But the thing worth doing well done has a shape that satisfies, clean and evident.

Greek amphoras for wine or oil, Hopi vases that held corn, are put in museums but you know they were made to be used. The pitcher cries for water to carry and a person for work that is real.  

 

 As the group reflected, Bruce shared the lost of his Dad as everyone listened solemnly. Not much was said from anyone for the next 10 minutes of breakfast, until they broke for the first excursion of the day, a tour of Cuzco.

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A Gorgeous Morning in the Navel of Peru!

A Tall Tales Tour!

Liz enlisted a local Quechan guide name Roju for the trip. Of the many talents the Team would learn about Roju (one of which was being a really good bartender!) is he was quite the local historian!

First thing he talked to Liz and the Troops about was the name. It is pronounced “costco” not “cyusco” as the Spanish (and English) mispronounce it. The indigenous name of this city is Qusqu. Although the name was used in Quechua, its origin is found in the Aymara language. The word is derived from the phrase qusqu wanka ('Rock of the owl'), related to the city's foundation myth of the Ayar Siblings. According to this legend, Ayar Awqa (Ayar Auca) acquired wings and flew to the site of the future city; there he was transformed into a rock to mark the possession of the land by his ayllu.

Then Ayar Oche stood up, displayed a pair of large wings, and said he should be the one to stay at Guanacaure as an idol in order to speak with their father the Sun. Then they went up on top of the hill. Now at the site where he was to remain as an idol, Ayar Oche raised up in flight toward the heavens so high that they could not see him. He returned and told Ayar Manco that from then on he was to be named Manco Capac. Ayar Oche came from where the Sun was and the Sun had ordered that Ayar Manco take that name and go to the town that they had seen. After this had been stated by the idol, Ayar Oche turned into a stone, just as he was, with his wings. Later Manco Capac went down with Ayar Auca to their settlement...he liked the place now occupied in this city Cuzco. Manco Capac and his companion, with the help of the four women, made a house. Having done this, Manco Capac and his companion, with the four women, planted some land with maize. It is said that they took the maize from the cave, which this lord Manco Capac named Pacaritambo, which means those of origin because...they came out of that cave.

This is also the reason why the Inkan’s declared Cuzco the “navel”, or center of their empire and as they built their road system of north/south, east/west road system, it was engineered to make “all roads lead to Cuzco”!

The Snake is one of the many Inkan symbols for Cuzco

Interestingly, per Ragu, the Inka’s did not found Cuzco The Killke people occupied the region from 900 to 1200, prior to the arrival of the Inka in the 13th century. Carbon-14 dating of Sacsayhuamán, the walled complex outside Cusco, established that Killke constructed the fortress about 1100. The Inka later expanded and occupied the complex in the 13th century. In March 2008, archaeologists discovered the ruins of an ancient temple, roadway and aqueduct system at Sacsayhuamán. The temple covers some 2,700 square feet (250 square meters) and contains 11 rooms thought to have held idols and mummies (that Bone checked out on the first day)] establishing its religious purpose. Together with the results of excavations in 2007, when another temple was found at the edge of the fortress, this indicates a longtime religious as well as military use of the facility.

Cusco was long an important center of indigenous people. It was the capital of the Inka Empire (13th century–1532). Many believe that the city was planned as an effigy in the shape of a puma, a sacred animal. How Cusco was specifically built, or how its large stones were quarried and transported to the site remain undetermined. Under the Inka, the city had two sectors: the urin and hanan. Each was divided to encompass two of the four provinces, Chinchasuyu (NW), Antisuyu (NE), Kuntisuyu (SW) and Qullasuyu (SE). A road led from each quarter to the corresponding quarter of the empire.

Each local leader was required to build a house in the city and live part of the year in Cusco, restricted to the quarter that corresponded to the quarter in which he held territory. After the rule of Pachacuti, when an Inka died, his title went to one son and his property was given to a corporation controlled by his other relatives (split inheritance). Each title holder had to build a new house and add new lands to the empire, in order to own land for his family to keep after his death.

According to Inka legend, the city was rebuilt by Sapa Inka Pachacuti, the man who transformed the Kingdom of Cuzco from a sleepy city-state into the vast empire of Tawantinsuyu. Archaeological evidence, however, points to a slower, more organic growth of the city beginning before Pachacuti. The city was constructed according to a definite plan in which two rivers were channeled around the city. Archaeologists have suggested that this city plan was replicated at other sites.

The city fell to the sphere of Huáscar during the Inka Civil War after the death of Huayna Capac in 1527. It was captured by the generals of Atahualpa in April 1532 in the Battle of Quipaipan. Nineteen months later, Pizzaro’s Spanish conquistadors invaded the city after kidnapping and murdering Atahualpa, and gained control because of their arms and horses, employing superior military technology.

Per Ragu, the first three Spaniards arrived in the city in May 1533, after the Battle of Cajamarca, collecting for Atahualpa's Ransom Room. On 15 November 1533 Francisco Pizarro officially arrived in Cusco. "The capital of the Inkas...astonished the Spaniards by the beauty of its edifices, the length and regularity of its streets." The great square was surrounded by several palaces, since "each sovereign built a new palace for himself." "The delicacy of the stone work excelled" that of the Spaniards'. The fortress had three parapets and was composed of "heavy masses of rock." "Through the heart of the capital ran a river...faced with stone." "The most sumptuous edifice in Cuzco...was undoubtedly the great temple dedicated to the Sun...studded with gold plates...surrounded by convents and dormitories for the priests." "The palaces were numerous and the troops lost no time in plundering them of their contents, as well as despoiling the religious edifices," including the royal mummies in the Coricancha.

Pizarro ceremoniously gave Manco Inka the Inkan fringe as the new Peruvian leader. Pizarro encouraged some of his men to stay and settle in the city, giving out repartimientos to do so. Alcaldes were established and regidores on 24 March 1534, which included the brothers Gonzalo Pizarro and Juan Pizarro. Pizarro left a garrison of 90 men and then departed for Jauja with Manco Inka.

 

A Quikancha! The Center of the Inkan Empire, the Sun Temple!!

 Next, Mike and Bone followed Ragu, Liz, and the rest to the remained of Qurikancha (The main Temple of the Sun of the Inka Empire) according to the description of Garcilaso de la Vega. Qoricancha's original walls remains below the Convento de Santo Domingo. Buildings constructed after the Spanish invasion have a mixture of Spanish influence with Inka indigenous architecture, including the Santa Clara and San Blas neighborhoods. The Spanish destroyed many Inka buildings, temples and palaces. They used the remaining walls as bases for the construction of a new city.  

Father Vincente de Valverde became the Bishop of Cusco and built his cathedral facing the plaza. He placed a St. Dominic monastery on the ruins of the House of the Sun and a nunnery where the House of the Virgins of the Sun was stood.  

Cuzco, did change hands again when the city was retaken from the Spanish during the Siege of Cuzco of 1536 by Manco Inka Yupanqui, a leader of the Sapa Inka. Although the siege lasted 10 months, it was ultimately unsuccessful. Manco's forces were able to reclaim the city for only a few days. He eventually retreated to Vilcabamba, the capital of the newly established small Neo-Inka State, which lasted for another 36 years but he was never able to return to Cuzco. Throughout the conflict and years of the Spanish colonization of the Americas, many Inkas died of smallpox essentially ending the Inkan Empire.

 

The Ceremonial Alter of Beer (No Kiddin') at the Center of the Church and known Universe!

Peru has wisely been working on preserving and in fact restoring many of the ancient places for preservation and tourism. In the center of the Sun Church is a place for.... well.... Beer!!! The ancient Inkan Priest would determine how dry a season would be on how thirsty the gods were. Sounds hokey right!!! Well not so fast my friend, says Lee Corso and Ragu. The priest would fill the alter and beer and if the gods were thirsty it would disappear quickly, if not  it would disappear slowly. Or it relatively humidity was low, it would be dry and the beer evaporate. While it was a fascinating story, all Mike and Bone could think of was the waste of beer!!!  

 

Heading into the Town Square!!

Mike and Bruce, outside the Basilica Cathedral of our Lady of Assumption in Plaza De Armas

Next the Team, went to another Catholic Church on the foundations of a Inkan Temple in the Square, the Basilica Cathedral of our Lady of Assumption. The Inkas built the temple known as Kiswarkancha on the main square in Cusco. It was the Inka palace of Viracocha, ruler of the Kingdom of Cusco around a century before the Spanish colonists arrived. foundational myth of the Ayar siblings.

Near to the Kiswarkancha was the Suntur Wasi, an armory and heraldry centre for the Inka royalty. When the Spanish conquistadores arrived in Cuzco, they decided to take down the temple and build their Christian cathedral in that prominent site.

The cathedral's construction began in 1559 on the foundations of Kiswarkancha. It is shaped like a Latin cross. The location of Viracocha's palace was chosen for the purpose of removing the Inka religion from Cusco and replacing it with Spanish Catholic Christianity. Because 1559 was only 26 years after the conquistadores entered Cusco in 1533, the vast majority of the population was still of Quechua Inka descent. The Spaniards used the Inkas as a labor workforce to build the cathedral.

The original designs for the 1-acre large construction were drawn by the Spanish architect and conquistador, Juan Miguel de Veramendi. His design of a Latin cross shape incorporated a three-aisled nave, where the roof was supported by only 14 pillars. Over the 95 years of its construction, the building work was supervised by Spanish priests and architects, until its completion in 1654.

Sadly, as is often the case with Spanish conquest the stones for the building were taken from Sacsayhuamán.

View, from the Plaza de Armas, of the Iglesia de la Compania de Jesus (Church of the Society of Jesus), a rival church to the Cathedral The Gothic-Renaissance style of the cathedral reflects that of Spain during the period of the Spanish conquest of South America and also Cusco. There is also evidence of Baroque influence in the facade on the Plaza de Armas.

The Inkas were able to sneak some of their religious symbolism into the cathedral, for example, the carved head of a jaguar (an important god or religious motif found widely through much of ancient Peru) is part of the cathedral doors.

 

Quechuan Bruce !!!!!

After the Tour everyone had a couple of hours to each lunch on their own and buy souvenirs, where Bruce and Bone prudently purchased Peruvian woolen, chulla hats for his kids.

Next was the first big excursion outside of Cuzco, an Inkan Tambo!!!

To understand tambos, it is important to understand their context in the Inkan Empire.

The Reason for Qhapaq Nan!

To understand the Inkas (or Inkans!) you need to understand their culture and approach. The Inkan’s (or rulers) believed in a shared society where they would take foods from the coast and foods from the mountains, then re-distribute them through out the empire every year. That we everybody shared in all the unique bounties of the land and sea, regardless of where you lived.  This is why the Inkan rulers had the east-west and north-south roads or what is now call the Inka Trails. The “Inkan Trail” is famous around the world, though the trail many tourists know is just a small sector of the thread of Inka paths that held this great empire together.

The Inka Trail is more than 14,500 miles that integrated the Inkan Empire’s four regions, which covered Colombia, the west of Brazil, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia, to the center of Chile and the north of Argentina. These trails tended to be principally on the coast or in the mountains but in a few cases they reached the tropical edge of the jungle.

The Inka Trails (or Qhapaq Ñan - which refers to the network of trails) were without a doubt one of the marvels of the Inkans, according to the Peruvian historian, José Antonio del Busto, who explains that the Inka Huayna Capac most increased the network of trails in order to quickly mobilize his army.

The trails varied in quality and size, they could be 6 to 8 meters wide on the coast but, in the mountains the paving was only one meter wide but the path was audaciously steep and climbed over the difficult Andean mountains.

It is also interesting to note that the Inka were a totally regimented society. Although great numbers of people were moved around for state projects and resettlement, once at a location, they did not move. The royal roads were reserved for official travel.    Various chroniclers have given testimony to the beauty of these roads, including Hernando Pizarro (the only Pizzaro to live of the three brothers that wasn’t killed!), one of the first conquistadors to arrive in Cusco, who wrote, “The path in of the mountains is something to see, because it is built in very difficult terrain. In the Christian World we have not seen such beautiful roads. All of the crossings have bridges of stone or of wood.”

Explorer Victor von Hagen set out to explore the Qhapaq Ñan in a 1952 expedition which is interestingly recounted in his book, “Highway of the Sun: A search for the royal roads of the Inkas.” He writes, “A message sent by relay runner from Quito could reach Cusco over a route of 1230 miles in five days. From Cusco, the same message could be sent to the far end of Lake Titicaca in three days, “ And in his palace in Cusco, the Inka rule dined off fresh fish delivered from the Coast, a distance of 200 miles over the highest Andes, in two days.”Puno - Titicaca Lake “1230 miles in five days! That would mean that the chasqui relay was run at an average of 246 miles a day… the Romans were fortunate indeed if their mounted couriers could cover 100 miles a day!” Von Hagen and his team discovered an extra wide highway between Jauja and Bonbon and a series of well preserved chasqui stations (okla) that enabled them to carry out a series of investigations with local runners. They proved that by using a system of trained runners it was possible to cover the distance between Cusco and Quito in five days!  

One of the primary ways of facilitating the movement of food and information was the Tambo System. Tambos were small city set up at the intersection of east-west, north-south roads to be way station and storage depot for goods and information flowing through the Empire. This is the story Ragu shared with Mike and Bone on the Bus Ride to the first Tambo on the Inkan Trail outside of Cuzco, Ollantaytambo!

 

Mike and Bone doing the Mambo, Tambo  @ Ollantaytambo!!!

Ollantaytambo was a classic Inkan Tambo. Tambos were Inkan structures built for administrative and military purposes. Found along Inkan roads, tambos typically contained supplies, served as lodging for itinerant state personnel, and were depositories of quipu-based accounting records. Individuals from nearby communities within the Inka empire were conscripted to serve in the tambos, as part of the mit'a labor system. The Inkas built many of their tambos when they began to upgrade the road system during the reign of Thupa Inka Yupanki from 1471 to 1493.

 

Mike and Bone Tamboing in the stepped terraces of Ollantaytambo!!

It is estimated that there were 2,000 or more tambos in the Inkan Empire. The functions of the tambos were dependent on their size as well as the facilities they contained. Every tambo had the capacity to house various state officials. For example, the smallest tambos served as relay stations for the chasquis, who were state messengers who ran along state roads. Larger tambos could provide other functions as well. For example, larger tambos would have larger storehouses that could provide supplies and some lodging for armies on the move.

The largest and most luxurious tambos were generally used to lodge the traveling Inka and his entourage (typically wives and state officials). And so there would be adequate supplies for their men, every four leagues there were lodgings and storehouses, and the representatives or stewards who lived in the capital of the provinces took great care to see that the natives kept these inns or lodgings (tambos) well supplied. Because of its location to Cuzco and large size, Ollantaytambo was built for royal visits. It was also interesting to learn that Tambos are generally placed a day's walk from each other.

 

"Walking the (Inkan) Trail" around Ollantaytambo

Holly, Sharing the Foundation of Inkan Architecture 

 

After a little hike to show the Team the Inkan trail, they returned where Holly discussed how the Inkans were certainly skilled stonemasons. They used granite or limestone to build their cities, these materials were available locally in the Mountains. To cut the rocks they used stones, metal tools made of bronze or copper, pieces of wood and water. Using the natural fracture lines of the stones they used tools to crack them open introducing pieces of wood and then pouring water so that the wood would expand, as the crack becomes bigger they would insert a bigger piece of wood and repeat the process until the piece was completely separated. Next they needed to shape the stones which could have been rectangular or polygonal, which they did by carving and then polish them with sand. Each stone was carved to such precision as they had to fit perfectly with each other.

Archaeologists believe that a lot of planning took place before carving and placing the stones together. It was not so much a process of trial and error in fitting the stones but careful measuring and planning.

To transport the finished stones workers had to build up roads and ramps to the construction site. It is amazing how they transported 100 metric-ton stone some as far as 35 kilometers. Researchers believe that 1,800 men were required to drag such a big block using inclined planes, thick ropes, gravity and muscle power. It is also believed that they used wet clay or gravel to reduce friction. For instance, the largest stone at the Tambo weighs around 140,000 kilograms.

The building method used by Inka architecture was straightforward. They laid the larger stones first to build a strong foundation then they built up ramps around them to facilitate the placement of the smaller stones until they finished the wall.

 

Meeechigan Mike and Renee checking out the Sacred Valley

The attraction of the Sacred Valley to the Inka, in addition to its proximity to Cuzco, was probably that it was lower in elevation and therefore warmer than any other nearby area. The lower elevation permitted maize to be grown in the Sacred Valley. Maize was a prestige crop for the Inkas, especially to make chicha, a fermented maize drink the Inkas and their subjects consumed in large quantities at their many ceremonial feasts and religious festivals.

Chicha has had a long historical significance. In times of warfare, the Inkas would take the decapitated skull of their enemies and turn it into a drinking vessel for Chicha. This ceremonial process of drinking Chicha from the head of a foe symbolized the successful transformation from the disorder of warfare to the order of the Inkan Empire.

 

The Amazing Sacred Valley

KB and Renee, hiding from the blistering Sun

The irrepressible and amazing Dante!!!

Holly's adopted Son Dante quickly become a beloved companion on the Trip. The fourteen year old deaf mute that suffered so much growing up ALWAYS had a bright smile and cheery disposition. Soon, the entire Team loved his company for the rest of the trip!

Mike, about to Toast the Sacred Valley

 

Bruce and Bone about to Toast with Mike

The next stop on the day trip was an Peruvian Village with a Tourist Overlook of the incredible Sacred Valley. Not realizing whom they were dealing with they brought Mike and Bone to a place with the demon alcohol!! Bone promptly ordered around for the entire Team, and two more for himself and Mike. Three good drinks at altitude ensured that Mike and Bone soonzed the whole way back to Cuzco!

Fortunately, they were back at full strength for a very cool, but spacy speaker for Dinner!

 

Enter Andres Adasme Tapia, Archeoastronomist!?! 

One of the very cool things about this Trip was how Liz scheduled experts on Peruvian/Inkan civilization to speak to the Team. For tonight’s Dinner she invited Andres Adasme Tapia, who is an expert in Andean Archeoastronomy.

Archaeoastronomy is the interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary study of how people in the past "have understood the phenomena in the sky, how they used these phenomena and what role the sky played in their cultures. It is often twinned with ethnoastronomy, the anthropological study of skywatching in contemporary societies. Archaeoastronomy is also closely associated with historical astronomy, the use of historical records of heavenly events to answer astronomical problems and the history of astronomy, which uses written records to evaluate past astronomical practice. Chilean by birth and Cusco resident for nearly a decade, Andres trained and worked as an architect, but his passions are ancient cultures and astronomy.

He lectures extensively on the topics of Andean Archeoastronomy, the history and architecture of Cusco, Machu Picchu and surrounding region. His outdoor experience and historical knowledge make him a much sought after tour leader which Liz was lucky to get for the Team this evening.

Andres is an active member of the prestigious Bohic Ruz Explorers, an international group of archeological and ethnohistorian researchers, serving as director of Archeoastronomy, at present he works as product developer at Mountain Lodges of Peru (which Liz works with).

Tonight, Andres discussed the linearity of the architecture of the Inkans. If you drew a line in a map from the southernmost Tambo, through Cuzco, through the northernmost tambo EVERY building is perfectly aligned on a straight line. The precision has been documented in satellite photos. The Inkan’s, in their time were some of the very best architects in the World!

 

Oil Fires!?!

After the very cool Dinner presentation by Andres, the spaced out travelers were ushered out the the outdoor square in the Hotel to be treated by a very cool treat, an oil fire! The Staff poured a couple of gallons of some very clear oil, lit it and it burned bright and clean for several hours. Everybody grabbed a drink of their choice and enjoyed the campfire for the remainder of the evening.

 

Which was not long since tomorrow they start for Machu Picchu!!