On the Road to Lake Titicaca, Peru: Huaro, Raqchi, and Pukara

August 2011

Like the ancient Incas, we claimed Cusco as our  "capital" (home base) for our first week in Peru, as we took excursions to the rainforest and Machu Picchu.  But it was finally time for our journey south--ascending to the city of Puno on the shores of Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world  (3827 meters; 12,500 ft.).  It was another early morning start as we headed to the depot for our tourist bus departure to Puno at 7 am.  There is a special, luxury pullman-car train that runs a few days a week to nearby Juliaca, but we were very satisfied with our comfortable and uncrowded bus that was perfect for taking photos and naps.  The advantage of the bus was that we were able to make several interesting archaeological stops while finally enjoying a leisurely day.  The best part of all was that the highway was fully paved and smooth, unlike our treacherous route into the Manu Rainforest (see sidebar for Manu post).

Leaving Cusco, we passed a mix of modern buildings, crumbling mud homes, and roadside tented dwellings while enjoying that wonderful Peruvian round bread that was supplied by our kind guide.   We passed the ancient Inca gates of Rumi Qolqa (Rumicolca) which protected the narrow entrance into the Sacred Cusco Valley (see Sacred Valley post).  The protective Inca stone walls were built on foundations of the earlier Wari civilization.

Then, not far south of Cusco, we stopped at the quaint village of Huaro. Our original itinerary had planned a visit to the nearby town of Andahuaylillas to see Peru's "Sistine Chapel"  with its beautiful gilded paintings, but instead we were taken to this more humble site of the Jesuit Temple of St. John the Baptist, originally built in 1571.  The church and its paintings were not well preserved and are now undergoing massive restoration.  However, they are still charming, and the beauty of the interior paintings is easy to imagine.

Originally, local artists painted the walls from 1675-1699 which were later covered in 1802 by more formal paintings by the renowned Tadeo Escalante of both Spanish and Inca descent.  So the dilemma--which layer to restore? There are elements of native folk art and Spanish-Moorish motifs in the decorations.  Photos were not allowed in the interior, so I caught some of the exterior painting and bought postcards. Though it was still early morning,  colorful souvenir stands were already competing for the day's tourists.

We entered a landscape of lakes and fields where rural farmers used animals to pull old wooden plows and adobe bricks were made with straw and set out in the sun to dry.  Yet, here and there, we could see the modern touch of a home satellite disk.  Unlike the hills around Cusco, there were more flat plateaus with mountains rising above them.  In contrast to the yellows, browns, and pine greens, there were also numerous patches of  light blue-green eucalyptus trees that had been imported from Australia.  These trees were brought because they grew quickly and provided good wood for building and firewood.  However, they also rob the soil of the nutrients and water needed for local trees to grow, so they now pose a problem in the areas they were meant to help.

We next stopped at the little village of San Pedro de Cacha with its little church and large plaza, perfect for selling more souvenirs.  I caught the expression of a discouraged vendor and thought about how hard it must be to set up each day in hopes that some stranger would choose your wares.  And, sadly, with luggage limitations, I bought from very few vendors in Peru.  But this little town was once the great Raqchi, an Inca site where the beautiful temple of Wiracocha stood beside palaces and the ever important granaries.  Today it is considered one of the most beautiful and impressive Inca sites.  It is amazing that its tall walls still stand to attest to Inca building skills.  Nearby, there was a family-owned silver shop where we got "good deals" on some lovely pieces and befriended their llamas and alpaca.

Continuing on, we climbed through snow-topped mountains until we reached the division between the regions of Cusco and Puno at another convenient tourist stop in the middle of almost nowhere.  We had actually ascended to the highest point of our journey (4338 meters or 14,232 feet) at the base of Apu (Mount) Chimboya (with a peak at 5700 meters; 18,700 feet).  Souvenirs had shifted from Inca-style pottery to warm alpaca caps and rugs.

After traveling through the yellow fields of the high Collao Plateau with grazing cattle and llamas, we arrived in Pukara in the late afternoon.  Before coming, I had not heard of this town or the advanced pre-Inca civilization (Pukara) that flourished here from 250 BC-380 AD.  We visited the town's small house-like museum with the typed explanations in Spanish of these remarkable stone sculptures and intricate pottery unlike others found in Southern Peru.  The Pukaras had a well-organized society, although their "population control" method seemed to be periodic warfare to choose the new leader.  They believed in the "decapitating god," as did groups we would later meet in Northern Peru, and so we found statues of bodies standing next to the statues of their upside down heads.  Not how I would want to end up (or down).

Dusk was descending as we drove through the busy industrial city of Juliaca, and a full moon rose as we went on to the lakeside city of Puno, completing our 228 mile journey from Cusco in about 12 hours.  We repacked overnight bags for an early-morning boat departure on Lake Titicaca.  Next post: Floating Uros Islands of Lake Titicaca

Click link below for slideshow:
On the Road to Titicaca

Music:  Tito la Rose, "Lucero de la Manana,"  Lo Mejor de Tito la Rosa: Meditacion
Additional Information:
The Essential Book:Discovering  Peru  
Insight Guide: Peru

Machu Picchu: 100 Years

August 2011

In July 1911, Hiram Bingham, an American explorer/ Yale college professor/ archaeologist/ opportunist, "discovered" Machu Picchu, having been led by indigenous people to Inca ruins in the Andes in his quest to find Old Vilcabamba, the last stronghold of the Incas against the Spaniards.  Bingham acknowledged that his discovery of Machu Picchu was like Columbus' discovery of the New World --there had been prior visitors-- but he,  through associations with the relatively new National Geographic Society, brought this mysterious city of ruins in the tops of the Andes to the attention of the world and put Machu Picchu on the "bucket list" of innumerable travelers.  Adventure heros,  such as Indiana Jones, have been modeled after him.

However, Bingham's legacy was tarnished through the century-long dispute (hopefully, finally resolved last January) between Yale and Peru around his removal of artifacts for the Peabody Museum (mostly burial remains and pottery--Inca gold had already been taken by the Spaniards).  While explorers before him had filled European museums full of Egyptian and Greek treasures, Bingham's discoveries helped awaken Peru's pride in its glorious past and their determination to keep what was theirs. Bingham left Peru after only 4 years.

However,  he was later invited to return to Peru for the dedication of  the twisting Hiram Bingham Highway connecting Aquas Calientes to the ruins and for the 50th anniversary of his discovery, commemorated by a bronze plaque on the site.  His memory has been in and out of favor in Peru, so I'm sure he would be pleased to know that the centennial of his discovery was celebrated this year. ( I just finished a fascinating biography by Christopher Heaney, The Story of Hiram Bingham, a Real-Life Indiana Jones,  and the Search for Machu Picchu.)

While other Peruvians and explorers may have visited or farmed near Machu Picchu in the past, they did not know much about or value the jungle-covered ruins until Hiram Bingham and his group uncovered it.  In fact, when he returned after a couple of years, the jungle had grown back over the ruins he had cleared.  With limited background information, Bingham claimed that Machu Picchu was both the beginning and final city of the Incas, but both these conclusions have now been proven wrong.  (He did also "discover" those ruins, but didn't recognize what they were).  So what is Machu Picchu all about?  As the Incas left no written records, no one really knows its story.

While there is evidence of earlier ruins nearby, it appears that the Incas developed this place about 1438 during the expansion of the Inca empire under the great Inca Pachacutec.  As additional excavations of the site and nearby ruins have proceeded, scholars believe Machu Picchu had a relatively small population and may have served important ceremonial, religious, and agricultural functions.  

Although there appeared to have been a palace, observatories, and temples, it never seemed to be anyone's capital, and there is no evidence its buildings were covered in gold and jewels as in Cusco.  Most notable is the rounded Temple of the Sun which has the most perfect stones in Machu Picchu.   Through its window,  the summer equinox sun appears along the straight edge of the massive center stone.  Lower in the city stands the Temple of the Condor with the Intimachay cave--a solar observatory for the winter solstice.  

Further up are the Temple of the Three Windows and the Principal Temple from which one can climb to the Intihuatana--the "Hitching Post of the Sun"--as Incas called this rising mound from which the Incas made astronomical observations and today's travelers observe the vast beauty of this site.  Its magnificence can also be enjoyed from the lone hut at the top of the stone "fountains"; after a rigorous climb to the Temple  of the Moon on Huayna Picchu  (New Peak); or the more gentle hour hike to Intipunku (Sun Gate).   While the origins and purposes of Machu Picchu are uncertain,  when and why this amazing city was abandoned is even more puzzling.  There is no evidence of conquest, warfare, or natural disaster.  Although its habitation extends into the early period of Spanish domination, it was not part of the flight of Incas from Cuzco.  For reasons unknown, the Inca population appeared to have just left  about a hundred years after creating this remarkable site.  Even the memory of its people and purpose seems to have evaporated into the morning mists.

So, like thousands of others, I came to Peru to ascend Machu Picchu and take the pictures of a lifetime (actually it is a descent of almost 2,000 feet from Cusco--but still over 8,000 feet above sea level).  But, as you may recall from my Cusco post, I got sick after the jungle and my camera stopped working, so I had to spend a day in bed and get a new camera quickly.  Still, I managed to get up the next morning, take a bunch of medications, and jump into the van to the train station with wet hair while carrying my shoes, a new camera that had not even come out of the box, and an overnight bag.   Once we figured out the correct train car, we found PeruRail clean, on time, and comfortable as we enjoyed wide window views of the nearby Veronica Glacier and the Urubamba River.  As we ascended from the river valley, we passed Inca ruins and hardy hikers who had chosen the more rigorous four-day trek on the Inca Trail.  My nephew-in-law and his teenage son enjoyed such a climb last March.

Our train excursion ended at the colorful town, Aquas Calientes, nestled in a mountain gorge where, after following a maze through souvenir stands, we caught the bus up the winding road to the ruins.  Jan and Dale had reservations to stay in the town.   The other three of us had decided on a major splurge to spend the night at the only hotel by the ruins--the five-star Sanctuary Lodge.

As we had made our reservations late, the only room available was still more expensive split three ways than I had ever spent on a room before.  But the hotel was all inclusive--we could order anything at the gourmet restaurant anytime.  Alas, all I wanted for lunch was a bowl of chicken soup (it was good) and ginger ale.  For dinner, it was a simple appetizer, and I didn't even make it to breakfast.  But if I couldn't enjoy the food to my heart's desire,  I certainly enjoyed the luxurious bed and down comforter, the full-spray shower, the soothing, scented candle that was brought for us when the beds were turned down, and the aromatic toiletries.

The next morning I did not make a sunrise walk to the Sun Gate with Jan or attempt the rigorous climb of Huayna Picchu with another of our party, but I did manage to meet our guide for a tour of the ruins.  It was a gorgeous  day in one of the most spectacular spaces on earth.  Just to stand there--breathe the air--gaze at the dramatic verdant mountain peaks and deep valleys--marvel at the stone city hanging on the cliff--I was content.

I was weak from barely eating for two days; I fumbled my way through learning the controls on a new camera;  my battery had not fully charged and quit before I did--leaving me without a photo of myself at Machu Picchu (friends supplied the photos of Aquas Calientes).  Yet, I will always carry an internal picture of myself there.  I did not do all I intended or get the most amazing photos ever--but my spirit was filled with wonder and beauty.  I had made my discovery of Machu Picchu.

We returned by bus to Aquas Calientes for a pizza snack (I was finally hungry) and a little souvenir shopping before our train returned to Cusco in the night.

Click below for slideshow:
Machu Picchu

Music:  Ennio Morricone, The Mission (theme),  The Mission
Further Information:  Christopher Heaney, The Story of Hiram Bingham, a Real-Life Indiana Jones,  and the Search for Machu Picchu, 2011
Insight Guides, Peru