The Inca Express to Cusco

After returning from staying on the islands in Lake Titicaca we spent one more night in Puno and then took the "Inca Express" bus to Cusco. This bus is a special tourist experience and well worth the money. It makes stops along the way to see some pre Inca and Inca ruins as well as some Colonial churches.
An excellent buffet lunch is provided mid way. Of course there are multiple opportunities for shopping as well. Women in native dress are at every stop in numbers with a variety of hand made souvenirs. I was a goner for the toy dolls and llamas for example.

We were up early that morning as we had taxis ordered for 7AM to take us to the bus stop. As usual the staff downstairs at the Don Julio Hostal in Puno were totally disorganized. We had ordered breakfast the night before specifying the time. Still one plate at a time came out (and one cup
of coffee, even worse), so the last two people had to share one set of eggs and bread. This place ranks way down on our list of hotels (see future blog entry on this subject).
The bus was very comfortable with an english speaking guide and a stewardess. Our first stop was Pucara; 107 kilometers from Puno where we visited a small museum with a few of teh best pieces from the ceremonial center of the Pucara people (300BC - 300AD), one of Titicaca's earliest civilizations, which show clear links to the Chavin culture (the time line in the photo shows world historical events and Peruvian civilizations existing at the same time). This connection with the larger Chavin culture is shown in the Decapitator deity otherwise known as "degollador", represented in the museum with a large statue in very good condition and several others
in fragments. Across the street was a lovely Colonial church, Iglesia Pinon de Pucara (an interior shot is shown here).
Next was the highest point of our trip, La Raya (4321 meters) where the snow capped mountains competed with the vendors for beauty.
We were already for lunch by this time and stopped in Sicuani for a great meal in a sunlit pretty restaurant with courtyard seating. Look for a future blog entry on food in Peru - it's excellent! More to come on this one, but I'm off to the airport.

Cusco, the Inca Capital

Cusco is a vibrant pulsating city, especially in June. This is the time of the Winter Solstice celebration and their are parades and competitions every day in the city. At night groups of men, women and children are practicing their numbers everywhere. In fact, everywhere we went in Peru there was a fiesta or celebration most nights. We spent three nights before heading out on the Inca Trail there and then three nights after returning. We would have loved to have stayed longer. Walking around either by day or night is such fun and feels very safe. There is so much going on!
The vendors are both a plus and an annoyance. Their wares and tradional clothing are all colorful and fascinating - and make for great photos, but their persistence can be very annoying. No Gracias! is a constant refrain! Children are often used to tug at your heartstrings and that works all too often.

We stayed in three different hostals there. We arrived without a reservation and were unable to get into "". So we spent one night at the Amaru Hostal and the next two at the San Blas Hostal where the others were staying. The last three nights we had reservations made weeks earlier at the Monte Horeb Hostal. I´ll have a seperate blog entry on hostal reviews later.

Three are thousands of restaurants everywhere and we did have some good meals. Some of the best deals were away from the tourist areas and in local places. A "menu del dia" at one of these costs around $2.50 and includes soup or salad, a main dish and a drink or dessert.

Shopping occupied us all. We bought gifts for all our families and sometimes ourselves. There is a huge variety everywhere, although tremendous duplication for sure. Woven fabrics were one of my favorites and we bought several, one a wedding present for our good friends Ted and Karen Martin´s daughter Mandy, who is getting married in July.

We saw many weavers at their looms throughout Peru but really fell in love with the Artisan´s Cooperative in Cusco where they used all natural dyes in their alpaca and wool yarns. The runners, squares and blankets were works of art. They were giving demonstations in the Inca Museum´s courtyard, shown here.

Just one of these pieces takes months of hard work. Happily here they get a fair share of the profits for a change.

Winter Solstice Festivals in Cusco

The whole month of June in Cusco is Festival Time! Every day we saw huge parades and demonstrations of native dances in the square. Thousands of people every day were in traditional costume and lined up for eight or nine blocks waiting for another parade to start. And that was just the participants. Thousands more were seated in the square to watch! Honestly! We walked up and down saying hello to people and taking pictures. Everyone was having a good time. In between the parades hundreds of cleaning workers in blue outfits swept up to get ready for the next event. The costumes were really beautiful and very elaborate. People of every age were represented.

Some of the groups were representing villages outside the city and others featured "local products", such as the potatoe farmers. A charming little girl stood proudly atop a wagon of potatoes among a group of proud mothers (see below right). Their were only a few floats and not very elaborate but the pretty young women on top looked very proud to be there (below left).

On the whole there were more women and children than men, but the men there were looking delighted! I met a whole group of them, shaking hands and getting introductions (below right). Unfortunately we didn´t get to see the presentations in the square in
front of the judges. This was at our dinner time (we ate hours before the people of Cusco, around 6:30 - this was a habit picked up on our trekking we never got rid of) so all our time seeing this was while they waited to perform, lining up for eight long blocks. No one seemed anxious or annoyed though. Everyone socialized or just sat patiently. I´m really sorry about how dark these pictures look in this entry. In my photo program they look great, so I don´t know what´s the matter. This fellow on the left is wearing a face mask but you can´t see it here. He looks quite scary!