Back to Cusco

Made it back to Cusco last night from the tourist mecca of the world Machu Picchu. Cusco was once the foremost city of the Inca Empire and now is known as the archaeological capital of the Americas as well as the continent's oldest continuously inhabited city. Massive Inca built walls line the city's central streets and form the foundations of both colonial and modern buildings. The Incas conceived their city of Cusco in the shape of a puma.

Legend tells that in the 12th century, the first Inca, Manco Capac the son of the sun, was charged by Inti the sun god to find 'qosq'o' or the naval of the earth, a spot where he could plunge a golden rod into the ground until it disappeared. When Manco finally located the spot, he founded the city that was to become the thriving capital of the Americas' greatest empire. The area Manco founded was also occupied by other cultures for several centuries before the rise of the Incas.

I have a couple of days in Cusco before heading back to Lima. Spent the day with Edwin's family at their school. Independence happens here on July 28-29 and is celebrated nationwide. They start celebrating early here with a school program. Children dressed up in the traditional clothing of various Peruvian regions and performed the local dances.

Machu Picchu

I had another day here in Aguas Calientes and Machu Picchu. To avoid feeling like cow lost in the herd I decided to wake up early and start hiking from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu at 4:00 am instead of taking the bus. The bus ride from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu takes about 20 minutes meandering through numberous switchbacks. The hike in the morning was spectacular, I wasn't alone though, which isn't surprising given the number of humans tromping through this area. As I approached the entrance to Machu Picchu the sun crested over the ridgetops its rays shining onto the ruins of Machu Picchu (MP). Aguas Calinetes is at 6561 feet much lower than Cusco (12,000 feet), making the hiking and breathing easy, it only took 50 minutes to reach Machu Picchu. Once at the top I decided to hike up Huayna Picchu at the back of the ruins. Huayna Picchu translates as 'young peak,' but 'picchu' with the correct pronunciation, refers to the wad in the cheek of a coca-chewer.

Some basic facts on Machu Picchu:
Machu Picchu is probably the most familiar symbol of the Inca Empire. Since 1983 the site has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and has been the subject of concern about damage caused by tourism. It is thought that the city was built by the Sapa Inca Pachacuti, starting in about 1440, and was inhabited until the Spanish conquest of Peru in 1532. Archaeological evidence (together with recent work on early colonial documents) shows that Machu Picchu was not a conventional city, but a country retreat town for Inca nobility (similar to the Roman villas). The site has a large palace and temples to Inca deities around a courtyard, with other buildings for support staff. It is estimated that a maximum of only about 750 people resided in Machu Picchu at any one time, and probably only a small fraction of that number lived in the town during the rainy season and when none of the nobility were visiting. It is thought that the site was chosen for its unique location and geological features. It is said that the silhouette of the mountain range behind Machu Picchu represents the face of the Inca looking upward towards the sky, with the largest peak, Huayna Picchu (meaning Young Peak), representing his nose. The peak is also known as the "hitching post of the sun." In 1913, the site received significant publicity after the National Geographic Society devoted their entire April 1913 issue to Machu Picchu.

Feeling like a Cow

Left Cusco early this morning on a bus to Ollanytambo and then a 2 hour train ride to Aguas Callientes, a town nestled in the deep valley below Machu Picchu, enclosed by towering walls of stone and cloud forest. There is a train that runs from Cusco to Aguas Callientes but it was booked months in advanced. I had read that approximately 1,500 to 2,000 tourists visit Machu Picchu daily, so I was a bit hesitant to come here but it is the best-known and allegedly the most spectacular archaeological site on the continent. Definitley happy with the decision to avoid hiking the Inca Trail which faces significant environmental threats due to the vast numbers of tourists using the trail. UNESCO warned that the site could not support more than 200 to 500 visitors per day without sustaining damage.

I took Edwin's recommendation and had him book the Machu Picchu tour for me, but I felt somewhat like a cow today, being herded from one place to the next during the tour. Definitely not use to the organizied tours, a bit of culture shock after living with weavers up in the Andes and only speaking Spanish.

Shaman Ceremonies

In the Andes, 1st August represents the Andean New Year. During the month of August, many Peruvian families make “pagos” or payments to Pachamama, or Mother Earth. These pagos are done in the family home and a Shaman, Paco or Brujo (witch) is invited to assist with the ceremony. The Pagos are usually done by the parents and adult members of the family. For the pago, coca leaves, sweets, incense, dried fetuses of animals, cigarettes and wine are collected. During the pago, the Paco will drink wine, then give an offering to Pachamama, he will also, smoke, and often a cigarette will be left burning for the Apus or Gods. Sometimes, after the ceremony, all the items are burnt and then offered to the Pachamama, being buried either in the house or outside. During my time up in Mucmoca Remigio conducted a similar ceremony.

Adios Mucmoca

I felt a bit melancholy leaving Mucmoca, partly because I knew I would probably never see these people again. We packed up early and headed down the valley back to the school to pick up the disposable cameras and drawing the students created to do the exchange with my school.

The students were very excited when I arrived and asked when they would get their developed photos. I spent some time in the classroom explaining how school is not in session right now because it is summer up in the northern hemisphere. While the teachers were organizing the drawings and trying to find the cameras the kids asked me questions about where I live and what we eat. They asked if we eat cuy (guinea pig) and I tried to explain that we have them as pets. The students displayed some of their handicrafts and I purchased a few items to take home and share with my students. Outside the school workers were busy making adobe bricks as they are building an addition to the school. Last week we had made arrangements with the driver who took us from Pitumarca to the school to pick us up today. He showed up promplty and I said my goodbyes. Ideally I would like to set up some sort of art/penpal exchange between the Larcomarca school and my school.

The drive back to Cusco was a bit frightening, somewhat like being in a video game dodging traffic, dogs and people. Arrived safely back to Edwin's and started planning for the next segment of my trip.

Warp and Weft

Today I tried to weave using the back strap loom. Quite challenging. I have developed a new appreciation for this art form.

Remigion and his mother Bascillia use a backstrap loom, a series of shaped sticks and ties on which a continuous warp and string heddles are used to produce a cloth with four finished edges. Weavers in this area attach the loom to a belt they wear, and tie the other end to an immovable object. They also use a four-staked loom. Backstrap weaving using a variety of techniques and designs can produce detailed and complex patterned cloth.

Most ancient fabrics in Central and South America were woven on a simple backstrap loom, of a type still in use throughout these areas. Other looms used in Peru are the vertical frame loom, and the horizontal loom fixed to the ground with stakes.
The width of the fabric woven on the backstrap loom does not exceed the distance across which the weaver could pass a shuttle from hand to hand. Two pieces of this uncut width with four selvedges could be sewn together to produce a larger cloth. Beginning at one end of the loom, the fabric is woven a short distance, then the loom is turned and the weaving started at the other end. As the warp was filled, the shed rod and heddles became ineffective, and the final weft insertion had to be done with a needle.

A lone duck

They were always together, the duck pair. Along the stream, strolling, picking through the rubbage to find a tasty morsel. Totally content, fat and happy, this inseparable acquainted couple.

My last day in Mucmoca Valley seemed to take years to arrive, but suddenly it was here. Remigio's sister invited me to have duck with them for my last supper. I thanked her and then glanced at the 2 ducks. Hmmm, duck, she meant these ducks, the happy couple. Only one duck? Wouldn't it be best to kill them both? Or perhaps ducks don't have much emotional awareness and one will not notice if the other has disappeared? Doubt that.

She chose the speckled duck. A woven blanket was put up at the gate to prevent the white duck from getting out. No sounds came from behind the woven blanket, only the white duck's loud nervous frantic quacking was audible. This pair had never been separated and abruptly they were disunited. The white duck continued to quack as if it was yelling the speckled duck's name over and over again. The white duck raced around the house searching for her best friend.

I thought of Nikita, the day she was taken down by the mountain lion. She just disappeared. Not knowing what had happened to her, I felt like the white duck, yelling for her, calling her name over and over again, crying.

Presumably Felipe, Remigio's nephew, owned the ducks. He was at school during the slaughter. Remigio mentioned Felipe would be very upset to learn that his duck had been killed. I watched Felipe enter the gate, he had walked by the lone white duck, and looked bewildered. Walked into the house lifted the lid to the pot on the stove and the crying began. He asked his mother, "why, why didn't you kill both of them, or not kill any at all?"

Tomorrow, Remigio's family will have duck again for dinner.

Suenos de Nikita

The dog lying on its side, it looked like fresh mt. lion kill, but as I got closer it appeared as if she was breathing. She was. I carried her over my shoulder crying, this was not Nikita it was a black dog dying on my shoulder as I carried her back up the mountain to the house where the sunshines daily. As I walked another dog appeared it, a young shepard. I placed the black dog on the ground, it had stopped breathing. The shepard pup approached and licked my face and my tears away.

Breakfast with guinea pigs

Last night I tossed and turned my body tempture fluctuated from being extremely cold to sweating. By morning I felt like I was given a new body, although my stomach was not ready to take in the alpaca soup with various floating organs. My foot had swollen and it was difficult to get my hiking boot back on.

Guinea pigs were running around the house along with the chickens, cats and dogs. The view from the house is quite impressive, took some morning photos of Remigio and his family dressed in traditional clothing and then we packed up to hike back over to Bacillia's home in the next valley. At our hightest point we reached 16,000 feet and hiked down crossing through snow and scree. Two hours later we arrived back to Bacillia's house.

Mal Viento

Hiked back down Mucmoca Valley to catch a bus, actually a truck, to find some "tejidos" (textile weaving) at the local Sunday market at the end of the lower valley. The terrifying ride up many switchbacks and along and near cliff edges took about one hour. There were about 50 people crammed in the back of the truck who were picked along the route through the valley and were all headed to the market to sell or trade goods. Remigio and I got off the bus early in order to walk and take some photos of Ausangate Peak, which towers to 20,906 feet. The Incas worshipped mountains, and to them, Apu Ausangate was the reserve of the gods ("apu" means spirit). Ausangate is the highest mountain in the Cordillera Vilcanota, towering in the southeast sky from the city of Cuzco. It is a long, rugged mountain, with two high peaks rising from its jagged summit crest. The lower peak rises just east of the high peak, and is separated by a small saddle.

After a 20 minute walk we arrived to the town and checked out the market. Not much was for sale mostly food. We ate some lunch from a local merchant which I regret doing now. It began to rain and Remigio put out the word that I was looking for some weaving. We visited a few homes of local weavers but found nothing. The truck sounded its horn and we had to run to catch it. Remigio asked the driver to drop us off midway down the valley. We then hiked up the valley to where his younger sister lives. I started feeling really odd at about 14,700 feet and began to hyperventilate. I don't think it was the altitude considering I was just up at that elevation. My broken foot was swelling up and quite painful. Starting to think this trip to Peru 3 weeks after I broke my foot was a huge mistake. When we arrived to his sister's house I nearly collapsed. I lay on the bed trying to sleep but my entire body began trembling every 30 seconds beyond control. Felt like I had thorns in my stomach I just could not stop shaking. Was it that lunch? The altitude? I tried to meditate and concentrate on my breath and that seemed to increase the time between trembles. Guinea pigs were running back and forth acorss the dirt floor. It was also somewhat terrifying not knowing what was happening to my body. Remigio made me some mate de coca and I tried to sleep again. I was in my sleeping bag covered with 3 alpaca blankets and still felt cold. About an hour later Remigio and his brother-in-law told me to take my feet out of my sleeping bag so that they could hold burning medicinal herbs under my feet. Within 10 minutes the trembles subsided and I was sound asleep. I will never know for sure if it was the medicinal herbs that cured my sickness or just time, but I'd like to believe it was the herbs. Much later Remigio offered me some Alpaca guts, but I just couldn't stomach them. I fell into a deep sleep and didn't wake until morning. Remigio attributed my sickness to the ghosts that live in the valley and the mal viento "bad wind."

Global Warming Signs

Every morning I wake to view La Brayani mountain rising up from the Mucmoca Valley at 5600 meters or 18,372 feet. 20 years ago Brayani Mountain was covered with snow and glacial ice, but today only thin ribbons of snow remain. After a weaving session I hiked up with Remigio and his uncle to gather firewood. We walked across the soft, soggy, green land to reach the saddle which provided views of two large lagoons. Signs of volcanic activity are evident in the lava rock and clear blue lagoons. The remaining snow on La Brayani and surrounding mountains melts down and flows into the lagoon and then cuts through the valley in the form of a stream. People here predict that within 20 years there will no longer be water available in the Mucmoca Valley due to the rapid melting of the snow and lack of snowfall. We reached the pass at 15,520 feet, even Remigio and his uncle were breathing heavily, which made me feel better about my labored breath. Saw some vizcacha running around the highland talus slopes, they look like a cross between a rabbit and giant squirrel or house cat.

New Quechua words learned today:
pakarincama = hasta manana or see you tomorrow
himinaya = hola or hello
orpillay = gracias or thank you.

Backstrap Weaving

When Remigio and his mother Bascillia are ready to weave, they use a backstrap loom, a series of shaped sticks and ties on which a continuous warp and string heddles are used to produce a cloth with four finished edges. Weavers in the Cusco area attach the loom to a belt they wear, and tie the other end to an immovable object. They also use a four-staked loom. Backstrap weaving using a variety of techniques and designs can produce detailed and complex patterned cloth.

Most ancient fabrics in Central and South America were woven on a simple backstrap loom, of a type still in use throughout these areas. Other looms used in Peru are the vertical frame loom, and the horizontal loom fixed to the ground with stakes.
The width of the fabric woven on the backstrap loom does not exceed the distance across which the weaver could pass a shuttle from hand to hand. Two pieces of this uncut width with four selvedges could be sewn together to produce a larger cloth. Beginning at one end of the loom, the fabric is woven a short distance, then the loom is turned and the weaving started at the other end. As the warp was filled, the shed rod and heddles became ineffective, and the final weft insertion had to be done with a needle.