Yesterday we traveled from Lima to Cusco. Cusco is located in the Andes mountains, at roughly 11,000 feet. We are scheduled to spend a couple days in Cusco, mainly to acclimate to the high altitude. I definitely feel the altitude, but Christina far worse negative effects from the high altitude than I did. She took oxygen a few times, and couldn’t sleep because her breathing was so labored. She actually missed our first excursion in the area. I was ready to stay with her and take her to the hospital, but she said she was feeling better. I’m relieved to say that she has continued to feel better throughout the day. Machu Picchu is at a lower elevation than Cusco, so we think she will handle it better.
Driving around yesterday and today, I saw lots of hand-painted signs on walls and buildings. Most had the “2018” written on them. I found out they are political propaganda/advertisements. Here in Peru there are 21 political parties. The citizens are required by law to vote, and are fined if they do not. The fines are strictly enforced: If you owe one of these fines, you cannot renew a driver’s license, and you cannot open a bank account. Coming from the United States where so few people vote, I can appreciate the benefit of this. But at the same time, I can’t help but see the poverty and wonder how difficult it is to get to the polling places.
Another thing I saw was numbers carved into the sides of hills. Well, maybe “landscaped into the sides of the hills” is a better way of describing it. For example, “711.” I was told these numbers often refer to different schools. However, the politicians have adopted this technique of branding the hills with messages for their own advertisements.
I walked past a chocolate shop in a market…. which means I went into the chocolate shop and bought a few things. I have chocolate-covered yuca and chocolate-covered coca leaves. I also got chocolate with Incan corn inside it. I’m going to try to save these until I get home to share with friends. We’ll see if I can make them last that long.
Many structures here have trapezoid-shaped windows, which is from the Incan influence in the region. The trapezoid is supposed to offer better structural support than the typical square window. Another technique of Incan building is the method of carefully fitting the stones together like jigsaw puzzles, without mortar. When the Spanish came and built their structures with adobe bricks and plaster, they did not withstand earthquakes and elements the way the Incans’ architecture did.
The highlight of the day was the ruins at Ollantaytambo. These are also Incan ruins, just slightly less of a tourist destination than Machu Picchu. It is the site of the Sun Temple and the Water Temple. (The Incans worshipped elements of the natural world.) There are storage structures carved into the sides of the mountains in which the Incans stored their grain. While we didn’t ascend to those, we did climb the 200 steps to reach the Sun Temple, which is a smooth facade of six stones. I really felt the elevation while climbing these stairs. I’m not in bad shape, and I walk up and down stairs all the time back home. Here, I was exhausted after walking up 20 steps, and had to stop to rest frequently. Of course, the view was worth the ascent. (The view from the top of any mountain I’ve ever been to has always been worth getting to the top.)