Djurdjevic - Personal Photos

10 Feb 2010

Updated Feb 10, 2010

Back in Peru for Annual Pilgrimage...

...this time, with Elizabeth

FROM CUSCO, PERU, Jan 27 - Since we had an early morning bus ride scheduled from Cusco to Puno for Thursday, Jan 28, we decided to return to Cusco a day early and spend the night there rather than in Urubamba. This also gave us a chance to get a refund for our unused train tickets to Machu Picchu. Liz, our Urubamba hotel manager, and her son Kendi were driving us.

As we left Urubamba, we had one final look at the flooded area around the bridge. It looked much better. The water level had subsided considerably since yesterday. I felt that collective prayers were working...

Along the way, the Creator answered another prayer... for us, especially Elizabeth, to see some of Andes' magnificent mountain peaks. Until this morning, they had been hidden in clouds. During the ride to Cusco, I felt as if the Creator and the Apus were gradually lifting the veil around the Holy Mountains, as if bidding us a farewell.

The weather in Cusco was warm, dry and sunny (left). The big white Jesus cross was glistening next to Saqsaywaman hill over Cusco (middle). We tried to visit the Korikancha (Golden Temple - right) museum, just off Avenida el Sol, but found it closed... till March.

After checking into our Cusco hotel, Kendi picked us up and drove us to Tipon, another famous ancient Inca site south of Cusco. We were supposed to go there on our first day in Cusco, when Elizabeth was struck down by altitude sickness. So we were now making up for it. It was interesting to see how in just two days Cusco can morph from a rain-soaked muddy place, to desert-like dust and smog (left). Along the way, we still saw some evidence of flooding, as well as a work brigade in the town of Tipon digging trenches along the main road to prevent erosion in case of additional rain.

The long drive to the Tipon Inca site up a twisted dirt road on the back side of Pachatusan mountain was scenic in many ways. But when we got there, at a height of over 12,000 feet, we were rewarded with some wonderful views.

Even at that elevation, the weather was warm. So we stripped off our extra layers as we climbed up the mountain to the natural springs which the Incas still consider holy water. It was my second visit to Tipon, so I acted as sort of a tour guide for Elizabeth. I pointed out how great the ancient Incas were as engineers. They built that water canal in the middle left shot at a precise 28° degree angle down the mountain, so that not a drop of water was wasted. Furthermore, they used the water pressure as an inverse siphon, forcing the water to shoot up a narrow spout like a geyser (also see Visit to Tipon, Return Home, June 11-12, 2009).

We also had a chuckle over that English language translation of a sign posted on one of the trails. "Don't CLINP over the walls, hear?!" :-) And we met a friendly little centipede, no more than a couple of inches in length. It was an innocuous contrast to the nasty and venomous 7-inchers that we have seen on our property in Hawaii. Guess Elizabeth was trying to strike a pose of a female saint (in the shape of a cross) next to that holy water spring? :-)

On our way back through the village of Tipon, we stopped at a few places to hand the children some candy or trail mix. That's a tradition I started two years ago on my first visit to Peru. We kept it up throughout this trip, too. And no, the pigs did not get any candy (right shot).

Speaking of pigs, I learned last year that Tipon is famous for its Guiney pig restaurants (Cuierias, from Cui - guiney pig in Quechua). And we learned from his Mom that Kendi, our driver, loves them. So I suggested we stop at a restaurant here and we buy him a Cui lunch. Kendi was reluctant at first but then relented. The above shots were taken at that open air restaurant.

You can see the Guiney pigs (Cui) being roasted in an oven much the same way the Italians cook their pizzas (left). They are considered a delicacy in Peru. There is an herbal stuffing inside the carcass of the animal (middle) that gives it a delicious flavor. Elizabeth and I each tasted a little piece of the meat, and let Kendi enjoy the rest. I had to twist Elizabeth's arm to do it, but later on, she was telling everyone about it as if she had eaten the whole pig. :-) So Cui for Elizabeth!

Her reward for her bravery came later that evening when she found a ladies' Inca leather hat at a Cusco hole-in-the-wall souvenir shop. We had been looking for something like that all over town. She also bought some orange pants from the same merchant that she said were fashionable. Indeed, I did see many younger people wearing pants like that around Cusco, though not orange. To me, they looked like something a clown would wear. But when Elizabeth dressed up for dinner wearing her Princeton orange jacket on top of her new pants, I thought she looked like a con. So I asked her jokingly, "and what prison in Arizona have you been released from, Madam?" :-) She quickly unzipped her jacket so that her black shirt would show. But it was the new hat that saved the day. I don't think that's standard issue for Arizona convicts. The Tumi bedspread at our hotel room also seemed to be chuckling before tucking us in for the night.

Somewhere along our travels today, Elizabeth also took a picture of that interesting circular cobblestone street design. Makes you dizzy, doesn't it?