CUZCO, PERU

                                  A High Andean City

     Flying over the Andes, old Inca roads were easily visible and seemed to be all over the mountains. After deplaning we all walked to the terminal at our normal pace when suddenly everyone noticeably slowed down.  Ah, the altitude! (11,444-feet) While we waited for luggage to be unloaded some Peruvian musicians entertained us, and that gave us a chance to catch our breath.

     The cobblestone streets in Cuzco are hilly, very narrow and one way. Most streets had narrow stepped sidewalks. Because of the elevation it is not uncommon for visitors to suffer a bit of altitude sickness, known as soroche. We were greeted at the hotel and immediately offered a cup of mate de coca or coca tea which tasted like most any other herbal tea. We drank a lot of it while in country and had no problem with the altitude.

     Cuzco was originally laid out roughly in the shape of a puma (jaguar). Originally the city was named Saca Huma or head of puma. Founded in the 11^th century its age-old culture was very different from the way of life in the 20th century. Cuzco is now the hub of South American travel.  It’s difficult to get lost in Cuzco, as the city spirals out like wheel spokes from the Plaza de Armas, but it is very easy to get tired, because of the altitude and the steep streets. I never could make it uphill to the hotel without really gasping for air and taking baby steps!  It is here that Inca royals buried earth from every region they ruled as a way of symbolically uniting their Empire.

     The cobblestone city was once the center of the Inca Empire. Nestled in the Andes, the city has a sophisticated water system and miles and miles of roads.  The Incas believed Cuzco was the source of all life.  Inca myth says children of the Gods settled here to provide light and culture to a dark world. Cuzco remained the supreme city of the Inca Empire for over 200 years. It is the archaeological capitol of South America, a cultural treasure of humanity.

    Cuzco has inter-mingled the cultures of native Quechua Indian, conquering colonial Spanish, and modern Mestizo. Most of the city’s 330,000 people are Quechua. Cuzco, rich in history, tradition, and legend, is the continent’s oldest continually inhabited city.

    After settling into our hotel we walked down to the Plaza de Armas—most Latin and South American cities have such a place that serves the same purpose as our Texas courthouse squares. The plaza showcases a church in many Spanish cities. We enjoyed a cup of tea on a balcony overlooking the plaza. There was some sort of a celebration going on so we had a great viewing spot to watch the parade. Later on the plaza

Church on Plaza (Square)

we enjoyed a conversation with some 11-12 year old shoe shine boys who wanted to practice their English. At a store near the plaza I found some commercially packaged coca tea bags which I bought home to share with friends.

    The plaza seems to be a magnet for hawkers, in this case many of them were children and some were very insistent. The plaza, half the size today that it was in Inca times, is framed by the Cathedral and the La Compania, two of the city’s several colonial churches. Construction of the cathedral began in 1550 and took nearly a hundred years to complete. In the center of the Plaza flies the red and white Peruvian flag and beside it the rainbow flag of the Incas. Festivals take place in the Plaza.

     The walkable but hilly city has several museums. Although days are warm and sunny, the temperature really drops about 5:00 PM when the sun starts to go down.

Cuzco is a fascinating city. We visited on each end of our trail hike and thouroughly enjoyed our stays in this charming city.

PERU

                      Lots of History to Learn

     The elevations of Peru and Bolivia are the highest in the Americas, as well as home to the most advanced pre-Columbian civilization.

      Peru is South America’s third largest country, and is five times the size of Great Britain. Ecuador and Columbia border Peru on the north, Brazil and Bolivia on the east, Chili on the south, and the Pacific Ocean borders the west. The country has three distinct geographical regions: a narrow coastal belt, the Andean Mountain Range, and the Amazon Basin and rain forest. The Amazon River, east of the Andean Range, and the world’s widest river, serves as a jungle basin housing sixty percent of the country’s landscape, but only 5% of the population.

The Andes with its green valleys, snow-capped peaks, rivers, and hidden ruins run through the country like a spine separating the desert from the jungle.  One half of Peru’s population live in the Andes

Indian (Quechua, pronounced ketch-u-wa) makes up 54% of the population, Mestizo (Indian and European mix) makes up 32% of the population, Spanish 12% and 2% are Black or Asian. Ninety percent of the population professes to be Catholic. Agriculture employs 33% of the population, another 27% are in the service industry, and the rest work in mining, and manufacturing.

     The country has a bi-cultural society, with one sector being the rich white folk, and the other the poor peasant, translated Indian or indigenous people (campesinos). However, with the increasing tourist industry Peru is beginning to have a middle class.

HISTORY       

      After Columbus’s landfall in 1492, the Spanish led a rapid expansion and conquered the Caribbean Islands and the Aztec and Mayan cultures of Mexico and Central America. By 1520 the Spanish were ready for South America.

       In 1532 the Spanish invaded Peru collapsing the Inca Empire. The Spanish horses and guns were no match for Incas on foot. The first Spanish stronghold in Peru, established by Francisco Pizarro, was called San Miguel de Piura, and then the Spanish moved into the heart of the Inca Empire. By destroying buildings and looting the gold and other treasures, the Spaniards in effect destroyed all historical records. However, there were no written records at that time, as the Incas had no written language.     

       After the Spanish invasion, churches replaced the destroyed Inca temples in Cuzco. By 1700 the Spanish colonial system was well established. In the 16^th and 17^th centuries the Spanish resettled many Andeans in towns where they were forced to work for Spanish landowners. They were converted to Catholicism, and churches were built over sacred Inca sites. In spite of centuries of repression ayni survived and the Reformation Act of 1975 returned much land to the indigenous people.

       By the 19^th century the Latin American colonies were dissatisfied with their lack of freedom and the high taxation imposed by Spain, and in 1824 Peru became independent.

        In 1866 a brief war broke out between Peru and Spain which Peru won. A bit longer war with Chili over the nitrate rich fields of the northern Atacama Desert took place 1879-83. Chili won that one. There was a brief border dispute with Ecuador in 1941. The last 60 years the government has been military dictatorships with occasional coups. The biggest problem in recent years has been inflation.