We arrived in Cuzco at night, with a taxi into the Plaza de Armas, and saw the cathedrals and churches all lit up. It was very beautiful. But that was as far as the wonder and beauty went.
To my great disappointment I finally had something bad to say about a city in Peru. The culture here in Cusco is one of greed and ripping-off tourists in any way possible. This is not limited to tourist-facing businesses – even the Catholic Church is in on the feeding frenzy of the Walking-Wallets…
We travelled closer and closer to the imperial city of Cuzco, along a similar route to which Inca founder and sun-child Manco Cápac would have walked. After rising from Lake Titicaca he headed west, looking for the ideal place to found his empire. His requirements were simple, the location had to have sufficient fertile surface soil – he would plunge his staff into the ground as he walked, always hitting rock in this barren landscape. Only when he reached the site of Cuzco was the soil abundant enough to settle.
Along this route is Raqchi, site of some pretty unique Inca ruins. These are the best, and to this extent only, surviving ruins that have adobe walls still sitting on a base of Inca rock walls. This was a normal feature in Inca architecture, all tall buildings were built like this, but thanks to the weather, and to the Spanish, little survives today.
Northwest of Puno lies the small town of Pukará. This tiny town has more than 2000 years of rich history. In the hills above the town, buried beneath the earth, is an ancient urban and ceremonial center of the Pukará pre-Inca culture.
Little is known of the culture, the ruins have only recently been excavated and work is still a long way from being completed. Although the site was known about when the Spanish conquered (they built a church over it, and when that was destroyed, dragged stones down from the site to build the new church you see in the photos of the town attached), the site has never been fully looked at by either Peruvian or foreign archaeologists.
This narrow cigar-shaped island has been inhabited for almost 10,000 years, and in that time life has remained mostly the same. The 1000 or so population still farm the ancient terraces and keep alive their traditional customs. There are no cars and no electricity.
The family we stayed with on Taquile was headed by the ever-smiling father, Patricio and his wife Anastasia. Our friend Patricio has several children, I asked him how many and he smiled and said “enough now”. Some of his children were not on the island, the eldest of them were away studying. Hilda, the oldest daughter seen in the photo, was the one who received us and brought us to our temporary home. This is when we first met Patricio. Having rushed home to great us, no easy task at this altitude I promise you, Patricio was completely black. As is the way here, where the extended families and groups of families called ayllus all cooperate and help each other, Patricio had been working hard all morning helping to build his brother-in-law’s new home.
This large, round and completely farm-terraced island is home to a community of farmers and fishermen who live an unspoiled traditional lifestyle. There is no electricity here – they have a generator but can’t afford the fuel.
Some 800 friendly families live on the island most of which are happy to welcome tourists into their homes.
We continued on boat to the island of Amantaní. Amantaní, unlike the Uros, is an island of solid ground, and we would be spending the night there with a local family.
The Uros people have lived for centuries on man-made floating islands on Lake Titicaca. The Uros fled into the lake to escape the attacks of the Colla and Inca cultures. These huge islands are made by hand from totora reeds that grow on the banks and shallower waters of the lake. Today there are more than 40 of these large islands with as many as 8 families living on each one. The islands contain homes, post offices and souvenir shops. Before the 1960’s these people had little contact with the outside world, but since then have grown dependent on tourism.
At the shores of Lake Umayo, a small lake not 20km from Lake Titicaca, still stand the ancient funerary towers of Sillustani. Thought to be built by Aymara-speaking people called the Colla, they could show the origin of Inca architecture – a westward movement and evolution of Tiahuanaco technology. Whatever the case, the chullpas as they are known, stand out beautifully on the landscape of Puno’s bleak antiplano.
The oldest ship on the highest navigable lake in the world, the Yavarí floats on the waters of Titicaca as it has done for nearly 150 years.
Built in England in 1862, it comprises of 2,766 pieces that arrive in Arica – then southern Peru – to begin the long journey by hundreds of mules to Lake Titicaca to be reassembled.
The Yavarí was discovered in a state of disrepair over a decade ago by a British woman from a family with a maritime background named Meriel Larken. On learning the ship’s history she founded The YAVARI Project and charity to restore it. Work is still under way but progressing.
Puno is a rather bleak former mining city that hugs the shores of Lake Titicaca. It is believed that from here, Manco Cápac – the first Inca king and direct descendent of the Sun – rose from the lake with his sister to found the Inca Empire.
The people here are both Aymara and Quechua, the Aymaras concentrated mostly to the south and east and Quechuas to the north and west.
The small town of Maca also tries to make the most of tourists and their cameras. I had no problems handing over 1 sol for these pictures of an eagle and this little girl.
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