45. Pisac

Blog entries

young boy playing conch in the village elders procession in Pisac

A small village at the beginning of the Sacred Valley, Pisac has an impressive Inca fort, and lots of colourful people in the traditional as well as the alternative sense.

the small vegetable market area

and some of the women sellers

village woman in traditional cloths and shopping bag

bowler hat

and another one

men, too, have dressed up

but women steal the show

busily eating something

or just having fun

Our guidebook says that during the week Pisco is a small sleepy village in the Valle Sagrado, the Sacred Valley, but on Sundays the place comes to live thanks to the huge, colourful market, that attracts people from villages in the wide surroundings. So we have planned our travels such that we are in Pisac on Sunday morning. Where we find most of the Plaza de Armas given over to souvenir stalls, and only a small part set aside for some women selling fruits and vegetables. Very disappointing, although some of the women do sport traditional dress, which is colourful indeed.

and elders they look, in front of the church

serious and solemn

with hat and leader’s staff

However, at around 11 am a group of men and boys, also traditionally dressed, the boys playing the conch, the men wearing a staff symbolizing their authority, march through town, on their way to the church. This is a weekly ritual – not sure how much focus on tourists there is, they do collect donations – where the leaders of the indigenous villages come together for mass in Quechua, the local Indian language. They line up in front of the church for a very long time, and the interest of the tourists quickly disappears again.

procession of village elders, preceded by conch playing boys

playing they do

 

steep terraces below the Pisac fort

military buildings in the back

a former residential area

more buildings

and a temple, recognisable from its perfect stone wall

irrigation system

Luckily, Pisac also has extensive Inca ruins – oeps, archaeological sites, I mean. We have ourselves dropped at the top, where we enter the site through several military buildings, the highest of which is at around 3400 m. In the opposite mountain side are the graves of around 1500 Incas, in man-made caves and closed-off alcoves, all severely robbed – and off-limits to tourists. Over the next four hours, or so, we walk down to the village again, which is 400 meters lower, passing many other Inca structures, and looking out over extensive Inca terraces, which were watered by an intricate irrigation system, some of which is still operational. Lots of exotic plants and flowers line the way, too, and slow our progress. At one point the path is closed, which would have forced us to backtrack quite a bit, but with some goodwill – mostly from ourselves – we manage to bypass the obstruction and continue our walk. A relief from the busy Cusco experience, as except in the upper area, there are not that many tourists here. Especially past the obstruction.

and some distant defense works

some fauna along the way

and a beautiful flower

not alone in the field

Back down in the village, we actually regret that we need to move on the next day. Pisac is a lovely place, cobbled streets and all, and has a colourful crowd. Not only the local market women, but there is also a large contingent of foreigners, apparently living here, who, let’s say, have embraced the local culture in their own way. We would have called them hippies, in the past; there are special sessions, magic assemblies, and quite a lot of hallucinogens being used, the mildest ones derived from the San Pedro cactus leaves according to, no doubt, ancient Inca recipes. No need to mention that the crown is dressed appropriately, some with rainbow-coloured hair, others with long, flowing dresses, feathers and flowers in their hair. Afterall, Pisac is at the beginning of what the Incas called the Sacred Valley, although presumably for other reasons. I wonder what the Peruvians make of this.

narrow Pisac street

and colourful garden inhabitant

The need to move on – after all, we haven’t got all the time of the world! – means that we, unfortunately, miss much of the magic.

next: Urubamba

the rainbow fixation of the hippies is based on something real, afterall

44. Cusco

Blog entries

the door of the cathedral in Cusco

Despite its sometimes overbearing tourist industry, Cusco is a charming town, with an authentic atmosphere and some great historical buildings, including the Inca fort Saqsaywaman.

Having been in mostly low-key towns in Peru, so far – even Nasca wasn’t much of a tourist trap, despite its famous ‘lines’ – Cusco comes as a shock. This is where each and every tourist to Peru gets to, in anticipation of a visit to the famed Inca temple complex of Machu Picchu and perhaps some of the several other Inca ruins – no, archaeological sites – in the surroundings. The taxi driver tries to overcharge us, the hotel is way overpriced. Endless touts offer their restaurants, or their massages, or their shops that sell unique baby-alpaca shawls at what they claim to be rock-bottom prices. Others offer hats, or sunglasses, or paintings, or keyrings, or any other tourist bric-a-brac, ‘nowhere cheaper than from me’; all those things you don’t really want, or need. But this is what it is, this is tourist country.

narrow cobble stone streets

going up and down, quite a bit

wooden balconies

sometimes brightly painted

or almost falling apart

one of the arcades around the plaza

and the Plaza de Armas itself

nicely lit at night

the massive cathedral at the plaza

and the competing Ingesia de Compania Jesus

inside very baroque, like most churches where you are not allowed to take pictures

the Dominican convent, built on Inca foundations

one of the cupolas of the convent

and inside, remaining Inca quarters

the garden outside the convent

and the galleries inside

But Cusco is also a wonderful city. Lots of narrow cobbled streets, lined with adobe houses, wooden balconies, courtyards. The biggest Plaza we have encountered so far, with old colonial-era buildings with long arcades and balconies surrounding it. This is where Hernando Pizarro, half-brother of Francisco, was holed up with his fellow conquistadores during the siege of Manco Inca that was almost successful. A number of beautiful churches – the large, cold but impressive cathedral and the sumptuous, baroque Iglesia de la Compania de Jesus – have been constructed afterwards, the oldest dating from 1538, and rebuilt after devastating earthquakes in 1650 and 1950. No pictures allowed inside the church, unfortunately, because they are afraid of unscrupulous collectors ordering their pieces from photos. A Dominican convent has been built on the foundations of an Inca temple, with parts of the ancient Inca walls – perfectly fitted stone masonry without mortar -, preserved. Elsewhere, too, Inca walls are casually lining the streets, part of the city’s heritage, but also of the city’s character. The overall atmosphere is, despite the high tourist content, quite nice, especially once you get a little away from the old centre. A huge market, which combines lots of souvenir stalls with a fruit and vegetable section and a serious cheese department, as well as two whole isles of fruit juice bars and a large area of restaurant stalls. Outside women in traditional dress sell their small quantities of vegetables yet seem more interested in their social interactions with fellow sales women than anything else. Much of what they have for sale I have never seen before, colourful fruits, strangely shaped pulses. A huge variety of potatoes.

a small square in the San Blas neighboorhoud

and the intricately carved pulpit in the San Blas church

two women wondering who is taking photos

the juice bar section inside the market

with fresh fruit for sure

Cusco cheese in variations

and a woman filling plastic bags, with all sorts of grains

multiple colour maize

multiple colour fruits

cow heads laughing – for no apparent reason

the ladies outside the market

with some small quantities of goods

and a hideously-coloured local drink

and some of the remaining structures

entrance in the Saqsaywaman fort

like defensive walls

a long stairway

carved Inca throne, one piece

Above the city rises the Saqsayhuaman fort, or what remains of it. Many of the stones have been used for the construction of the early colonial buildings in Cusco, and the three prominent towers have gone, but the defensive works, three zig-zag walls around the fort and several narrow entrances, are still clearly visible. This is from where Manco Inca besieged the city, from where he almost managed to defeat the Spanish conquistadores. Another part of the complex had, apparently, a more religious function, and supports a throne and what looks like an amphitheatre. Overall, a great place to wander around for a couple of hours, to get a feel for this part of history. As is Cusco itself, really. Despite the dense tourist industry.

next: into the Sacred Valley, to Pisac

the view from Saqsaywaman, onto the plaza in Cusco

and this illustrates that we are indeed in tourist country

yet, if you look carefully, you’ll find something unexpected

43. the Incas

Blog entries

statue of Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui, the first Inca to expand the empire

Before we continue our travels into the Inca heartland of Cusco and the Sacred Valley, a little history about the Incas, to put things into perspective.

I suppose before we get to Cusco, once the splendid capital of the Incas, a little history is appropriate. After all, just the thought of the Inca empire already invokes grand images of hilltop fortifications, plumed warriors and golden temples.

It came as a surprise to me to learn that the empire actually lasted less than a hundred years. The Incas had lived for a quite a while like any other mountain tribe, controlling a small area only, and it was not until around 1438 AD, with the accession of Pachacuti to the Inca throne, that, in two generations, the Incas expanded their geographical control, conquering and subduing many of the other small, agricultural cultures. The empire now stretched more than 5000 km, from Ecuador in the north to Bolivia and parts of Chile in the south, and united for the first time coastal people and mountain people under a common administrative system. Obviously, the Inca domination was not only military, but owed much to the governance put in place by their rulers, setting up a near-perfect hierarchy, and a network of state food stores and arms caches; providing protection against not only raiders, but also famine, in return for tribute, and the obligation of every family to each year donate 2-3 months work to the empire. This created the workforce which ultimately put all those fabulous temples and fortifications in place, and built a road network connecting the entire empire in a way never done before. There are Inca trails everywhere, not only at Machu Pichu.

another representation of the Inca, in front of the Inca museum in the Sacred valley

and look, there are still a few of them alive!

When Francisco Pizarro, an illiterate adventurer from the Extremadura in Spain who had already spent 20 years in the Americas, first arrived in northern Peru, in 1527, for not much more than a reconnaissance, Huanya Capac was third generation emperor – grandson of Pachacuti -, but by the time Pizarro came back in 1532, Huanya Capac had died, from what was probably smallpox. And the empire he left behind was being torn apart by a civil war between two of his sons. Pizarro had returned to conquer, and marched to Cajamarca, in northern Peru, where, with 168 men, he managed to capture one of the warring brothers, Atahualpa, who led an army of – get this! – perhaps some 80,000 warriors. But the Inca warriors and their primitive weapons were powerless against the steel body armour of the Spanish, and the armoured horses, from which the Spaniards hacked down with their razor-sharp steel swords that cut through any form of protection the Incas may have had. It simply proved impossible to wound, let alone kill, a Spanish mounted soldier. Well, soldier, these guys were all opportunistic adventurers, with very little formal military training, but thanks to their amour and weapons they were invincible.

While Atahualpa was kept in captivity, his armies nevertheless managed to kill his brother, and win the civil war. Pizarro attempted to control the empire through his hostage, who thought that if he gave the Spaniards what they wanted, lots of gold and silver, they would ultimately leave again. Wrong, of course, when they saw how much gold and silver their hostage could command, they only wanted more. Ultimately, they executed Atahualpa, marched to Cusco, conquered it, and put a younger half-brother on the throne, the puppet emperor Manco Inca. Who, for a while, made the same mistake, trying to placate the invaders in the hope that they would leave again.

the fort as Saqsaywaman, above Cusco with the zig-zag defense walls created by Manco Inca

another view of the Saqsaywaman defense walls

In 1536 Manco had realised that they Spanish would never leave, and managed to escape. He assembled another massive army, of perhaps 100,000 warriors, and made a last attempt to rout the invaders by besieging Cusco. They came close to eliminating the Spanish inside the town, but just not close enough: with a small cavalry force the Spanish broke through the Inca lines and conquered the fort above Cusco, Saqsaywaman, thereby temporarily lifting the siege and securing their survival. At about the same time Manco’s most successful general, who had finally succeeded in killing several Spanish columns sent to relieve Cusco, by luring them into narrow ravines and then bombarding them with boulders from above, was sent to capture Lima, where Pizarro himself was now based, a suicide mission which ones again demonstrated the supremacy of Spanish cavalry on flat ground. Lots of warriors died, as did the general himself, and many of his sub-commanders. Manco retreated into hiding, first to Ollantaytambo, and when more Spanish troops were mobilised, ever further into the jungle away from Cusco. And no matter that the Incas fought another 40 years of guerrilla war, they had now definitely lost control over their empire. Less than a hundred years after it had been established.

next: the Inca capital, Cusco.

the hastily reinforced defense works at Ollantaytambo, after Manco Inca had been forced to withdraw

the military section at Ollantaytambo

42. the road to Cusco

Blog entries

a balcony in Andahuaylas, on the way to Cusco

We take our time to travel from Ayacucho to Cusco, through great Andean landscape and the local towns of Andahuaylas and Abancay.

Some time ago, we have decided that we are too old for very long bus journeys. But we still want to travel overland, as much as possible, to admire the scenery and experience the local culture, something rather a lot more difficult to do from an airplane. So instead of a 15-hour bus ride from Ayacucho to Cusco, we take a few days, using a variety of minibuses and shared taxis to get to Andahuaylas and Abancay, on the way.

one of the rivers

and part of the high planes, with interesting transport

a rare expression of colour

most steep vegetable plots are green, against the grey mountain

Along the way, mountains and valleys, and quite a lot of cultivation; on the steep slopes are lots of patches that support vegetable growth. Quite possibly potatoes, Peru has more than 3000 varieties, apparently. Some of the harvest has been collected in big bags along the road, ready to be transported. At times we are still pretty high, perhaps just over 4000 meters, but the countryside here is more populated than earlier, when we drove across the high passes to Ayacucho. Towns and villages are more numerous; and we see many more people, almost exclusively women, dressed in traditional cloths, hat and often colourful dress.

the potato bags ready to be picked up

one of the ladies in town

and another one, traditionally clothed

and a third, they are quite commen, still

the most popular transport in Andahuaylas

and the colonial bridge!

fruit seller near the bridge

We overnight in Andahuaylas, a nondescript town at 3000 meters, on the banks of the River Chamboo, a quite sizable stream containing lots of muddy water. It is rainy season, after all, and although we have so far been lucky with the weather, elsewhere it has been pouring down. The highlight of town is not the Plaza de Armas, this time, but a rather underwhelming bridge from colonial times. Yet, wandering around town is fun, seeing people going about doing their business.

and fruit wheel barrow, aka vegetable stand

he, too, several talismans on the roof, but from metal

the landscape on the way

sometimes the whole slope is vegetable plots

street view in Abancay

and its little church tower

Next day we continue to Abancay, equally nondescript, and equally fun. Beautiful road again, except that in order to enjoy the views of the mountain valleys you really need to sit on the left. I sat on the right. In town friendly people, and a bar that broadcasts Champions League football.

The final leg to Cusco we do by shared taxi, from which we buy the three back seats for the two of us, which makes traveling a lot more comfortable. Once again we cross a 4000 m pass, and descend down into the valley, before we reach Cusco. Took us three days to get here, but we enjoyed the scenery, and the non-touristic stops on the way, which provides a different insight in Peruvian life. Cusco, no doubt, will be different…

or, next, read about the Incas first.

more landscape, towards Cusco

the view from our hotel in Abancay

41. Ayacucho

Blog entries

a woman in Ayacucho

Ayacucho is not only a lovely colonial town, with some ancient ruins and spectacular cacti nearby, but also a renown carnival site, at the right time of the year.

The ‘enchanting’ part of Ayacucho, to be sure, is limited to the Plaza de Armas and the three or four blocks around it. The rest of town is the usual chaotic urban sprawl, with potholed roads, unfinished buildings and dirt everywhere. Not unlike Ica, Nasca, Camana, other towns we have been to so far in Peru.

statue of Sucre, one of the liberators of Peru

But the old colonial part is very nice indeed, most of the old houses have been well maintained, many have attractive courtyards, which have been turned into restaurants, or shopping areas. Around the Plaza is the cathedral, and many of the 33 churches of the city – one for each year of the life of Jesus Christ. You can only visit so many churches, of course, all do look somewhat the same after a while, also inside, where the altar pieces are incredibly baroque, incredibly detailed carved frames with a range of saints inside. In some of the streets large mansions embody the colonial architecture, but nowhere more so than around the Plaza, where the houses have a covered arcade, and balconies. They, too, have been turned into restaurants. The streets are narrow, pavements even narrower, and with the way the Peruvians drive, pretty dangerous – but we are lucky once again, it is carnival, and many of the streets around the Plaza have been closed for traffic.

 

view of the cathedral, from the roof

cathedral window

church of San Francisco

and its baroque inside

the Plaza de Armas, ready for carnival

the galeries and the balconies

balcony decorated for carnival

another balcony

the chairs, ready for the carnival spectators

a window

More than in other Peruvian towns we have been, we see women – mostly women – in traditional Andean dress, often complete with colourful scarves, and hat; some are bowler hats, some are top hats, dark, and sometimes white. This is, of course, multiplied many times over in the carnival groups that parade through town, around the Plaza. Where in the Arica carnival we observed quite some variety amongst the participants, the carnival in Ayacucho is more traditional: very few skimpily dressed girls, predominantly whirling ballroom dresses, and the music scarily monotonous, with drums and flutes. Rather than mingling among the spectators, which in any case is on a much smaller scale than Arica, we decide to make use of those restaurants and their fabulous balconies, and watch from above, either enjoying Pisco Sours in the process, or a sumptuous lunch.

more seats have been lined up for the spectators

wooden balcony

narrow colonial street

not everybody seems excited to pose for theonearmedcrab

the Warri ruins

with low walls preserved

the Warris even played billards! (not really)

underground burial chambers

one of the circular temples

Outside Ayacucho are ruins – excuse me, an archaeological site – of the Wari culture, the ones preceding the Inca empire in this area. Although we were not going to, after our last experience, we signed up for a tour anyhow, which wasn’t too bad after all. The archaeological site turned out to be much more impressive than I had expected, with chambers – burial chambers? – at several different levels underground, a couple of circular temples, and lots of surviving walls, composed of well-fitted stones and no mortar. How they – and the Incas after them – managed to cut these stones so perfectly, without metal tools, is still unclear.

The site is attractively located, with wide sweeping views over the surrounding mountains. An additional bonus are the cacti growing all around, yielding what is locally known as ‘tuna’, yellow to red fruits that can be eaten. The fruits grow from the flowers, which are, at this time of the year, less numerous.

woman selling ‘tuna’

which is growing everywhere, really

to deep read, juicy proportions

a statue in the site museum

pottery

and figurines, also museum

the clay workshop produces much more than just talisman

Quinua village, cobble stone streets

imposing doors and balconies

the clay talisman on the roof

and the church of Quinua

no battle field is complete without a monument – to the victors, of course

Of course, after the ruins we could have turned around, but the tour wasn’t finished yet. The next stop was – you guessed it – a commercial stop. Many of the houses here have a talisman on the roof, for good fortune, or for religious purposes. Many talismans are in the form of a church, or just for decoration, and they are being made of clay. So we had to visit a clay workshop. Where, incidentally, they make a lot more than just the roof talismans, but luckily, we have another several weeks of travel ahead of us, so we cannot possibly begin to acquire any of this. Better even, we manage to escape from the tour for about twenty minutes, to wander around the cobblestone village of Quinua, which turns out to be entirely dedicated to clay workshops. After a further visit, to a 19th Century battlefield where the Latin American forces decisively beat the Spaniards, we got back to Ayacucho. Where we settled on one of the balconies around the Plaza once more, with another Pisco Sour.

scroll all the way down for a short video of the carnaval, too.

next: the road to Cusco

the first carnival group

always, the children steal the show

even if you do not really hear them

some are so young, they left the pram

which, in any case, is present if needed – to carry the drum

masked face

or just traditional costume

new design ballroom dress

concentrated individual

whirling dancing group

some are just moving through the streets, not the plaza

having as much fun

or as much to play for

or just being serious

the party continues at night

with more ballroom dress

until, by ten, the party is over

40. to Ayacucho

Blog entries

beautiful cactus-like plant on the way to Ayacucho

We are leaving the desert for the mountains, full of green, full of plants unknown to us, and with the beautiful Andean scenery we had hoped for.

Ayacucho, one of Peru’s most enchanting colonial towns, is at 2750 meters altitude. At arrival I feel my knees wobbly, but I am not sure whether this is the altitude, or the recent travel experience.

we start with desert landscape

and only along the river cultivation

on the slopes, more cacti

but soon the slopes get greener

with little streams everywhere

more green, more cacti, too

and other plants I have no idea about

the occasional waterfall – no lack of water anymore

the higher plains supprot less trees, but are still green

animals pens and small huts suggest inhabitation

lamas and alpacas indeed graze the plains

controlled by men on horses

more strange plants

All buses between Ica and Ayacucho travel by night, and apart from not liking travel by night, it defies the purpose of traveling to Ayacucho, through some of the most beautiful countryside, because you cannot see anything. So we had convinced an Ica taxi driver to bring us, during the day, to Ayacucho. Mistake. We hadn’t taken into account that our friend was already pretty old, neither had we realised that the mini-taxis in Ica are totally unsuitable for mountain travel, with hardly any power spare to climb up the passes. And with our friend not really willing the shift to lower gear until absolutely necessary, we creeped up the slopes. And blasted our way down through the hairpins, only braking at the last moment, a bit, because using the brakes does not belong to the Peruvian diving repertoire (if you drive and see people on the road, you don’t slow down, no, you blow the horn, instead). Anyhow, we made it, just. After some nine hours, instead the seven hours a bus takes! Having crossed a 4750 m pass in the process.

in one place we encounter what looks like suphur springs, or a salt – it is not being exploited

But the drive is worthwhile, after all. We leave the dry coastal plains for the mountains, and almost immediately the scenery changes. The well-irrigated, fertile valley slowly climbs up into the mountain, where the first cacti show up on the still barren slopes. But soon much more green appears on the mountains, bushes, trees, grasses, and for the first time in months we have the feeling not to be in a desert anymore. There are cascading waterfalls, and vegetables are grown on rough terraces up the slopes, not just in the valley. And the scenery keeps changing, from the present valley we drive up onto the plateau, above the tree line, but where it is still pretty wet. You wouldn’t think anybody living here, but we are wrong, judging from the animals, mostly lamas and alpacas, but also sheep, and on the lower ranges cows. Basic animal pens, using rocks, dot the plains; the occasional small house, and even the occasional village, we are well over 4000 meters here. Guanacos and/or vicunyas roam around, too.

And then we go down again, into a much denser populated valley, more intensely cultivated, almost Switzerland-like. On the approach to Ayacucho, which is at an elevation of no more than 2750 meters.

next: Ayacucho itself

the first people appear along the road

cooking and selling food

and a little more the landscape

colourful mountains

and even snowy tops, occasionally

39. Ica

Blog entries

crates for the grapes at one of the wineries near Ica

The Ica valley is the most prolific wine area in Peru, but that doesn’t mean much.

Guess what? They make wine in Peru. In fact, the first wine in Latin America originated from Peru, when the Spaniards introduced their grapes here, soon after having colonised the area in the 16th Century. So why is Peruvian wine, unlike its Chilean and Argentinian counterparts, not world famous?

Because it is actually not very nice. Ica is the centre of Peruvian wine production, thanks to the river that flows whole-year-around from the Andes to the Pacific, and has thus huge irrigation potential. Combined with the almost always sunny, and always hot climate, growing grapes is not the challenge. Turning it into wine, however, is something altogether different.

the road to Vista Allegre, like any posh European winery

even the gate is neo-colonial, or perhaps even colonial

the only winery I know where you also see palm trees and dunes

and all of that in combination with vines and grapes

It is true that Peruvians like their wines sweet, so we were warned. The so-called dry wines we tasted in Vista Allegre, one of the wineries in town, were something metallic, no matter whether red or white; quite different from what we are used to, and not at all pleasant to the palate, to say the least. The semi-sec, well, why bother calling it that, it was already very sweet, whilst the sweet one we finished off with was… well, in fact the only wine that we appreciated, as a quite decent desert wine. In short, for the wines you don’t have to come here. And yet, the visit to the winery was one of the nicest I have ever done, not because we went through the whole wine making process again – we didn’t – but because we had a very knowledgeable, albeit opinionated guide, all for our own, with whom we talked about all different aspects of wine for the best of two hours. And from whom we learned more than during any previous winery visit.

the pisco element is the most attractive in the production process

Compared to this, the next bodega, Tacama, one of the biggest in Peru, simply had to disappoint. And it did, a huge commercial complex, with several tour options, a restaurant, and a shop where the focus was more on tee-shirts and other paraphernalia than on selling bottles. We left before the tour started – in all honesty, we had already tried some of their wine earlier, and were not impressed. Neither were we at the third ‘winery’, El Catador, which in fact was another tourist complex, with many little shops, selling a whole lot of rubbish. The wine, to be sure, falls in that same category.

the biggest of all, and most disappointing

Tacama shop for parafernalia

another tourist trap

with a range of products to try…

grapes they have

and he is also interested in those grapes

So now we have decided to stick to Pisco – all of the wineries here make Pisco, too; after all, what do you do with so many grapes. Or, the only acceptable Peruvian wine so far, Inkapalka, which origins we haven’t visited here. Or perhaps any foreign wines we can get hold to.

In any case, the main reason to come to Ica was to take a few days off, in a wonderful guesthouse with swimming pool, before heading east, into the mountains and away from the desert. Even we need to recuperate from our busy schedule, so once in a while. If only to avoid another IV treatment in the local hospital.

next: to Ayacucho

the only slightly acceptable Peruvian wine we have tried so far

and the real reason to come to Ica

an owl guarding the wine yards

38. the hospital

Blog entries

the emergency ward of the Nasca hospital

A brief intermezzo from the tourist spots, a visit to the hospital of Nasca is nevertheless a cultural experience

For the last few days I have been suffering from, let’s say, loose bowels, which is not only inconvenient because of its uncontrollability and its unpredictability, but also hampers progress in the comparative analysis of pisco sours. More bluntly, we haven’t had a pisco sour yet, since we arrived in Peru.

Loose bowels is an inevitability during our sort of traveling, and usually it lasts a day, max. two days, but after four days I get a little worried, so we decide to consult the local hospital in Nasca. We enter the emergency section, where I am fairly quickly being attended by a nurse, who takes pulse, blood pressure and for completeness sake my weight and height, and tells me I have to be seen by the doctor. But first I need to register, and buy a consult. Registration is straightforward: somebody writes my details, including weight and height, in an enormous ledger, and then copies the details only a patient form, which I need to take to the doctor. After paying first, of course, at the cashier.

The doctor listens briefly, then writes down three tests, two on the blood and one stool. And tells me to go pay for the tests, at the cashier again, and buy equipment, like syringes, in the pharmacy. The syringe costs 30 cents, the stool sample container 45. Armed with equipment and receipt we wander through the hospital, until we find the laboratory at the other end. Stool sample will have to wait – the bowels aren’t that loose, after all – but blood can be taken, not with my newly bought syringe, that one disappears in a drawer, but a standard one from the hospital. Results in an hour.

After and hour, with results in hand, back to the doctor, who finds nothing wrong, and is about to send me away, when he decides that I am dehydrated. Tongue? Yes! He scribbles VIF on a random piece of paper – VIF is Spanish for intravenous drip -, a stamp and his signature, and sends me … to the cashier. With yet another receipt back to the doctor, who gives me a prescription. I have to go and buy the intravenous liquid in the pharmacy. But I first need to pay – yes, at the cashier. With an arm full of bottles I move to another desk, where a nurse – the first person who smiles in this hospital, well, smiles a bit – puts me in a chair, brings in the drip, and then puts me on a bed. This is going to take a while.

the victim

the window where all payments have to go through

In the mean time playing children run through the corridors, a woman obviously in pain can’t stop screaming, people walk in and out. There is no privacy here, and very little organisation, it looks. But it works. Although nobody seems to enjoy their work very much, the atmosphere is, well, as in a mortuary. After a bit more than an hour my third and last bottle is empty, and I suggest that I can now leave, right? Wrong. First the doctor needs to see me again. It takes a while, and I am dreading the renewed confrontation with this rather uncommunicative man, but it turns out that he has gone home, and in his place another, female doctor is on duty. The first pleasant person in the whole episode, she decides that all these tests were rubbish, and prescribes antibiotics instead. For which she writes a prescription, which we need to present at the pharmacy, and then pay first, of course – the cashier again -, and that is it. Well, almost, I also need to pay for two hours of hospitalization, the grand sum of 2 US$, at the cashier. Who, finally, after seven times, manages to write my name – admittedly not the easiest for a Peruvian -, correctly, without asking.

next: fully recovered, in Ica

on the wall of Hotel California: welcom to the service of trust and friendliness

37. the mummies

Blog entries

one of the mummies in the carefully restored Chaucilla cemetery

The desert around Nasca contains the somewhat overrated remains of religious complexes, and several vandalised cemeteries, one of which has been restored, showing a scary collection of mummies.

Of course, the Nasca left more behind then only the lines. Their most important religious complex, Cahuachi, is some 35 km out of town. All the photos of the complex suggest that it is right in the middle of the desert, which would have added to its mystery, of course, but in fact all photographers were standing with their backs to the river, which flows quite close to the temple – and more importantly, has been a place where people have been living, indeed, since Nasca times.

driving through the desert, where it threatens to rain – but it doesn’t

The complex is mostly covered by sand, still. Apparently, there have been some 36 pyramids identified in an area of 24 km2, of which only four have been uncovered. And, unfortunately, restored, which takes a lot of the authenticity away. A chronic lack of money, or lack of interest to provide the money, means that work on the complex continues for only one month a year. As with so many sites in Peru, you cannot just wander around, but need to stick to a well-marked path, which further reduces the fun, of course – staring at a complex of low walls from outside becomes pretty boring pretty soon.

the main pyramid at the Cahuachi site

another of the pyramids, walls restored

details inside of this religious complex

the restoration blatently obvious

Nearby is an ancient cemetery, one of around twenty found in the desert here. Dating from Nasca times, and perhaps even older, Paracas times, these contained mummies in fetal position, accompanied by pottery and utensils to prepare the deceased for entry into the second life – this was why mummification was so important, the body had to be kept in perfect condition for the next phase. Quite predictably, all these cemeteries have been vandalised by grave robbers. In this case, someone has grouped a skull and a couple of bones together to make it ‘attractive’ for tourists, or at least for the photo to attract the tourists. The place is, literally, scattered with human bones, well beyond the rather uncouth little collection. And pottery shards, no doubt all original and also over a 1000 years old. And cotton cloth used to wrap the mummies, and lots of other signs of burials. Every dip in the landscape may represent another grave. Or not, who knows.

scattered bones at nearby cemetery

where somebody took the trouble to rearrange some of the remains

the drive to the Chauchilla cemetery

lonely tree in the desert

The cemetery of Chauchilla, another Nasca burial site, looked until not so long ago the same. But here some of the mummies have been carefully restored into their holes, together with some of the pottery found on the site, to create an image of how these graves may have looked at the time. And you know, scattered bones are no fun, but if put in context, like here, it actually turns into a fascinating place, with perhaps 20 or so mummies. Some with very long hair, others with bodies still well-wrapped in cotton woven sheets; some children; all with a skull on top. No entirely original, perhaps, as the mummies at the time will have their heads wrapped inside, and between their knees, but then, without the skulls it wouldn’t look so dramatic. And how else are you going to attract the tourist?

a deep tomb, with mummy

some tombs contain several mummies

and utensils to take to the next life

they have a way of staring at you!

some of the cloths is not ging to last much longer

note the very long hair, real hair, either attached to the head or as a wig

statue in the local museum

two beautifully created and painted pots

another piece of painted pottery

these are trophee heads

captured enemies, hole in skull, and rope to carry

to show off your bravery

Of course, the local museum houses all the really interesting objects that have been found in the neighbourhood (and that have not been shipped off to Lima). And then you start appreciating the figurines, and the pottery, beautifully painted and etched. And the cotton wraps, for instance, many still with vibrant colours, many with knotted decorations along the edges. It is not only that this has been done long ago, but that it has been preserved so well, in this dry climate.

There is more than just the lines, in Nasca.

there is even a hospital – or if you like, click through directly to Ica

delicately decorated cloth

and they even had a one-armed crab, in those days!

36. Nasca

Blog entries

a real Nasca line, dead straight, observed from the top of a low hill

The small town of Nasca is nearest to one of the most enigmatic features of Latin American archaeology, the Nasca lines, a series of sizeable geoglyphs on the desert floor

I know, I said earlier about geoglyphs that, once you have seen some of them, you have seen them all. But in fact not all geoglyphs are alike. The most famous of them are around the town of Nasca: the Nasca lines. And they are quite different from what we have seen so far.

this is about the only responsibility the ministry has taken: anouncing the lines

When we think of Peru, we immediately think of Incas, but in fact many cultures have preceded the Inca empire, and lasted for much longer. The Paracas and Nasca cultures – whether they called themselves so is questionable, of course – are two of those, who dominated this area, Paracas from 900 to 100 BC and Nasca from 100 BC to around 800 AD, or thereabouts. Like so many others, they left lots of traces, in the form of buildings, cemeteries, and exquisitely decorated pottery. However, unlike others, they also left a network of lines and intricate figures on the desert floor. The curious thing is that you can actually not see them on the ground, you have to be in an elevated position, preferably a plane. Which raises the question how these people have ever been able to create these images, or the absolutely straight lines, some going on for several kilometres!

we first visit some of the Palpa lines, older and more traditional-type geoglyphs on the hill side

several individual figures

The easiest answer, of course, and popular in certain circles, is: they have been created by extra-terrestrials. That also explains their function, directing the spaceships to a suitable landing spot. More scientific explanations suggest it is an astronomical calendar for agricultural purposes, or a religious expression of shamans, or directions to water resources. The one thing for sure is that scientists are a long way from consensus, on this one. The technique is clear, however, like with other geoglyphs, stones at the surface were removed, and placed at the side, so that the clear, lighter-coloured underground contrasts with the stones, and the normal desert floor. The drought, and the winds, then worked together to keep the lines clear – although what we now see, has, in many places, been somewhat restored by archaeologists; it is not that what we now believe is blatantly obvious has always been so clear, and certainly was a lot less so when the lines were first observed in the early 1940s by an American scholar who happened to look out of the window when he flew over the desert.

the observation tower, left of the Panamericana highway, and the new, as yet unused one, to the right

from the observation tower along the highway, contours of ‘the tree’

but flying over, ‘the tree’ and also ‘the hand’ are so much more obvious

Our exploration strategy is two-pronged. We first visit a few of the observation points, hill tops, as well as towers that have been erected, to get a first impression. It is actually not always easy to distinguish between what are geoglyphs and what are tracks, until you see the tracks go right through the geoglyphs. Although the place is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the only protection from entering the desert are the occasional signboard from the ministry of culture, that prohibit entry. No fencing, no guards. In fact, the Panamericana Highway cuts right through one of the tallest figures, right next to the observation tower. Some of the older ones, near the village of Palpa, are somewhat easier to spot, as they have been constructed on the hill side.

the airport departure lounge, surrounded by many identical airline desks, selling an identical product

obviously, low season, most small planes have been parked for the day

the landscape, from the plane, is also quite something

full of winding dry riverbeds, and straight lines and trapeziums

clear signs for extraterrestial influence: ‘the astronaut’

‘the whale’, not entirely unscrathed

‘the spider’

‘the monkey’

‘the dog’

The next day we take a flight in a small aircraft, the best way to get an overview. There are quite a few airlines offering flights, which all cost the same. And it looks that people are, based on their arrival, stuffed in the next plane that leaves, four or five or six to the plane. We have a booking with MovilAir, but fly with Air Paracas, which could equally well have been Air Nasca or AeroDiana or any of the others – which begs the question why there are so many different operators, in the first place. During the half hour flight we pass over a total of 14 figures nearest to Nasca, out of the more than 300 that have been discovered! Including some of the most famous ones, the humming bird and the condor, the parrot and the monkey. The dimensions of the individual figures measure anywhere from 40 to 280 meters in one direction. Apart from the figures, there are also many trapezoids, rectangles, and indeed, straight lines in apparently random directions, sometimes radiating from one point. Why, we don’t know, really. But that only add to the mystery of this open-air museum, one that is not easily taken anywhere else.

next: the mummies – there is more than just lines in Nasca!

and the most famous of all, ‘the humming bird’

about the same size is ‘the condor’ (which looks a humming bird to me, too)

the desert is cut trough by the occasional more permanent river

and these round holes are part of an elaborate ancient irrigation system