Cusco

After the cool foggy weather of Lima, the clear and sunny weather was a wonderful change. Here we are between visits to Inca temples and ruins. This filed grows potatoes. It was the highest altitude we experienced, 12,400 feet. At the edge of the field, the ground drops into the valley below. Clouds fill the valley and partially obscure even higher mountains on the other side. Very prity.

From high ground overlooking the city, here's a view of the main square of Cusco. The 2 churches on the square are the same as in the photo below. It is obviously not a tall city but the streets are clean and the buildings in good repair.

The church on the left is the Cusco Cathedral and the one on the right is the church of San Pedro. We had dinners in various restaurants around the square. One evening we watched the finish of a road rally just in front of the church on the left. Quite exciting. And at the hotel where we stayed, we found ourselves in the middle of a Harley Davidson event with riders from all over Latin America. Not as big as, say, Sturgis in the US but interesting.

San Pedro has a law school attached to its right side. While we were there students were protesting ... something to do with the faculty. I never quite pieced it together. But the law school was draped with a huge black sash and there were protestors carrying signs in front. All orderly

Detail of the Cusco Cathedral.

We visited a market on the edge of town. More on this later. On the way there or back, I don't recall, we walked through a neighborhood. This particular street winds down hill toward the center of Cusco you can see in the background.

We visited several temples and small towns in the area. As I mentioned elsewhere, the country was preparing for local elections. Many of the houses in the country were painted to advertise one or a group of candidates. Democracy is close to the ground here. Our guide told us that it is traditional to allow your house to be painted by a candidate you DON'T LIKE. I am unsure of the logic, but I like the idea of consuming the resources of a candidate you oppose. Wonder if that would work in the US?

Near the ruins of Sacsayhuaman, we observed a curandero ceremony. Here is the curandero (sort of a folklore medicine man) who performed the ceremony. Peruvians will typically hire a person like this to perform the ceremony in their homes, often associated with family events like illness, marriage or the birth of a child. It is a prayer for good health and well being to the god Pachamama who is associated with fertility and mother earth. To our western perspective, this seems bizarre ... an amalgam of witchcraft, Arabic medicine, Judeo Christian beliefs, the Bible, psychic phenomena and spiritualism.

In the past I have noticed that many many of my pictures have been of things and places, but not people so much. I have been consciously trying to take more people pictures. When I carry my big camera, a Nikon D200 DSLR, it is hard to be unobtrusive. And so I find myself getting sneakier about candid photos. Using longer lenses to "reach out" to people without being in their face. Sometimes I ask for permission. Sometimes I just smile when I get caught. In any event, here are some of the people of the Cusco and Pisac markets.

In the past I have noticed that many many of my pictures have been of things and places, but not people so much. I have been consciously trying to take more people pictures. When I carry my big camera, a Nikon D200 DSLR, it is hard to be unobtrusive. And so I find myself getting sneakier about candid photos. Using longer lenses to "reach out" to people without being in their face. Sometimes I ask for permission. Sometimes I just smile when I get caught. In any event, here are some of the people of the Cusco and Pisac markets.

In the past I have noticed that many many of my pictures have been of things and places, but not people so much. I have been consciously trying to take more people pictures. When I carry my big camera, a Nikon D200 DSLR, it is hard to be unobtrusive. And so I find myself getting sneakier about candid photos. Using longer lenses to "reach out" to people without being in their face. Sometimes I ask for permission. Sometimes I just smile when I get caught. In any event, here are some of the people of the Cusco and Pisac markets.

In the past I have noticed that many many of my pictures have been of things and places, but not people so much. I have been consciously trying to take more people pictures. When I carry my big camera, a Nikon D200 DSLR, it is hard to be unobtrusive. And so I find myself getting sneakier about candid photos. Using longer lenses to "reach out" to people without being in their face. Sometimes I ask for permission. Sometimes I just smile when I get caught. In any event, here are some of the people of the Cusco and Pisac markets.

In the past I have noticed that many many of my pictures have been of things and places, but not people so much. I have been consciously trying to take more people pictures. When I carry my big camera, a Nikon D200 DSLR, it is hard to be unobtrusive. And so I find myself getting sneakier about candid photos. Using longer lenses to "reach out" to people without being in their face. Sometimes I ask for permission. Sometimes I just smile when I get caught. In any event, here are some of the people of the Cusco and Pisac markets.

In the past I have noticed that many many of my pictures have been of things and places, but not people so much. I have been consciously trying to take more people pictures. When I carry my big camera, a Nikon D200 DSLR, it is hard to be unobtrusive. And so I find myself getting sneakier about candid photos. Using longer lenses to "reach out" to people without being in their face. Sometimes I ask for permission. Sometimes I just smile when I get caught. In any event, here are some of the people of the Cusco and Pisac markets.

In the past I have noticed that many many of my pictures have been of things and places, but not people so much. I have been consciously trying to take more people pictures. When I carry my big camera, a Nikon D200 DSLR, it is hard to be unobtrusive. And so I find myself getting sneakier about candid photos. Using longer lenses to "reach out" to people without being in their face. Sometimes I ask for permission. Sometimes I just smile when I get caught. In any event, here are some of the people of the Cusco and Pisac markets.

One of the towns we walked around was Pisac. It is a lovely little town built around the ubiquitous main square which contained a market on the day we visited. Mid-morning we had a snack of bread prepared in this small, open air, kitchen shop. The bread is cooked in stone ovens like we'd cook pizza. The brown objects on the plank just being withdrawn from the oven are roast Guinea Pigs. Quite a delicacy.

The reason I know it's a delicacy is that, while in Pisac, we ate in the home of a Peruvian family. They were proud to serve us Guinea Pigs. One of our traveling companions was sitting next to the boy of the family, a precocious 7 year old I'd guess. When the platter came to him, he grabbed one of the Guinea Pig heads, stuck it on the end of a fork, and ate it kind of like we'd eat a chicken drumstick. So what does Guinea Pig taste like ... would I be guilty of cliché if I said it tastes like chicken? Not a lot of meat on them, so eating one is mostly a process nibbling the meat from the many small bones. I am proud of this picture. If Sunset Magazine were published in Peru, I like to think this photo would be worthy of publication in connection with a recipe for roast guinea pig.