Lima, the Larco Museum, and Home

We arrived late to our hotel, the Casa Bella Boutique Hotel in Miraflores neighborhood. We were beat. We slept in, and had breakfast with a couple from Guelph, Ontario. They were surprised that Sandi knew their town. They had missed their flight, as the flight time had changed without them being notified. We and they decided to pay for an additional night to allow ourselves a place to rest before our late flight back to the USA. We changed to the Hotel Faro nearby. We went to the Cathedral on the main plaza, which was closed as part of a ceremony to had over new fire trucks and ambulances to the firemen. The Cathedral was somewhat interesting, really a museum. We liked better the working church of Santo Domingo, where we saw petitions that people had put into the glass boxes that held statues, a kind of mailbox to God. Unfortunately, we ran out of time to see the museum in Santo Domingo. We took a taxi back to the hotel, and rested some. We then took a taxi to the Museo Larco, which was quite wonderful.

The beautiful grounds of the Larco

The Museo Larco is a private museum, a collection of an anthropologist and his wealthy father. The artifacts were of high artistic quality, and the explanatory text was on the big picture, rather than giving us detailed information about each artifact. Rather than focus on the well known Inka culture, it covered many of the cultures that preceded that Inka, such as the Moche, Nazca, and Pucara. We got a sense of the common elements of the native religions. The textiles and metal work were especially impressive. This was an excellent museum, with beautiful grounds. We had a snack in their restaurant, and then headed back to the hotel.

Hilary picked us up at the hotel, and took us to the airport. Our flight left Lima at 1 AM. The flight to Atlanta was routine; we arrived at about 8 AM, and headed for the Delta Club to await our flight to Denver.

Condors and Arequipa

Vicuna and Alpaca

On Sunday, Jorge picked us up in the hotel, in a van with a driver, Antonio, and we headed out into the Altiplano. We got up to about 15,000 ft elevation, and saw more alpacas than we believed possible. We also saw some vicuna, which we had not seen before. They made us think about the Pronghorn antelope in Wyoming, especially because the landscape reminded us of Wyoming.

Blanca also pointed out the Vizcacha rabbit, with its curling tail, which lives in the tundra.

Vizcacha, a large rabbit with a long tail.

Our driver had a problem with the van, which he resolved by adding water to the radiator. We stopped after the turnoff to Chivay to drop off Jorge, and pick up Blanca, who will be our guide until we leave Arequipa. We strolled into the main plaza of Chivay, and had a good dinner at the hotel. The Casa Andina hotel has a rustic feel, and includes a planetarium, but unfortunately it was cloudy. Many of the streets are dirt, but the plaza and the main road have recently been refurbished with a government grant. There are many hostels, but the Casa Andina may be the high end place in town. We had a good dinner at the Casa Andina.

On Monday, Blanca and Antonio picked us up at the hotel, and we headed for the Cruz de Condors, the overlook. We stopped first in Yanque, where we watched students folkloric dancing to raise money for school. 

When we arrived at the Cruz de Condors, we saw condors almost immediately. At one point, we could see four condors at one time. There was a crowd of tourists there, but Blanca pointed me to a good seat on a rock. Most of the condors were immature, but one was partly mature, with a white neck.

We headed back to Chivay, and walked through the market. Sandi bought a hat from a lady with an old Necci sewing machine; she freehand sewed designs on hats.

We headed for Arequipa, stopping at the pass at 4900 meters, about 16,000 feet. As we got closer to Arequipa, we were somewhat horrified by the dusty squatter neighborhoods, which looked very unattractive, and seemed to last for an hour or so. We finally arrived at the main plaza and Casa Andina Select hotel, a noticeable step up from the Casa Andina standard hotels that we used in Puno and Chivay. We had a decent pasta dinner at Lokanta, where we met yet another waiter from Venezuela. This had become a thread running through the trip, that many waiters were from Venezuela, fleeing the economic collapse there.

An escribino typing a letter in the square.  A dying occupation of old men.

On Tuesday, Blanca picked us up at the hotel, and we visited the Cathedral and the Monastery of Santa Catalina. When it was first founded, the Monastery (convent) was for daughters of rich families, who paid a dowry to join, and were permitted to have servants and live in a kind of apartment. The Monastery was like a city within the city, with roads, a plaza, a garden, and a mortuary. The Dominican nuns are still there, living in a portion of the monastery; the area we toured had been restored for tourism. We had a good tour from one of the guides of the monastery.

Blanca and Antonio took us to the airport. Our Latam flight to Lima was somewhat late; Sky, the local low-cost airline, had a kind of revolt after their flight was delayed; a loud guy was organizing the passengers to demand a meal as compensation.

Lake Titicaca and Puno

We got up very early to leave the hotel around 6. Alvaro met us at the hotel, and took us to the Inka Express bus station. There were only 9 people on the bus, two Poles, two French, two German, and one Taiwanese lady. The bus had a driver, a tour guide, and a host/hostess.

Our first stop was at a very elaborate small church in Andahuaylillas. They promote it as the Sistine Chapel of the Americas, but this is greatly overstated. There are somewhat primitive murals, including one showing the route to heaven and the route to hell, as well as drawings of the saints. This was built during the evangelization period by the Jesuits, and the drawings were intended to teach the gospel to people who did not speak Spanish and could not read or write. We were not allowed to take photos, so I pulled one from the web.

Our second stop was at the somewhat interesting ruins of Raqchi, very different from what we had seen in the highlands, generally ruins with stone bases and adobe brick above.

The landscape changed to pure altiplano, a wide valley with brown grass, surrounded by mountains, and sometimes a small village. It felt a lot like parts of Colorado, such as the San Luis Valley.

The top of the pass was rainy and blowing hard, 14,300 ft elevation. There were other more forgettable stops. We were glad to arrive in Puno. Our guide, Jorge, sent a driver to pick us up, and met us at the hotel. We took a short walk to La Casona for dinner, and went to bed early. Richard had not felt well, so the early bedtime was welcome.

We saw groups of people in various cemeteries along the way, apparently for the day of the dead celebration, which is a holiday in Peru.

On Saturday morning, Jorge and a driver picked us up, and we took the boat to the floating islands of Uros. We visited one of the floating islands, where the president of the ten person island demonstrated how the islands were made. He invited us into his house, which was very small, with solar lighting.

We bought an embroidered piece, ducks in a blue theme, and took a ride on a reed boat to one of the larger islands. Richard got to row the boat. It was a touristic, but nice experience.

Then we went on the island of Tequile. The hike had about a 500 ft gain in elevation, to the main village, on a good stone trail. We visited the textile cooperative, where Sandi bought a doubleweave belt. Their textiles had bright colors and was made of acrylic. We had lunch at a family restaurant, where they demonstrated a folkloric dance, and also their knitting, which is very fine and very fast, including a hooked needle to facilitate working with the fine fibers. The hike back to the boat was very steep, and we were the last ones on the boat.

Rather than go back to our hotel, we asked to be dropped off at the local cemetery for the Day of the Dead celebration, which was quite a spectacle. Many people were leaving flowers for their loved ones. We had been told that people would drink, eat, and sing what the deceased loved.

We met Victor and Angel, and drank some beer with them; they had already had quite a bit of beer. We also spoke to another family. Sandi was concerned that we were intruding, but we tried to be respectful, and of course asked for permission to take photos. I only took a few photos, trying not be the ugly American tourist. It was an experience. We took a taxi back to the hotel. As one of the locals said, the celebration in Peru is very similar to the celebration in Mexico.

We attended mass in the nearby St. John the Baptist church, where they have the image of the Virgin of Candelaria. In February, they have a huge fiesta in her honor. Puno claims to be the capital of folklore in Peru; we were told that the folks from Puno will have a big party for any possible occasion.

Ruins and villages

On Monday we went first to the ruins of Ollantaytambo, and the unfinished Temple of the Sun. The water system and ritual baths were very interesting. The hike to the top of the ridge was steep but short. The town was having a celebrations, with music and native costumes.

We took two hour bus ride up a switchback road to Accha Alta, to visit another textile village, at 12,800 feet in elevation. Lunch was at the village. These villagers do somewhat different types of weaving; a lot of shopping took place. We also received the skeins of yarn that we had helped dye. We made a stop at an overlook to see another ruin, and admired the alpacas. Many people live well above treeline.

We returned to the same hotel, the Taypikala Sacred Valley in Urubamba. Walking around the beautiful grounds, we saw a separate meeting room. We were told that they had Shamanic gatherings there.

Tuesday we started our day with a visit to the handicraft market of Pissac. We bought a few small things, including the two bulls and a cross found on the roof of many buildings here; the bulls represent the indigenous religion and Pachamama.

Sandi Shearing a llama

We continued to the village of Chauyatiri, at 12,460 ft elevation. There were a many weavers at work when we arrived, in their native costume. Sandi participated in shearing a llama with a knife. She also learned an edging stich from a young woman. 

Receiving line in village

Embroidered skirt

Sandi bought this piece

The lady teaching Sandi a stich

This village did not have electricity until 2017. It is amazing to see the houses on the hillsides, farming the terraces that may be pre-Inkan.

We visited briefly the ruins near Pisac; the most notable features were the terraces and the looted tombs cut into the hillside.

Thursday was a free day in Cusco. Sandi had meetings with the textile folks. Richard went to the regional museum; the most interesting thing was the rebellion of Tupac Amaru against the Spanish in 1780. This was a kind of Inka revival movement; Tupac had noble blood, and he is still an icon for native rights. Although the rebels had some initial successes, the rebellion was put down, and Tupac was quartered in the square in 1871. There is a huge mural in the museum depicting his execution.

When Sandi got out of her meetings, we went to the Maximo Laura museum and gallery, where we saw impressive tapestries with bright colors. One of Maximo's students was working on one of his pieces in the back of the gallery. We continued to the Inka museum, which had a special exhibit of Maximo Laura tapestries.

We saw many children and adults in costume for Halloween. The streets were crowded as we walked to our farewell dinner. We were headed to Lake Titicaca the next day. The rest of the group was going to Lima and then home.