Last couple of days we’ve been in Cusco and now up at Lake Titticacca.
Cusco was the Incan capital with its major citadel. when the Spanish defeated the Incas they pulled down the citadel and built their cathedral on its site. The country now is strongly catholic, but they still follow a lot of the traditional religious and cultural traditions. The photo below captures this – an Incan chief delivering a ceremony with the Christian cross on the mountain in the back.
The catholic religion has been localized nicely. In the cathedral we visited, there was a picture of the last supper prepared by a local artist in the 17th century. No pictures were allowed, but there was a copy at the restaurant we ate at that night. They were feasting on guinea pig and Judas was represented by the leader of the Spanish invaders .
The people are also right into festivals. The streets in Ollanatytambo, where we exited our Machu Picchu train, were closed for a festival in lead up to winter solstice. As a consequence, it took us ( and the hundred other buses with us) 2 hours to exit the station. The next day in Cusco we encountered a parade celebrating coming of age of local villagers. Apparently they had to carry a block of ice up a glazier, along with village sins and wishes, to qualify.
The housing here is interesting. Ranges from the Spanish mansions down to historical shacks lived in by descendants of Indian tribes. The general population live in smallish square apartments. Many of them look incomplete, but that is because land is so expensive that the kids will just build an apartment on top of their parent’s place, and so on. When the parents pass on, everyone gets to move down a level.
The other noticeable thing is dogs everywhere on streets. Apparently everyone owns a dog, but houses are so small they let them out to roam streets during day. They’re all very well natured and well fed. This one was in charge of the lama which had become untethered, so it was grabbing the lamas rope in its mouth to lead it home.
Round about 