Tracking Down A Curry

Sunday 14 January

We only had a half day tour booked for today and we met our new guide, Arturo, and Jancine our driver, promptly at 09.00 – all the guides in Peru seem to be very much on time – except of course poor Jorge, who was just so busy trying to get from one visitor to the next.

We drove to Saqsayhuaman, the archeological site of on old Incan fortress overlooking Cusco, where we could see foundations of three large towers – 8 – 10 metres tall when they were built, together with temples and a large plaza to gather together the people of the city when being attacked or for important celebrations. The base of the fortress was built in typical Incan style with huge stones at the bottom, medium stones in the middle and smaller stones on the top layers. All the walls sloped inwards which helped make the buildings stronger and less likely to be seriously damaged in an earthquake. Some of the stones on the bottom layers were huge, weighing more than 100 tons, all carved to fit precisely with those stones surrounding it – in the corners of the building, some of the stones had to be curved to fit round to the next stone – yet all the surfaces were completely smooth. It made you wonder at the artistry of the stone masons of the time, that they were able to position stones so precisely that no gaps were seen. Later we saw that that on the inner faces of the stones, notches and niches were carved to help lock the stone in position, and stabilize the walls. I am sure that stone masons today would find it difficult to reproduce work like this.

We could see the quarry across the plaza, on the far side of the massive temple, with indented tracks in the grass showing the route the stones had been taken to the fortress – a distance of more than a kilometre. Terraces lined the hill between the temple and the quarry. We wandered around the site, and could see that excavations were still taking place, outside the fortress and temple site, across what is now a road. Apparently there have been many finds of pottery, money, jewellery and other artifacts, since the archelogical dig started here earlier this year.

We left this site to travel to another Incan site at Tambomachay – a temple dedicated to the god of water, where a fresh water spring still runs in the Incan channels today. Above the temple, and to the side, were large buildings with tall niches along the front. These were to accommodate the “mummies”. The mummified bodies would be wrapped in brightly coloured cloths and brought here to be venerated and dedicated to their gods. The bodies would have stood upright for these services, before being taken to the family land and interred. Incas did not bury their dead underground, but built special burial chambers, usually high up on a mountainside so that the bodies would be closer to the gods. This temple was built half way up a hillside, and higher up on the ridge of the hill, a “hostel” had been built by the Incas, as a resting place to accommodate those traveling around the country and beyond, to Cusco, Machu Picchu, the coast, and even on to Ecuador, Bolivia and Latin America. This was one in the series of such “hostels” built about 10 kms apart.

We next visited the site where the bodies were mummified. It was situated now in a eucalyptus forest, trees that had only been brought to South America within the last century and a half – the need for fast growing wood to replace the timber cut down during the last centuries, made eucalyptus trees a ideal choice. It grows straight and tall and can be cut within fifteen to twenty years, when the poles are still thin enough to use directly for building houses, etc. Inside this forest was an amphitheatre of grey rocks, remnants of those placed here in Inca times. We were taken to a cave in circle of rocks, which held the “table” just inside the entrance where the bodies were bled, and taken to the next niche where they were filled with salt, oils and herbs to completely dry out – unlike other civilizations, the Incas did not use heat to mummify the bodies. Once dry, the mummified bodies were placed in the foetal position, and wrapped in gaudy shrouds, and left once more for the final drying, before being taken to their final resting place, which might be a pyramid or mausoleum for important people, or the family burial chambers for more ordinary mortals. It is believed from archeological evidence, that the Incas built pyramids much larger than those found in Egypt, but when the Spanish conquered the Empire, they destroyed everything Incan, including the pyramids.


Our last visit of the morning was to the Cathedral, back in the city on the opposite side of the square to our hotel. It was a vast building, whose façade was not so intricately carved and decorated as other churches nearby, but it was many times larger. The current building was erected on the site of a former Incan Palace. The Emperor at the time was Atahuampu, who had been a very successful and popular ruler. When Francisco Pissaro, the leader of the Spanish conquerors arrived in Cusco, the Emperor thought the Spanish people had come in peace, and readily agreed to a parlay. But Pissaro was on the rampage, and ordered his 300 troops to capture the Emperor and attack the Incan people, who were almost certainly unarmed, and in any case would have had much less sophisticated weaponry than the guns and cannons of the Spanish army. It was an easy victory for Pissaro, and the Emperor was killed a week later with many of his troops. His senior men were all murdered a few days later. In this way the local people were “tamed” and acquiesced to the new regime. Many of the local people tried to secretly maintain their traditions and beliefs, but when found out, it mean certain death.

Today the cathedral has large plain green double wooden doors in the centre which are opened for services, but we entered by a side chapel entrance. We were immediately surrounded by gold – altars, statues, picture surrounds, lights – all gleaming and glistening in the hushed silence. There was lots of colour – turquoises, reds and yellows in the decorations. Further round the cathedral there were altars of solid silver, with vessels and plates used for services, even today – heavy and solid with mainly Spanish designs etched over whole surfaces. There was a wide range of paintings, from those heavily influenced by European styles – many Peruvian artists went to Europe, particularly Spain and Italy, to extend their knowledge of art in the 17th century – but also some Peruvian works showing Christ as a “brown” person and the Madonna wearing a Peruvian poncho! Even a Peruvian painting of the Last Supper shows Judas, with his bag of money, as a Peruvian! There were many chapels on the tour round, and one sacristy, a choristry – where all the walls and seats were intricately carved with figures representing the saints, in matt dark brown wood, in the centre of the main aisle. This choristry also contained two organs, one of which dated back to 1630. It had been damaged in the 18th century, and not used for two hundred years, until it was repaired over the last few years. We had tickets to hear this organ play a recital later this afternoon.

Arturo left us to make our way back to our hotel after this tour, promising to collect us tomorrow morning and to go to the Sacred Valley. We went back to the hotel as we needed to collect some money, before heading to the Inca Grill for lunch. We both had traditional Peruvian dishes – raw fish in a yellow potato and egg sauce, which tasted very creamy, for Colin, and a sandwich of cold mash potato with smoked ham, cheese, tomatoes between, and decorated with avocado and olives. After our meal we wandered round the narrow side streets again, partly looking for the only Indian restaurant in Cusco, which Colin had been given a card for yesterday. We saw lots of small interesting shops and cafes, mainly geared to backpackers, but no Indian restaurant. We finally made our way back to the hotel, where on checking the card, found the restaurant was supposedly in the main thoroughfare, in completely the opposite direction to where we had been looking!

We stayed in sorted the photos and published some entries on the blog, before making our way back to the Cathedral to listen to the recital at 17.00. We entered through the door we had used this morning, and found our way back to the choristry. A couple of young men were putting B&Q plastic white chairs around the steps, although so far, there were only five of us present and it was about 16.55! A couple more people arrived, and then the organist himself. He immediately gestured for everyone to take their chairs up the steps into the front of the choristry, directly below where he would be playing the organ. He climbed some stairs hidden at the side of the choir stalls and leant over the rail to greet us – in Spanish of course. By this time there were about eight people to listen to the recital. When he began to play, the organ sounded harsh and tinny, but maybe he was playing 17th century Peruvian music – it wasn’t the sound, or the style of music we were used to hearing in church. He continued to play for about an hour, more people arrived, including a group of nuns, and others left before the end. The later music was much more to our taste although we didn’t recognize any of the melodies.

We still had time to send a few emails before going out to dinner. Not to be defeated, we tried again to find the Indian restaurant – we walked up and down the main street – El Sol, and round the square a couple of times, to see if the road continued after the junction there. It was nowhere to be found. On the point of giving up and going for a burger (we fancied something other than Peruvian food) we spotted an open door to a “shopping mall” – more a staircase with shops around it, leading to other floors of the same. Venturing up the stairs we came across the restaurant, at last!

On entering we were greeted by the chef’s wife (a habit in this country) although we were the only people there – no wonder – probably most people are not so determined as us to find it. Apparently the people who own the building will not allow advertising in windows, or at street level. We chose pakoras and samosas to start, then chilli chicken (hot) for me and vegetable korma (cool) for Colin. Plain rice came with the meal, and after about ten minutes they changed the bowl for a completely new one – telling us that the rice would be cold by now! The meal was very pleasant, the people friendly, and more customers did arrive while we were eating. But the food was not up to “Adolf’s” standards – he still makes the best curry in the world. The restaurant is currently extending to an upper floor, so lots of customers must find their way here.

Feeling very full, it was time to return to the hotel for my last blog of the day – I am still desperately trying to catch up.