Out of Cuzco

Keeping a blog is tougher than I thought. Or I guess, I have been busier than I thought I would be, which is a good thing. Either way, I am skipping ahead a bit here. I will fill in the blanks soon.

I have now left Cuzco after spending over a month there. Cuzco was such a crazy experience, it will take some time to process everything. Cuzco covered every emotion I am capable of, which is surprisingly a lot! Cuzco is beautiful with steep, narrow cobblestone streets, grand plazas, elaborate buildings, friendly people, genuinity and uniqueness, dripping with world history, warm sunny days, unlimited things to do and see and fantastic food at cheap prices. Cuzco is also littered with garbage, has a constant smell and feel of grime, has cold nights, is expensive, obnoxious, exhausting, and the people are in your face trying to get your money anyway that is possible. It´s all of these things, sometimes at once, sometimes intermittantly. Cuzco seems to be different every time I would go away and come back. It´s a place that I always had to leave to stay balanced, but always came back to. It feels like a sell-out as everything revolves around the tourist and Macchu Pichu. I would have loved to come here 30 years ago or so.

But, it also was the capital of the Inca Empire which spread the entire length of South America. It was one of the richest cities in the world. There is no doubt in my mind about this as I wander through the grandiose Cathedral in the main centre, still full of gold and grand statues and paintings. It used to be surrounded by Inca palaces before the Spanish destroyed them. You can feel how life was like here 500 years ago. Sometimes, away from the tourists and the vendors, you can still see it. Some of the museums and ruins are really amazing. Getting to know this history firsthand is a powerful experience. Each Inca (the emperor or king) had his own palace and numerous servants and concubines. After his death, the Inca would be mummified and remain in his palace with all of his servants and concubines. So, the next Inca would have to build a new palace. Also, during festivals, all the Incas (mummified) would be paraded around and sit in on all the dinners. A very unique culture that really only existed for 100 years before the Spanish conquered them. It´s amazing how the Inca took over such a huge empire in such a short timeframe. A big key to their success was that they incorporated the skills and technology from all of the different cultures they conquered, and then improved upon them.

I didn´t do half the things in Cuzco and area that I wanted to. But, I also did many other things I never planned on. Boarding the plane to go back to Lima was surreal, like it was ok because I am going back to Cuzco, sooner than I ever thought.

2 days in Lima was spent recovering from my stomach bug and getting things ready for the next part of my adventure: Huancayo -by train.