The Navel of the Universe

If you are confounded by the title of this blog post, allow me a minute to explain. Cusco, also known as Cuzco, also known as Q´osko (by the Inka) is a word meaning...you got it...navel of the universe. The Inca believed that their precious Cusco was indeed the spiritual center of the world. They worshiped their land as if pachamama (mother earth) had chosen their ancient city as the centrifuge of natural and supernatural power. The fact that they also named the city after a body part also shows how important the relationship between body and spirit was for them. This fascinating history is what Hallye and I (Katie) find ourselves surrounded by all day now. We arrived in Cuzco yesterday at 4 in the morning after a 22 hour bus ride from Ayacucho, where Heather is hard at work setting up a teaching job right here in this city. Hallye and I share a bit of jealousy when thinking that she will have the opportunity to spend more than our self-allotted week here. The city is just beautiful, although filled with more tourists than we have seen in one place this entire trip. Not only are there shops around every corner selling traditional Cuzceñan art and artifact, but the natural beauty surrounding the city is extraordinary. The hills around Cuzco give it a personal, closed in feeling while the architecture is stunning ( a mix of modern, colonial, and even some existing Inca formations). At night, the stars which seem close enough to pick right out of the sky are so illuminating and the cold andean chill that appears when the sun goes down works together with the supernatural aura from the awareness of Inca history and makes the hairs stand on end. The other night on the bus as we were just miles from town, I looked out my window to see what was around me. I could barely make out the shapes of the hills in front of the dark blue/black sky. But as I looked directly to my left, I could see the big dipper made of stars bigger seeming than I have ever seen in my life.

Yesterday, after sleeping the better part of the day and recovering from the long journey, Hallye and I laid out some basic plans for the next few days and then set out on foot to look around. We were greatful for the tourist presence and at the same time overwhelmed. We are not used to having so many white people around us and felt a little uncomfortable in our overworn backpacker´s clothing. Most tourists are here for just a week or two to see Machu Picchu and maybe a few other towns and we imagined that they looked so good and well put together because they had three suitcases a piece. We couldn´t help but feel like we stood out EVEN MORE now among all of the chic looking tourists, than we did when we were the only white people in a pueblo of indigenous folk. I have stopped wearing makeup and some of my shirts have holes in them. I also am wearing the same outfit today that I have the past two days because our clothes are being washed and, I imagine, line dried because it has been almost two whole days since we turned them in and it has rained. But we adore this simple lifestyle and have no intentions of spending precious money on new clothes or haircuts. We like being backpackers and realize that one day we too will have the chance to take three suitcases on a two week trip and wear nice clothes and buy lots of things that we want so bad and eat in nice restaurants with the other white people. Right now, we are incredibly happy looking like we haven´t seen civilization in days and doing as the majority of Peruvians do searching out the dollar menus.

Today, all though it is pouring right now, we have planned to go on a city tour to some of the ruins around Cusco. Sacsaywaman and Q´enqo are two places on the itinerary. In a few days we will make the expensive trek to Machu Picchu. We will also climb Wayna Picchu, which if you don´t know, is the taller mountain that stands behind Machu and can be seen in most pictures of the ruins. This trip alone will cost what about two weeks of travel has cost us so far during this trip but it is something we can´t pass up.

Our tour is set to leave in about 20 minutes but I´m not sure if it will leave considering this sudden downpour. If we don´t go, Hallye and I will most likely spend the afternoon in a real touristy cafe sipping on the best coffee we have tasted so far here in South America. This is one of the perks of being in a tourist town. Us northamericans know what a good cup of coffee should taste like. I guess we can thank Starbucks for that. And then again not, because all of the good coffee is being shipped out of these countries to them at a higher price and poor Hallye and I are suffering the consequenses when in every small town we ask for coffee and a jar of instant is plopped down in front of us. So next time you go to Starbucks, think about Hallye and me when you are drinking your espresso macchiato and feel sorry for us because our coffee sucks. But then again, no need to feel sorry for us because while usually our coffee is not worth the 30 cents we pay for it, we are seeing one of the Wonders of the World this week and for that we are extremely lucky.

Until next time,
Katie