The route from Cusco to Puno on Lake Titicaca is through
the Andes, so it is both rugged and high altitude. Nevertheless, there are several options for
getting there. You can board a train: Perurail offers a 10.5
hour trip aboard the Andean Explorer. There is also a modern, well
maintained highway, Highway 3S, that snakes 250 miles through the mountains, so
you have the option of driving or taking a bus.
If you choose a bus, you can do a straight-up passenger bus that drives
straight through in about 6 ½ hours or a tour bus that stops at interesting
points along the way and takes a little over 10 hours.
We’ve considered all the options, and decided on the tour
bus. Thus, on this day we take a taxi to the Inka Express bus
terminal and are on the bus before 7:00 AM.
This bus has five stops and essentially moves backwards in time. The first two stops are at old churches built
by the Spanish in the 1500’s. Further
down the road and further back in time is the town of Raqchi with its Incan
ruins that include the impressive Temple of Wiracocha. Then after a lunch break and an early
afternoon stop at La Raya Pass, the highest point on the journey, the bus stops
for a visit to the museum in Pukara.
Pukara was a large and remarkable population center in the Pre-Inca “Late
Formative Period” (500 BC- AD 200). Here
are the highlights of the day’s passage:
Andahuaylillas:
We spend most of the first hour getting out of Cusco. It seems like we’re barely underway when the
bus pulls over in the town of Andahuaylillas.
This little town is famous for The Church of San Pedro Apostol de
Andahuaylillas, which has been called the “Sistine
Chapel of the Andes,” or even the “Sistine Chapel of the Americas.” It was built by the Jesuits in the 1500’s and
like so many other Spanish buildings it was built on top of a preexisting Inca
structure. In this case, this Christian
church was built on top of a huaca – a sacred place. A bit ironic, but in fact probably quite deliberate
on the part of the Spanish.
We are not terribly impressed with the exterior of this
little church but when we get inside we immediately understand the Sistine
Chapel reference. Every square inch of
every surface is covered with murals, silver, gold-leaf or mirrors. . And the artist was quite definitely not Da
Vinci. Or maybe it was Da Vinci - only on
hallucinogens.
Actually a large group of artisans contributed to the
adornment of this church over a period of more than a century. The interior of the church was decorated
throughout the 1600’s and 1700’s by teams of itinerant local artists. Murals were an effective way to reach the
local population. Most of the local people
were illiterate and many didn’t speak Spanish.
Quechua, the language of the Incas, was the language spoken by most of
the population and is still the primary language in many parts of Peru
today. So since the church couldn’t
reach its audience with spoken or written words, a picture was worth a thousand
words, a mural was worth a million words, and an entire church filled with
murals was worth….well you get the idea.
While the church now contains numerous framed paintings on
canvas, the original artwork was entirely painted on the walls. The first mural we observe as we enter the
church is a huge scene with a cast of millions depicting the battle between
Heaven and Hell. The vast multitudes in
the mural seem to be oblivious to the battle, but as they go about their daily
routine, they are surrounded by devils and angels duking it out for their
souls. For any uninitiated non-Christian
entering the church, it would certainly serve as a conversation piece and would
undoubtedly initiate a few questions.
The entire ceiling of the nave is painted in red, dark blue
and gold-leaf geometric diamond shapes with a floral motif. It reminds me a lot of an M. C. Escher
etching, only on a grand scale.
The interior of the church is decorated with so much
chromatically and emotionally overwhelming art, that after a while I am longing
for a blank wall so I can rest my eyes.
But no, there is no rest for the weary sinner in this church.
Unfortunately, photography is not allowed inside the
church, so I’m not able to capture my visual experience. There are a few interior shots here, but
they hardly do justice to the experience of seeing it live.
 |
| The Church of San Pedro Apostol de Andahuaylilla |
 |
| Artwork Around Church Entrance |
Huaro
After maybe only another fifteen minutes on the bus, we
stop again, this time at the village of Huaro to visit another church – this
one is The
Church of San Juan Bautista, similar to the Andahuaylillas church
in that it was built by Jesuits in the
1500’s. Also, like the other church, this one is filled with
murals. Over the years since the church
was built, church officials commissioned local artists to paint murals and
decorate the church. When a new composition would be painted, the artist would simply paint over the top of a preexisting
one. This continued, layer after layer,
until the last works were painted in 1802 by Tadeo Escalante. Escalante, a local artist who descended from both
Incans and Europeans, covered over ten thousand square feet of wall and ceiling
surfaces with biblical scenes in explicit and gaudy detail: Salvation, damnation, ascension, rapture,
angels, devils, and the urgent need for Christianity to save the collective
mortal soul of humanity. While this
church is similar to the Andahuaylillas church in theme and the enormous
quantity of the art, there is perhaps a more unified feeling in this church
since the bulk of the art is by one prodigious person. Escalante followed a school of Peruvian art
called “The Cusco School.” One of the
distinctive features of this school was the representation of Roman Catholic
saints in the image of indigenous Peruvians.
That style is obviously represented in the murals in Huaro and it was a
perfect style for Escalante to follow since it allowed him to remain true to
both branches of his heritage.
Once again, we do all of our photography outside since
cameras are not allowed in the church.
In addition to our photographs, Kathy does a nice sketch of the church.
 |
| Kathy's Rendering of The Church of San Juan Bautista in Huarao |
Raqchi
After spending the first half of the morning visiting Spanish
churches, our late morning stop at Raqchi is to tour ruins from the earlier
Inca era. It is interesting to remember
though, that most of these ruined Incan buildings were built just a little over
a hundred years before the Spanish churches we had just visited.
Archeologists have found evidence that there was a village
on this site prior to the Inca expansion, but it was during the Inca period
that it grew to the large and prominent outpost it was when the Spanish
arrived.
According to Inca myths, the great creator god, Wiracocha,
came to this region but the people who lived there didn’t recognize him and
attacked him. In response, Wiracocha made
fire fall from the sky to burn the land.
The people went to Wiracocha and begged his forgiveness, so he
extinguished the fires and then revealed his true identity to the people. They built a shrine on the spot where he
stood and from that point on they worshipped him and brought him offerings.
In the late 1400’s the emperor Huayna Capac
traveled through, noticed the shrine and asked about it. When the local people explained the story of
Wiracocha, he was so impressed that he dictated that a much larger place of
worship be built here.
The Temple
of Wiracocha was a huge rectangular two-story building
measuring over 300 feet long by over 80 feet wide, constructed of adobe on a
foundation of high Inca stonework. It
was the largest known building ever constructed by the Incas. In addition to the temple there were eight
rectangular buildings around a courtyard – these may have provided lodging for
travelers or perhaps they were barracks.
There were also 220 circular buildings which very likely were
storehouses. The entire complex is
surrounded by a perimeter wall about two and a half miles in length. Just beyond the wall is a dry moat to make
the complex even more defensible. The
nearby hillsides have been terraced for crops and include irrigation
channels. There is a spring that runs
through the complex and it has been enlarged to form a pool near the
temple.
The Spanish, of course, did their best to destroy all of
this, which is why the churches we have just visited are extant and this complex,
a mere 100 years older, is in ruins.
We do our best to see this huge site in the small time
we’ve been allotted. The enormous temple
is intact enough for us to appreciate its scale. The roof and interior are gone, but much of
the exterior adobe walls are still standing.
Preservationists have put terra cotta roof tiles on top of the walls to
protect them from rain. Many of the
storage structures are still partially intact, some of the perimeter wall is
standing as well, and of course the terraces remain. The courtyard is now filled with tourist stalls
and while one could view them as tawdry, they are no doubt an important part of
the local economy. I buy a ceramic soap
dish inscribed with the Southern Cross from one of the vendors.
 |
| Exterior Wall of Temple of Wiracocha at Raqchi |
 |
| Storehouses |
 |
| Temple to Wirachocha |
La
Raya Pass
We have been gradually gaining altitude during our entire
trek and by the time we stop at the town of Sicuani for lunch we’ve reached
12000 feet. After lunch our ascent
becomes more rapid and when we stop at La Raya Pass, we’ve reached over 14000
feet – the high point in our journey.
The pass is a watershed, with water flowing in one direction to the
Sacred Valley and in the other direction to Lake Titicaca. The mountain scenery here is as breathtaking
as the altitude. We drink in the view
but we are also distracted by the ubiquitous vendors selling tourist stuff. I’m pretty set on posing Madeline for a
picture with a woman and her llama and lamb.
Unfortunately, everybody else wants a picture with her too, so the line
is long, the time is short and I totally fail in this endeavor. Kathy, meanwhile is drawn in by several
vendors selling yarn. She’s captivated
by the beautiful colors and amazed by how cheap it is. She also runs out of time due to her
indecision regarding what use she would put the yarn to and how much she should
buy. After the fact she admits that
there was really no way to determine the fiber content and that it could have
all been acrylic for all she knew – the standard problem with yarn and fabrics
here. I could say with certainty that
the lamb and llama posing with the woman were garbed in 100% wool but when the
fiber isn’t directly attached to their bodies, it becomes anybody’s guess.
 |
| Scenic View of Mountains at La Raya Pass |
Pukara
We reach Pukara around 3:00, and continue to fall back in
time. The museum at this last stop
before Puno contains local artifacts that are older than anything we’ve seen
today. While it was merely an outlying
province under the Incas, Pukara was a large
population center in the Late Formative Period (500 BC- AD 200). It covered nearly 250 acres at its peak and
was home to thousands of people. The
fact that Pukara dominated or at least traded with a large region is evidenced
today by frequent discovery of pottery in the Pukara style over wide areas of
Peru and Chile.
Pukara
pottery is unique because of its style and the production techniques that were used
to make it. The pottery varies in color from dark red to brown and is painted yellow,
black, grey or red decorations set apart by narrow lines carved in the pottery.
Today, Pukara
is still renowned for its pottery. After
we’d been in Peru for a while we started to notice the two small bulls that
seemed to be on top of the roof of every house.
It turns out that these bulls are ceramic, are made by artisans in
Pukara and are called “The Two Little Bulls of Pukara” or just “The Pukara
Bulls.” These bulls are usually
displayed along with a cross, small vessels for holding chicha or coca water, and
sometimes a Peruvian flag or other iconic items. The significance of these ornaments and their
history has turned out to be difficult for me to sleuth out. Every source seems to have a different and
sometimes contradictory story.
Here’s my version of the truth on this
subject. Please don’t take this as the definitive truth. One source, after discussing this very topic,
stated that when he is in a foreign place and encounters an unfamiliar custom,
he asks the first passerby about it and then accepts that person’s explanation
as the truth. He emphasizes that it is
important never to ask more than one person, because he may encounter
disagreement and then he’s stuck doing further research. My approach differs slightly in that I have
looked at several sources and when there is disagreement, I have chosen the one
I like best. So here’s my truth:
These
bull figurines are placed on the roof to bring good luck, to insure bountiful
crops and fertile livestock, and to bring general prosperity to those who live
within the house. They are often given
as house warming presents.
The
tradition supposedly goes back to the Incas, thus it predates the Spanish and
Christianity. Obviously if that is the
case, the cross, which is an ever-present part of every display, would have
been added after the Spanish arrived. Cattle,
of course, arrived with the Spanish as well, so the bulls themselves couldn’t
have been part of the preconquest arrangement.
The Incas
did use talismans called Illas. Illas were small stylized alpacas carved in
stone. They were kept in the houses of
herdsmen, wrapped in special fabric, given food and drink as offerings, and
venerated as minor wacas or
gods. In return the Illas would engender
the fecundity of the flock and provide protection. Over time, apparently, the function of Illas
expanded to include protection of crops, and then of dwellings.
I suppose
when Spanish Catholicism became predominant, anyone who wanted to continue the
tradition of the Illas would have to do it in such a way that the Christian
rulers would find acceptable. Naturally
a display containing a cross would put a patina of respectability on this
dubious pagan tradition. And as cattle
became the de facto grazing animal, replacing alpacas, it would be natural for
bulls to replace alpacas in these displays.
Perhaps
the Christianizing of this Inca custom was not even a blatant act of subterfuge,
but simply a matter of continuing a life-long tradition by those who converted
to this new religion. Religion as it is
practiced today in Peru today is Christianity flavored with the Inca religion
that existed there before it arrived. A
prime example of this blend of religions is right across the street from the
museum in Pukara. Santa Isabel Church,
an old Spanish church built in 1767 is protected by a wrought iron fence. It is further protected by a perimeter of
pillars - each pillar is topped with little ceramic bulls. Beyond religion, Inca elements show through
the European overlay in Peruvian language, customs, cuisine, and mode of dress
and probably all other aspects of Peruvian culture. This is almost surprising considering the
time and effort the Spanish put into trying to erase all of it.
 |
| "Two Little Bulls of Pukara" on a Rooftop |
 | ||
Bulls Around Santa Isabel Church in Pukara
|
Puno
We arrive
at Terminal Terrestre, the Puno bus station around 5:30 and take a cab to our
hotel, the Hotel Casona Colon
Inn, a very nice, quaint, and historic hotel with a strange and quirky
name.
This
paragraph is entirely a digression about the hotel’s name. If you wish to continue with the last bit of
narrative for this blog post you may skip this paragraph entirely, but I really
wonder about the unfortunate
name. When I look at the English and
Spanish translations of the hotel’s website, the name is the same, so this is
not a case of some sort of mistranslation from Spanish to English. So what are they trying to tell us? Hotel and
Inn are both English words and they
both mean the same thing. Casona is essentially the Spanish
version of Hotel. So far we’ve been told that this is a
hotel. That leaves Colon. Colón, in Spanish is
the last name of Christopher Columbus, i.e. Cristóbal Colón. But this word has no tilde – so this word is
English and means "large intestine", and this, literally is the “Hotel Hotel
Large Intestine Hotel.” It really is very nice, quaint and historic! Maybe I’m missing something on the name.
Our first
impression of Puno: It seems more modern
than Cusco – the streets are wider, and the buildings are newer. But it also lacks Cusco’s charm – the streets
are wider and the buildings are newer.
Even though Puno is in the mountains, it sits on a plateau, so it’s
flat, thus there are none of the hilly cobblestone streets like we encountered
in Cusco. But of course Puno does have
Lake Titicaca, the vast high altitude lake stretching westward from Puno for
miles and miles. In general, Puno is
much less touristy than Cusco. There
aren’t throngs of tourists filling up the streets, nor are there throngs of
street vendors trying to sell stuff to tourists. It also seems like there are fewer people here
that speak English than Cusco – perhaps also related to fewer North American
tourists. We aren’t able to get
impressions beyond our first ones since evening is coming and we need to get an
early start tomorrow for our excursion across Titicaca to visit some of its
islands.
We have a
late dinner in the hotel restaurant, which is every bit as quaint and historic as
the hotel, with delicious food, and an endearingly sweet waiter who does not
speak English. We really don’t have too
much trouble communicating our order, but the trouble comes when he tries to be
conversational. I do need to point out
that while his English vocabulary is small, our combined Spanish vocabulary is
even smaller. We are stymied for a while
about one question he asks us, but finally figure out it is, “Where are you
from?” “Oh! We’re from the US,” we tell
him. He seems confused and asks, “Where
are you from?” “The US,” we say, “The
United States.” He pauses, then asks,
“Where are you from?” Maybe he wants to
know where in the United States.
“Minnesota,” we offer. A look of
confusion. “Minnesota….Center of the
country in the north.” I draw a map in
the air with my finger. “Northern Midwest.
By Canada.” He brightens. “Canada?” he ventures. “Yes, right across the border – very cold in
the winter. Brrrrr!” He smiles and leaves. I’m sure we look mildly confused. What was that all about? Our looks of mild confusion disappear immediately when
he returns and they are replaced by looks of utter and complete confusion as he
happily plants a small Canadian flag in the center of our table then wanders
away with a smile on his face. I look
around the dining room and realize that several other tables have small
national flags as centerpieces. Over
there next to the wall are the Brazilians, and a couple tables over sit the French,
and here we are, the happy Canucks, having a nice dinner at our Maple Leaf
festooned table.
But it is
a nice dinner. And it is a lovely, quaint and historic hotel. And our waiter, actually, is competent,
friendly, and very, very memorable.
No comments:
Post a Comment