Cusco, Peru (12/8)
With the long weekend and two days vacation, Deb and I headed to Peru. Machu Picchu was the real draw, but we spent two days in Cusco before going to these Incan ruins. Cusco, was recommended to us because you have to get accustomed to the altitude. Headaches, shortness of breath, nausea, and fatigue can all be results of drastic altitude changes. After we arrived, we learned that Cusco is actually almost 3,000 feet higher than Machu Picchu. Therefore, one could say that it cures you of your Machu Picchu altitude sickness by means of being harder on you than Machu Picchu. We experienced little problems though, thanks primarily to coca tea.
But we definitely experienced shortness of breath. We would walk up 5 or so steps then stop and pant, so that we could walk up 5 more steps and stop and pant again.
The most amazing thing about Cusco (in my mind) would have to be its architecture. The churches in their Cusqueña Barroque or Roccoco style boggled my mind. Excessive excessivism. (A shame you can't take pictures in many of these places.) These incredible cathedrals with lots of ornamentation and paintings everywhere one could squeeze a painting located in this little pueblito in the mountains. Does that seems odd to anyone? There were also other colonial, European style palaces with ornate balconies. And the central plaza was breath-taking. I was constantly in awe of the architecture.
Now, not all of Cusco is beautiful buildings. In fact, there were lots of houses of mud brick and, even some of scrap wood, tin, and cardboard. These houses showed the reality of life in Cusco for most of its population. Peru struggles with poverty on a much greater scale than Chile. It was hard for us lucky gringos to believe some of the conditions these people live in. We are lucky, and everybody there knew it. So, what did they do? Beg. About half of our "out and about" time in Cusco was spent dodging people who were begging or trying to sell us something. This was so hard for both of us. I want to help. Sometimes we gave money or bought something, but we really can't make a difference in their situation. The hardest thing for me is to see little kids begging. It's just so unfair. In Cusco there were times when I felt so overwhelmed by the number of people that attacked us I just wanted to run away. Thinking about it now depresses me.
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