Wynn Anne's Meanderings: Cusco

"I know what you are up to, and I will have none of your bullshit, young lady!"
(Dog seen in Cusco)

Our first night in Cusco was really crappy (pardon the pun; you'll understand in a moment.)

We took a one-and-a-half-hour train ride then a two-hour drive in a small van to get from Aguas Calientes (the town nearest to Machu Picchu) to Cusco. That would have been fine except that, while we were in Aguas Calientes my tummy started causing intense distress.

I have colitis, so this isn't really new to me; I just knew to take my Imodium and gas pills and be near a toilet. On the train, I sipped muño tea which is supposed to be good for gastric problems. I also had access to a toilet.

The problem came when I got off the train. I used a toilet near the station (note: always bring Kleenex or toilet paper and hand sanitizer with you!) and got on our transport.

An hour into our drive, I was in agony and afraid that I would crap myself. I was full of gas, but didn't dare fart! Between panting and whimpering, I finally went up to the driver and explained that I needed the toilet (Quiero inodoro — a useful phrase to learn and one which Rosetta Stone did not teach me).

For the next 15 minutes, he pulled over at every gas station we passed; they were all closed. Finally, he suggested, "Maybe an Inca toilet?"

I immediately understood what he meant: pull over on the shoulder and go behind a bush. I said yes.

In daylight, this wouldn't be a problem, but it was pitch black out (except for the lights of the bus and I didn't want to squat in a spotlight!). I crept down a slight incline, dropped trou (as they say) and did what I came to do.

I tell you, stepping back on that bus took courage.

So.

We got to our hotel, which was charming.

Picture taking the following morning.

Our room opened directly onto the main courtyard. It was beautiful, but had very little to dampen sounds, and there were plenty:

kitchen
café
doorbell (the door to the street was locked at all times)
check-in desk
suitcase wheels
guests chatting

Of course, it finally ended, but I was so displeased at how loud it was and how long it lasted that I asked our agency to find us a new room.

No luck. It would cost us USD 200 per night to find another room.

However, the hostel did find us another room, further from the front of the hotel, which was much quieter.

So the rest of our stay was much better.

I'll try not to show you too many more "piles of rocks" (as my father-in-law jokingly calls them), but they really are interesting, so I will share some. First, though, two activities we participated in: art restoration and cooking.

Stephen all kitted up to start restoring art!

Steve's mom, Jean, had sent us a newspaper clipping about art restoration work on the Cusqueña School works. I sent the article to our tour organizer and they managed to arrange a workshop for us with a local artist who does this kind of work.

It was fascinating!

Old artworks are often damaged by smoke, dust, and simply drying out. Restoring them is a labour of love and tenderness.

A heated mixture of some kind of wax, a solvent, and water

This mixture had a pretty powerful smell, so it had to be used in a well ventilated area. This mixture was painted onto the canvas.

Already, you can see the difference it makes to the painting.
The solvent is applied to the very edge of the canvas.

Then parchment paper was placed across the canvas and the solvent was applied again.

Applied with the flat of the brush, from the centre out, to prevent bubbles.

Then, the paper was gently lifted away from the canvas and the solvent was applied for a third time.

Señor Rodrigues, the artist, and our guide/translator, Saby.

This is very careful work. You don't want to rub or go too fast.

Stephen applies a first coat.

Applying the very first coat was the easiest — there was no worry of bubbles, you just applied the solvent liberally. We all found the work was very peaceful, almost meditative.

Those are not my feet.

The parchment and canvas will stay like that for at least two days, until everything has dried.

After a tea break, we moved on to restoring an antique picture frame. It was in really rough shape.

Real gold leaf on this one, but it was so abused that much of it was flaking right off.

Again, the work was tender, but the tools were simple: a small wooden stick, like a brochette skewer or the end of a paintbrush, and a small amount of cotton batting, dipped in the solvent.

Wynn Anne at work.

The white patches in the area I worked on were actually plaster that had previously been used to restore the frame.

The frame was missing one horizontal bar. Señor Rodrigues explained that he would create a new piece, one that would complement it, but he would not try to completely replicate it. In the world of art restoration, there is a fine line between repair and forgery. That line is integrity.

Before and after.

It was incredibly delicate work — the gold leaf would flake off with the least amount of pressure.

But what a difference!

Our afternoon was free, so we stopped for lunch and finally decided to try to Cusco specialties: alpaca steak and cuy (guinea pig). The steak was nothing to write home about. A little tough, but the cuy!

Cuy (decapitated, evidently) with potatoes and some kind of corn mash.

The cuy was really dreadful: greasy, bony, dried out. But Stephen was hungry, so he ate it all.

Our next adventure in Cusco was a cooking lesson with Sela, owner and chef at Seladonia's Mesa (Seladonia's table).

Sela, standing in front of her restaurant.

Unfortunately, yesterday's guinea pig had upset Steve's stomach, so he fought nausea while we did the shopping — another market visit.

Some of the hundreds of kinds of potatoes!

This market was much like the one we saw in Lima.

Abundant fresh produce.

No room for a grocery cart here!

Cassava or yucca, in the potato family.

I think these were sheep's heads.

It was at this point that Stephen suggested that he might have to go back to the hotel. In fact, he came with us to the restaurant, but he didn't come into the kitchen and he didn't stay long.

So I had a private lesson.

Mine, on the left; Sela's on the right.

As you would expect, her technique was flawless. She minded an onion perfectly in half the time it took me to do one somewhat less perfectly.

But if you enlarge that picture and look closely at her knives, you'll see that they look to have been sharpened with a Dremel tool or something. They were, by far, the dullest knives I've worked with in a very long time.

Ingredients for our soup.
Beef tenderloin diced finely; tomato without the seeds, diced finely; onion minced
Tomato sauce, parsley or cilantro, ?, pepper, salt, an egg, angel hair pasta.

The soup was fairly straightforward and was garnished with a poached egg.

I wish I'd written down what this dish was called.

The main course was lomo saltado, sautéed beef tenderloin, a Peruvian classic.

I wish I'd taken a picture of her removing all the connective fascia from the tenderloin that was as long as her arm. She was a wizard.

Ingredients for our Lomo Saltado.
Soy sauce, tomato wedges, blue-veined potatoes, red onion wedges
minced garlic, cumin, pepper, salt, julienned sweet pepper, cubes of beef tenderloin, cilantro

The dish is sort of a beef stir-fry with a Peruvian flare. She rubbed the seasoning into the meat before putting everything (except the potatoes) into the pan.

The potatoes were pan-fried while we sauteed the beef and other vegetables.

The word sauté means jumped, and refers to the way the items in the pan "jump" as the chef tosses them. I could not do this. The best I could do was stir them. But Sela made them jump and then tipped the pan to catch the gas flame and burn off the oil.


Boeuf flambé

The result was delicious!

The potato wedges are on the left of the plate.

And now, as promised: the piles of rocks.

On our first morning in Cusco, we visited a few Inca ruins.

Beside the Saqsaywoman ruins, this terracing has not yet been restored.

One could be forgiven for thinking that the entire Andes region is just littered with Inca ruins. They seemed to be everywhere we looked!

Mortuary chamber at Q'enqo

This chamber reminded me very much of the chamber at Machu Picchu where the "important" people in Inca society were mummified.

Complete with the smoothly carved steps.

Massive rock at Saqsaywoman

We spent a good bit of time at Saqsaywoman (pronounced "sexy woman"). This is us standing in front of the largest rock on the site. One hopes that the Incans built around it!


A snake

This one had a snake carved into it.

And it would be easy to miss some other features of these piles of rocks.

Did you see it?

Surprise! It's a snake as well.

In Inca beliefs, the condor, the puma and the snake embodied the three realms: the heavens, the earthly plane, and beneath the earth. You see emblems for all three all over the place.

Calle siete culebras — street of the seven snakes; here are only a few.

At Saqsaywoman we also saw baby llamas and/or alpacas. (I don't know the difference and forgot to ask as I was overcome by all the cuteness!)

Now I want to put a pretty hat on Toby, my bichon frise!

For a small fee, this woman let us hold her baby llama (?) and take a picture.

Festive baby alpaca (?)

Our guide also pointed out these to us.

Doesn't look like much ...

These buttons were used to attach heavy plates of gold to the stones!

Heading into town, we came to the main plaza and saw more "piles of rocks," these more recent than the others.