Category Archives: Unique Places

Warning: this post is not going to give you anything except a starting point for figuring out something on your own. One day I’ll explain — I’ve already discussed it in a past post — but not today.

These two panels can be found on either side of the entrance to the Templo del Triunfo which is the south chapel of Cusco’s Cathedral. They’re about 2 meters tall and are generally ignored by everyone from tourists to locals.

For some reason, yesterday evening I noticed something that caught my attention because I’d noticed it before inside the Cathedral. I walked back to the other panel and, sure enough, there is was again.

I began to scan the outside of the Cathedral and was able to find 16 others! As I walked to the front of the Cathedral, I studied it’s facade and found another 27! On a previous visit inside the Cathedral itself, I’d counted well over 100.

Even more fascinating was noting that the northern chapel, the Capilla de la Sagrada Familia, had absolutely none on it’s facade.

None of these appear by coincidence. I was able to confirm that with the Cathedral’s “professor” once who was kind enough to take me on a special tour of some of the church’s hidden secrets. His knowing smile when he realized I’d stumbled on perhaps it’s most important “secret” was one of my proudest moments.

I’m not going to answer any questions or respond to comments, but I can assure that what I noticed last night is, indeed, the most significant part of the Cathedral’s design and perhaps represents the most important part of Cusco’s religious history. (That’s a hint, by the way.)

Can you see what they have in common and, even more importantly, do you know the significance?

[The Cathedral has a lot of fascinating things to learn and is one of my favorite places to spend time. Sadly, no photography is allowed, but it’s a rule I certainly can understand. I can’t recommend enough taking a long, slow walk through the Cathedral if you have the chance.]

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This morning I finally got away from the computer around 8 am and walked down to the bus stop to catch a ride up to the village of Huayllarcocha where I often start hikes up into the mountains above Cusco.

It’s been awhile since I’m quite nervous about riding buses during the current second wave of COVID, but I figured the bus would be almost empty as no would be leaving the city that time of the morning.

The people of Huayllarcocha are a bit jaded towards tourists. I’m sure, like many villages in the region, they have experienced the stereotypical “ugly” tourist too many times and usually aren’t all that friendly as I pass through their pueblo on my way up. Strangers in the time of a pandemic make them even more wary.

Still, like almost everyone around here, a smile (even under a mask) and friendly words will usually quickly disarm even the most hardened campesino.

On the way out of town I encountered a really large herd of sheep. Usually the shepherds aren’t particularly talkative, but when I told the two ladies that there was a lot of traffic today they both laughed heartily!

[Be sure to click on all the photos t see larger versions!]

A little farther up on the edge of town is a place where I usually have to deal with a dog or two. This time a rather large dog came running out of one house, but his tail was wagging and he nearly jumped on me to get scratched. Even his less-than-friendly partner eventually succumbed and let me scratch him behind his ears.

As I was walking off, an old campesina woman came out and asked something about me taking pictures. I told her I was going into the mountains for photos and asked if the dog was hers. She said yes and I told her he was very friendly and we were friends now. She immediately broke out in a big smile!

I was surprised at how few people I saw in the mountains, though I really wasn’t up there for a long time as I’ll explain later.

The scenery was spectacular and the weather couldn’t have been better. I actually saw several flocks of sheep with shepherds and their dogs walking behind. The dogs can prove to be a problem at times if you get too close to the flock as they are often very protective and aggressive.

One of my purposes in hiking to this particular area is to look for signs of pre-Inca sites that riddle the mountains to the north of Cusco. I was not disappointed.

To be honest, I’ve seen this site before, but it’s still fascinating and I did find some new parts. Sadly, huaqueros (treasure hunters) have cleaned out every place in the area so there’s nothing much to see except scattered stones and the dugouts where those early people lived.

While I’ve found a handful of tools around these sites in the past, I still haven’t come across any pieces of pottery. Anything that would be found today would have been buried and uncovered by erosion in recent times.

I did come across a unique stone that I can’t explain. At first I thought it was a piece of pottery but it was relatively thick. What caught my eye was a pair of lines running down it’s length. While one was not perfectly straight, the other could have been drawn using a ruler.

There’s probably an simple and uninteresting explanation, but I have no idea. Any thoughts?

The rolling mountains above Huayllarcocha have a number of small lagunas that provide water for a great deal of bird life. During the winter months than can be dry, but this time of the year they tend to be quite full and often are full of birds. Ducks and occasionally large Andean geese are common.

I was very surprised to see quite a few fields of crops at 13,000′ in altitude. I recognized a large number of potato fields, but some, like the field in the photo below, I didn’t know. (Perhaps they are another variety of potato as not much grows at that altitude.) I was even more surprised to not see a single farmer up there.

After a couple of hours exploring off trail, I eventually came about a meandering “road” that wound it way through the mountains, but I was only able to follow it a short time before some dark clouds began to loom behind the mountains ahead. Knowing the possibility of rapidly developing thunderstorms and deadly lightning I decided it was time to head back down the mountain.

(In fact, dark clouds full of thunder and lightning have made their way over Cusco as I write this.)

On my way back I came across an interesting sight — Andean ichu grass that I’ve frequently found woven as it grows from the ground. I have no idea what is the purpose, but this grass is famous for it’s strength and it still used to make ropes to support bridges as it was centuries ago.

On one hilltop, away from any path, I came upon a rather high apacheta. These are traditional cairns that have been used by Andean peoples for centuries as a way of showing respect to the apus, or sacred mountains. This was perhaps the highest one I have ever seen. It was in a place where I doubt any tourists ever come so I feel fairly certain it’s authentic.

This is one of my favorite places to walk in the whole region. Besides being far away from anyone except the occasional shepherd or farmer, usually all that can be heard is the sound of the wind, Andean birds, the distant bleating of sheep, and sometime a donkey faintly braying in the distance in one of the villages below.

The sense of being in a place that hasn’t changed much in thousands of years is strong up there. It’s even stronger when standing over places that used to be homes to the ancient peoples who occupied these mountains centuries before the Incas ever existed.

Indeed, it’s easy to understand that life probably hasn’t really changed a lot in all that time.

I hope you enjoyed this little piece. If so, please leave a comment and use the follow button to be notified when I do more posts.

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Early this morning I headed up into the mountains above my home to do some filming and use my Mavic Air 2 drone which has been sitting inside for quite awhile during the rainy season.

It was an overcast, dreary day, but I was tired of putting it off. Of course, about the time I got up where I wanted to start, a light rain began to fall!

I managed to get in some interesting shots and even filmed a little with my drone during a slight break in the rain, but it quickly increased enough to call it a day and send me back down the mountain in the light rain all the way.

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