El Día de los Muertos...

Two days after Halloween, on November 2nd, the Day of the Dead is celebrated throughout Peru.  This tradition, which is particularly strong in Mexico, is an important part of Latin American culture.  The people of Cuzco are particularly fond of this celebration as they´re still going two days later.

Today a crowd of mainly young people carried huge coffins to the door of the second largest church in the Plaza.  Once there a skeletal priest conducted a mock ceremony to the delight of the crowds.

All this under the watchful eye of a superhero standing in a niche a few feet up the front of the church.  As the frenzy of the crowd grew he addressed them passionately before jumping down, grabbing two attractive girls and leading the procession down the street.  It´s great to see the traffic stopped in its tracks for such antics.  It reminds me of a Remembrance Day ceremony at a busy crossroads in Leeds during which noisy vehicles were permitted to completely drown out the words of those speaking.  We in the UK should reclaim out streets more often!

Caballeros...

The day began with a visit to Qorikancha, the ancient capital of the Inca empire which, at the time of the Spanish conquest, was the biggest state in the Americas.  As is so often the case with colonial powers, the majority of the Inca capítal´s temples were destroyed and turned into a convent to help proselytise the indigenous population.  However, in the case of the newly created Convento de Santo Dominico, a significant part of the original temples were incorporated into the new buildings making this a unique example of syncretism.

During the afternoon some European friends and I hired some guides and horses to ride into the hills.  It´s always incredible to get higher and see Cuzco in the valley below.  On the way we visited the Temple of the Moon and the Temple of Water where ´despacho´ ceremonies were held (offerings to Pachamama).  We stopped of at a chicheria, the home of a local Quechan who makes chicha - an alcoholic drink made by fermenting corn.  After a brief encounter with Cuzco´s version of Christ the Redeemer we headed to the Fallen Angel restaurant for a great feast.  Life is good.

¡Feliz Halloween!

One of the most fascinating achievements of the Incas is their masonry.  They created walls with rounded corners from local limestone and granite.  It´s thought that they used stone, bronze and copper tools to cut huge stones into shape which fit together perfectly with no mortar.

During the earthquakes of 1650 and 1950 many of the colonial buildings collapsed but the Inca architecture survived.  These walls were built to be earthquake proof.  Instead of collapsing the stones are allowed to ´dance´ during the shaking before settling back into position.  The most famous example of such masonry is the ´12 Angle Stone´ as seen below.

The Cusqueñans certainly know how to celebrate Halloween.  Hundreds of little goblins, skeletons and characters from Sesame Street paraded the streets with their parents.  Once they´d gone home with their booty the teenagers dominated the street corners and the adults partied in the bars.  Not wanting to let the side down I got dressed up along with my amigo peruano and we spent the evening terrifying the locals.  I´m not sure how to describe our costumes, the pictures will have to do the talking.