Puno woman passes

Puno woman passes

something nice for the traveler -- 

beyond the door, empty

This woman is wearing traditional Puno attire, a bowler hat perched and tilted forward on her braided hair, a colorful woven shawl for carrying everything, and a full, brightly colored skirt. The sign above the doors advertises in icons all the amenities available in the hotel: bed, television, shower (presumably with hot water), telephone, food, internet access and laundry. Munay Tambo in Quechua means "something nice for the traveler." However, beyond the doors all of these amenities have disappeared while the hotel is being completely reconstructed. The woman continues unchanged in her traditional ways while the modern hotel catering to passing tourists undergoes major changes.

a girl with a michi

a girl with a michi

asleep on her lap as she

meditates by the lake

This contented cat is the one who greeted us when we disembarked on one of the Uros Islands in Lake Titicaca. Michi is the Quechua word for cat, amazingly similar to the sound used to call a cat in French, mish mish. Camila is the daughter of Qoa, on of our Inka shaman guides. Qoa is quite accomplished in martial arts and Camilita is following in his footsteps. Here she shows the meditation aspect essential for true self-mastery, she and the cat merging in one serene unity.

an earthenware bowl

 
an earthenware bowl

of sopa de kinwa y choclo

with mate de coca

Peruvians have a genuine ethnic cuisine based on many indigenous ingredients. Everything has a distinct, delicious flavor. Maybe it's the soil combined with organic farming. The midday meal begins with sopa, followed by salada, then the main course and dessert. At this restaurant in Pisaq, the soup is made with kinwa and choclo, and we can choose mate de coca or fresh lemonade. Kinwa (quinoa), choclo (a type of maize), and coca were all considered sacred by the Inkas, who used them in their ceremonies, and they are still used in this manner by indigenous Andeans. The word kinwa means "moon" in Quechua, and the cooked seeds do look like little moons and crescents. The Inkas called it chisaya mama, "the mother of grains." The Inka emperor traditionally sowed the first seeds of the season using a gold implement. The Spanish conquistadors forbade the cultivation of quinoa due to its association with non-Christian ceremonies. Technically a seed, it has more protein than any grain. Gluten free, it is easy to digest and has a nutty flavor. Choclo has large pale yellow kernels. Very popular boiled on the cob, it also has a nutty flavor. Mate de coca is made from coca leaves. Indigenous people chew the leaves as a stimulant, forming a wad in the cheek. Everyone in Peru consumes it as a tea, which tastes like green tea, slightly bitter. It is held to be especially beneficial to health altitudes, so we drink a lot of mate de coca.

on the Puno dock

on the Puno dock

a couple in black, white, red

apart, together

As we hurry to board a boat waiting to ferry us to Isla Amantani, this couple attracts my attention. From their attire they seem to be from Amantani or one of the other Quechua-speaking islands on Lake Titicaca. They appear to be together, yet separated by the black post. He leans against the post, head inclined toward her, while she leans on the railing on the other side, head slightly turned in his direction. I wonder what they might be murmuring to each other on this crowded dock, or perhaps they are communing in silence.

on a boat of reeds

on a boat of reeds

playful tabby cat chasing

the end of a rope

On our way across Titicaca to Isla Amantani, we stop at one of the Islas Uros, docking alongside the floating island. A line of singing, dancing women greets us, and a friendly gray tabby cat. The cat looks like one of our cats back home, though much smaller, and I feel happy to see a cat in Peru for the first time. While we sit on reed benches on a floor of reed mats for a presentation about the reed islands, the cat visits us, cuddling on each cat-lover's lap before being passed on. When we board one of the large reed boats, the cat jumps on board and entertains us by chasing a rope.

four golden cheese wheels

four golden cheese wheels

glowing in a dark little shop

beckon me inside

On the way back from Pisac to Cusco, we stop in a village for snacks at a store catering to tourists. While everyone else is busy buying bottled water, alpaca caps and seed jewelry, I wander outside. Something bright catches my eye in a dark, empty little shop. Two golden wheels of cheese are laid out on a red-trimmed white cloth, like an offering, on top of a glass case containing two more wheels, preserved like precious gems. The strong contrast in illumination, light against dark, reminds me of the chiarascuro still life paintings of the Renaissance and I feel like I've stepped back several hundred years in time.

inside turquoise doors

inside turquoise doors 

a little boy peers out as

his brother runs to school

Traveling on yet another bus, tired but unwilling to take my eyes off the passing scenery, I keep glimpsing fleeting moments of beauty. I keep my camera turned on and raised to the window. Somewhere between Urubamba and Ollantaytambo, I spot a little boy in a blue school uniform and backpack leaping away from a pair of turquoise doors. When I look at the frozen moment on the view screen, I notice the other little boy peeping from behind the closed door, perhaps wistfully watching his older brother run off to school.

temple of the moon

temple of the moon –

Pachamama murmuring

in the waterfall

Amaru, our Inka guide, has been leading us to places very few people ever visit, and the Temple of the Moon is one of my favorites. This ancient temple to Pachamama, Earth Mother, sits high on a hill, miles from anywhere, guarded by an apu, a mountain spirit. The bus toils up a muddy road and gets stuck three axles deep in a cow pasture. We climb the rest of the way to the site, where Amaru, a yachac or medicine man, performs a ceremony to allow us to enter the stone walls enclosing the sacred fajcha, Pachamama's waterfall, cascading at the far end. It is beginning to rain. Most of the group seeks shelter under some huge boulders to meditate, but I sit on a little bridge over the stream pouring down into the fajcha, with rain pattering down my poncho. Afterwards, I descend to the pool below the waterfall, step up to the falls and thrust my whole body into the cold, rushing water, which nearly knocks me off my feet. I emerge, completely soaked, my whole being resonating with the murmuring of Pachamama. When we return to the bus, local campesinos have failed to extricate it with shovels and stones, so we hike down to the highway to wait for another bus to pick us up. I am cold and wet but completely happy.

on Titicaca

on Titicaca

a pair of towers – red rock,

white cumulus cloud

The clouds of the high altiplano of Peru are magnificent, huge, ever changing. We spent the afternoon on an isolated beach at Lake Titicaca. The half-moon of sand curved below cliffs of red rock. At one end towered this castle and at one point I glanced up to see a cumulus cloud mimicking the castle. The castle made of rocks will stand unmoving for many years, overlooking the lake, while the cloud made of water vapor will quickly move on, crossing the wide expanse of water.

whether unmoving

whether unmoving

or moving, the triciclo

bears its heavy load

These ingenious "green" vehicles are found everywhere in Peru, used for transporting both goods and people. This tirciclo in Pisac, piled high and parked half on the cobblestone street and half on the flagstone sidewalk, seems to be waiting for someone to come out from that open door.

by the half-moon door

by the half-moon door

lemony angel's trumpet

spiraling outward

These beautiful flowers grow wild on small trees all over the Andes. This particular tree is growing in a small courtyard of a restaurant in Puno, just outside the toilet with its half-moon door. The pendulous flowers in all stages of opening are quite enchanting, plus they also give off a delicate, slightly lemony fragrance, especially in the evening. Lovely to look at but they can be deadly to ingest. All parts of the plant are extremely poisonous for both humans and animals. Merely touching eyes after touching the plant can cause pupil dilation. Amazonian shamans ritually consume Brugmansia for its powerful hallucinogenic effects, but since the toxicity is variable, this can prove to be fatal.

Sacsayhuaman

Sacsayhuaman –

puma's head and zigzag teeth

guard llama herders

Sacsayhauman Temple, on the outskirts of Cusco, was dedicated to the Andean deity Illapa, the Ray of Lightning, an important symbol in agricultural rituals. For this reason, the outer walls of the temple were built in three zigzag tiers, representing lightning. Begun in the 15th century, the temple took a century to build. The massive stones fit together like a giant jigsaw puzzle, with no visible gap between the blocks. Amaru, our Inka yachac guide, tells us this was done by shamanic powers, and it is easy to believe this when you touch the stones. The original temple is said to be the head of the puma, the female Inka deity. These female Inka descendents still graze their llamas on the steep slopes, observing tourists as curiously as we observe them.

the blind harpist plays

the blind harpist plays 

celestial music above
the noise of travelers

From the bus parking lot at Ollantaytambo, it's a long, gradual descent by foot to the train station to wait for the train to Aguas Calientes. Near the bottom of the hill the path makes a turn to the left and there is a little stall where an elderly woman is selling bottled water, dried corn and various snacks. Her son sits to one side of the counter, plucking and strumming his harp. Although blind, he is wearing a colorful red bandana and blue checked shirt. His sensitive ears must hear the travelers hauling their bags past him, but he seems to be playing more to himself than to any earthbound creatures.

the ancient doorway

the ancient doorway

witnesses many moving 

forms quickly passing

This stone doorway in the colonial town of Pisac may be hundreds of years old, though not as old as the Inka fortress overlooking the village. The weather-beaten wooden door may not be as old as the stone arch, but even so it has probably stood far longer than any of the passers-by moving quickly in their lively costumes.

between turquoise lake

between turquoise lake

and towering white clouds, a door

of bright baby blocks

Of all the amazing doors I have seen in Peru, this one is the most spectacular, all the more so because of the simple setting, a cracked adobe wall halfway up the path to the Temple of Pachatata at the top of one of the two mountains on the island of Amantani. It often seems that the more barren the landscape, the more colorful the costumes and decorations, and this is certainly the case in the dress and decor on this rocky island. Other doors on Amantani are painted in bright monotones, but none of them are as graphic and eye-popping as this one of bright blue baby blocks.

the young llama spits

 

the young llama spits

at strangers, returns a hug

with a gentle nuzzle

On the way from Cusco to Puno, we stop at a restaurant in the middle of nowhere. While we wait for the cooks to prepare a buffet for our group, we are entertained by this friendly little boy and his pet llama. The llama, tied in a tangle of rope, spits at one of us. But when the his little friend runs up, the llama returns his hug with a loving nuzzle.

on the isle of love

on the isle of love

a moon-faced baby peers out 

from his ruffled cap

On Isla Amantani I fell in love with this little boy, son of the family who run the hostel we stayed in. This circular island in Lake Titicaca is also called Isla Kantuta, after the national flower that grows here. Amaru, our Inka shaman guide, calls it the Love Island, because of the pair of peaks, each with an ancient temple on top to Pachamama, Earth Mother, and Pachatata, Earth Father. I saw evidence of this love theme in the heart shape set in the center of the white window grilles on the adobe houses. The costumes of the women and children are very bright, with multicolored embroidered skirts, blouses and shawls. In contrast, the men wear black pants, vest and hat with a white shirt. Unmarried children wear ruffled stocking caps, the boys with a white background and the girls in brown, both knit with colorful designs. This baby boy is obviously loved by his entire extended family and charmed us all.

a fisherman hoists

a fisherman hoists

his heavy net on his boat,

slowly rows away

Amaru, our Inka shaman guide, stops at the open air market on our way to Lake Titicaca to purchase ingredients for a picnic at Castle Beach. It's hard work carrying the heavy boxes and bags down the steep, rocky hill to the beach. We pitch in to slice ripe avocados and tomatoes, which Amaru stuffs into pocket bread, sprinkled with olive oil and oregano. Our fingers drip with slices of ripe mango, chunks of a gigantic papaya, gelatinous grenadia (misleadingly referred to as snot fruit), delicious pears and melons. While we are gorging on this feast, a fisherman rows up to one end of the half-moon beach. His nets are spread out to dry on the smooth, sloping rocks. Patiently he tugs and hauls and folds and rolls one big net, lifts the heavy burden and wrangles it onto the bow of his boat. He pushes the boat into the water, hops in and rows off across the wide waters, bent on catching fish.

the deep blue waters

the deep blue waters

of rock puma lake lapping

earth mother's fingers

Amaru, our Inka shaman, tells us that Titicaca means Rock Puma. This massive lake, which sits at 3,800 m (12,500 ft), is sacred to indigenous Andeans, who believe that Viracocha, the creator, brought light to the world by raising Manco Capac, the sun, and his half-sister wife, Mama Ocllo, from the lake into the sky. These amazing rocks at Castle Beach look like porpoises or blue whales covered with barnacles. The rocks are actually red but the mottled coating of lichens and the light reflecting from the deep azure water makes them look mauve. I walked barefoot along the rocky shore for hours in the sun, which beat down with a fierce intensity at this high altitude. I slathered sunblock on my face but foolishly neglected my winter-pale feet. I woke up at night with my feet on fire, wishing I could soak them in that cold water again.

a man in a green

a man in a green

poncho pushes a wheelbarrow

past the blue school gate

On the steep streets of Aguas Calientes beyond the train tracks, there are no cars, no trucks, no mototaxis, not even triciclos, the three-wheel bike taxis. Wheelbarrows are the main mode for transporting goods. Everything about this tiny town is colorful: the school's bright blue gate and yellow walls painted with murals, the man's grass-green rain poncho, even the plastic bags bulging with potatoes.

two girls with backpacks

two girls with backpacks

under a red umbrella

entering Machu Picchu

These two girls in blue uniforms with red and white stripes, walking in step arm-in-arm under a red umbrella with ears, seem to be entering a magic gateway into Machu Picchu. Their hometown, Aguas Calientes, also known as Machu Picchu Pueblo, is the junction point for travelers going to and from the ruins. A tiny town, it sits between two rushing rivers in a deep gorge below the ancient site. Trains run through the town, but no cars are allowed. If you walk to the top of this steep street, past shops and street vendors, you will find the hot springs for which the town is named.

afternoon rain shower

afternoon rain shower –

waiting under umbrellas

for school gate to open

Sitting at a table outside a restaurant in Aguas Calientes, across from a school, we watch as a sudden rain shower sends everyone on the street scurrying for cover. One little boy runs up to the blue school gate, hunched up, hugging the wall. He is soon joined by a group of boys and then a woman who seems to be a teacher. None of them have umbrellas. After awhile, the gate opens and lets them in. Then parents begin arriving, carrying umbrellas and holding the hands of young children. They wait a long time. Finally, the gate opens and the crowd disperses.

the blind musician

the blind musician

patiently plays his flute for

an empty white cup

This blind musician was sitting on a busy street in Puno with people rushing by, completely ignoring him. He was playing such soulful music, so I stopped to listen and put a coin in his white cup. He stopped playing to scoop up the coin and pocket it. I wanted to hear more, so with my limited Spanish I asked, "Musica, por favor." And he immediately began playing again.

cold night in Puno

cold night in Puno –

the beggar shares her blanket

with her two best friends

The sign propped up next to this woman sitting on the street on a cold night in Puno explained that she was handicapped and needed help. I thought the red band around her head meant she was blind and these were her seeing-eye dogs, or guard dogs, or both. The dogs seemed utterly content, one curled up against her, the other wrapped in their thin blanket. When I approached, she did not hold out her hand and only the dog on her lap lifted his head to gaze at me. I put three soles, about one dollar, in her white cup, one for each of them, hoping it would help a little with food.

on her home of reeds

on her home of reeds –

reed floor, reed walls, reed fuel –

the cook fries flat bread

The clay cook stove with its clay pots sits in the open, fueled by dry totora reeds, since no fires are allowed inside the huts made of reeds. The Uros cook wears her hair in long braids ending in huge tassels called t'ikas. The style of her hat, colorful jacket and full skirt, perhaps even the tassels are traditional attire for the women of the floating islands. In addition to frying flat bread, the cook is boiling some small fish. Most of the fish in Lake Titicaca are imports, rainbow trout from Canada and king fish from Argentina, which have overtaken the native fish. Tourists are another invasive species, but we are greeted warmly, ushered in twos and threes inside their tiny homes, then led by the hand to the crafts spread out for sale on the yielding ground of floating reeds.

on Islas Uros

on Islas Uros

rowboat tied to the floating

totora reed island

On our three-hour boat ride from Puno to Isla Amantani on Lago Titicaca, we stopped at one of the Islas Uros, the floating islands made from totora reeds. The Uros people literally live on the abundant reeds they gather from the shallows, construcing islands from cross-hatched layers of reeds and replenishing them as the bottom rots. The Uros also build their huts from reeds, so tightly woven that few drops of rain make it through the thick thatch. A family of four or five sleeps on reed beds that take up most of the hut. Flames of any kind are not allowed inside, so most activities take place in the open area in front of the circle of huts. The Uros also build large boats from bundles of reeds. They even eat the reeds, peeling the white base. Nowadays they fabricate crafts from reeds for the tourist trade. It is said that the Uros retreated to these islands to avoid the incursions of Callos and Incas. Now, few pure-blood Uros remain, due to intermarriage with the neighboring Ayamara. The island we visited has a solar panel, so the islanders have a television and, of course, the ubiquitous cell phone.

Andean musicians

 











 
Andean musicians,

masters of many instruments,

play with all their heart

These two musicians entertain us with pre-Columbian huaynos as we dine at a restaurant in Urubamba. They call their group Pachamama, the Earth Mother. Their lively, rhythmic music is both earthy and heavenly, interwoven with the pulsating vibrations from their hearts. Yuri is playing zamponas, pan pipes, and the guitar at the same time. He also plays a traditional wooden flauta, flute. His partner is playing a wankara, a large drum made from a hollowed tree trunk covered with stretched goatskin, formerly used in battles. Andean musicians use a wide range of  instruments with melodious names: bastos, maltas, chilles, quenas, quenachos, chacchas, okarinas, charango, pitos, phunas, digeridoos, yembes, pututus.

Ollantaytambo

Ollantaytambo

vendor taking siesta

in her tiny stall

The narrow cobblestone streets of Ollantaytambo have been continuously occupied since the thirteenth century, a living example of Inka city planning, including irrigation channels running along each steep street. In the noisy central market, I catch this woman taking a nap in her little stall, her head leaning against a big bottle of Coca Cola.

city of crystal

city of crystal

jigsaw puzzle granite walls

pot of red flowers 

Before I came to Peru, I had seen many photos of Machu Picchu, but it is impossible in a photo to convey the impact of the full panorama. Every angle unfolds a new perspective. This view, though two-dimensional, encompasses a bit of everything, from biggest to smallest. A veil of clouds obscures the mountains in the background, emphasizing the giant peak of Wayna Picchu, towering over the ruins. In the foreground, the gray thatch, made from once-living reeds, contrasts with the gray stone, which resonates with the liveliness of embedded quartz. Finally, the vibrant red flowers pop out in the center of all the grays and greens. That spot of red is like the bindu point, the beginning of creation.

at Machu Picchu

at Machu Picchu

baby llama cropping grass

by ancient stone wall

I love rocks, especially ones seeded with crystals, and I love llamas, especially this striking baby with its black face, white neck and fawn body. I also love the contrast between the stone wall, standing for centuries, and the young llama, descendent of ancestors who have roamed these mountains even longer.

Pachatata temple

Pachatata temple –

Amaru, Cosmic Serpent,

hails the rising sun

When I wake up in the middle of the night, it is raining. My first thought is one of relief. Rain means we won't be getting up at 4:00 to climb five hundred feet in the dark to Pachatata temple at the top of the island in order to witness sunrise. My clock battery died so I have no idea what time it is, but I need to make a necessary visit to one of the two toilets that serve the entire hostel. I grope for my headlamp and pull on my alpaca sweater, cross the courtyard, climb several slick stone steps and pass the communal sink. The toilets are lit by one candle placed on the divider between the two. The hospedaje perches halfway up Amantani Island, which rises a thousand feet above the lake. At 12,500 feet, Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world. It seems like only moments after I crawl back in bed before I hear a knock at the door. It has stopped raining and Amaru and Qoa, our Inka guides and medicine men, are ready to lead the way to the temple. I think about sleeping in, but when will I ever get a chance like this again? Fortunately, the path to the peak is paved with large flagstones. Last night we watched the locals, women and men, hauling these forty pound stones carried in bright square cloths on their backs up to the top in order to extend the path. The rest of the group takes off, leaving me alone with Qoa, who stays behind me, patiently waiting while I stop every few paces to catch my breath. We pass through several stone archways, each portal representing a chakra and a stage of initiation. When we finally reach the summit, we walk around a large square stone wall set with simple wooden gates. Pachatata, Earth Father, presides over this temple, while Pachamama, Earth Mother, has her own temple on an adjoining peak. Qoa asks us to stop, close our eyes and then walk forward, without fear, then stop again while he does a ceremony to allow us to enter the sacred space. At the eastern gate Amaru ties on his beaded yachac headdress, then sets about creating a beautiful mandala with red flowers forming a double heart and a solid circle of yellow flowers in the center for the sun. He leads us in several ceremonies, ending by playing his flute as the sun rises. Amaru means Cosmic Serpent and Qoa means Cosmic Puma. Malku, another of our Inka yachac friends, is named for the Cosmic Condor. These three animals form the triumvirate in the Inka spiritual realm. Their forms appear to me as I sit in meditation. Amaru says they are the guardians of these sacred sites.