Cuzco

After an exhilerating semi-cama overnight ride from Arequipa, we showed up in Cuzco - the capital of the Incan empire when the Spanish sacked it 500 years ago or thereabouts. Architecturally, downtown Cuzco is a beautiful mix of some remaining Incan structures (specifically, wildly sturdy walls built without any kind of mortar or cement) and Spanish built churches. Though sometimes it´s hard to marvel at the gold laden Spanish chapels without thinking about the incredibly cruel regime they inflicted on this continent so that they could produce these buildings - slavery, genocide, you know, lots of good stuff. (Incan history is, of course, bloody as well.)

Overall, we found the contrast between the overwhelmingly touristy downtown scene and the general poverty and destitution everywhere else in the city a bit hard to deal with. It was not a good feeling when maitre d´s would shoo away begging street kids and then apologize for the unpleasant interruption. It's hard to imagine what it's like to spend your whole life trying to sell stuff to tourists in front of fancy restaurants - being able to see heaping platter after heaping platter appear - knowing that you'll never be inside it. Of course, this doesnt only happen in Cuzco, but Latin America has some of the highest rates of income inequality in the world, and Cuzco seemed like quite the microcosm.

Here are some pics (and a drawing) from our hostal´s rooftop patio which overlooked the city, and some of Cuzco´s streets. There´s also a drawing of a llama. The llama is standing on a sidewalk because there´s a local industry of women and little girls in indigenous dress walking around the city with llamas posing for pictures, for a fee.