The last few days have been spent taking amazing hikes into the mountains surrounding Cusco, and ferreting out seldom-visited ruins in deep canyons and remote hillsides populated by the mud houses of campesinos. Between the sheer cliffsides we are traversing and the bands of aggressive wild dogs that live in the hills, this is awesome adventure at 3,300 meters above sea level!
Today we took a bus an hour outside of Cusco and then walked 12 kilometers in the intense sun, on a dusty road winding through wheat fields in the shadow of the snow-covered Andean peaks. I took my best photos yet. Eventually, we arrived at an active salt mine called Maras, which is among the most amazing places I´ve visited so far on this trip. Salt terraces are carved right into the mountainside, and you can walk on narrow pathways all throughout the site. The colorful combinatin of rich brown dirt, pure white of the salt, trickling streams, and clear blue sky was amazing. We hitched a ride back to the highway from a Brazilian tourist, and rode the packed bus back to town.
One highlight from yesterday was visiting the Coca Shop. This is a socially conscious business that is trying to give coca farmers an alternative to selling their harvests to the cocaine industry. They pay a fair price to the farmers, and then make teas, chocolates, ice creams, and other products using coca. The topic of coca production is very hotly contested here. Chewing the leaves or making them into tea is not at all like using cocaine, it´s more like caffeine. These leaves have long been used by indigenous peoples in traditional ceremonies, and can even serve as a form of currency--they are considered very sacred. Nonetheless, the government, partially due to pressure from the United States, is trying to ferret out the small coca farmers and put them out of business. Of course what this effectively does is remove competition from the large, wealthy cocaine manufacturers, who are paying large bribes to the goverment and the DEA, and who are the ones that are involved in nacrotrafficking--they are virtually unaffected by the laws. The smaller producers oftentimes have nothing to do with the cocaine industry, but they are the ones most vulnerable to government measures--and because the government is not helping to create alternative industries, these laws are taking away their only form of livelihood. The government is also interested in erradicating small-scale coca farming because it is something that is very important to the indigenous culture, and the government has not historically been interested in supporting the cultural identity of indigenous communities. Thus this criminalization of coca is seen by many as a form of cultural genocide. A much more complex topic than it seems at first...
Another note for anyone thinking of traveling to Peru: the food is awesome. Every meal has been delicious. Each morning we go to the market and get fresh juice. I ate prickly pear for the first time today. The other day it was Pedro´s birthday, and his friend Elias taught me how to make pollo a la huiancana (sp?), a traditional chicken dish with a sauce made of aji (Peruvian hot pepper), condensed milk, and saltine crackers. No, I am not kidding. And yes, it was delicious. For desert, we sat around and played guitar and sang Bob Marley songs. No matter where you go in the world, everyone seems to know Bob.
And for anyone thinking of traveling in general: wool is the Way. I have been wearing the same shirt for three days, and it doesn´t even smell!! And with that lovely image for you, I´ll sign off....
How can you be sure it doesn't smell. You might be the last to know.
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