Peru 2015: Sacred Valley/Pisaq (10, 11 December 2016)

     I stayed in a sharing community called Namaste House near San Blas Plaza. It was interesting because it is like an ultra cheap version of a hostel with travellers sharing stories with one an other. Also, vegetarians were encouraged and sometimes the hosts' friends would come over and have some interesting conversations and activities. Also, only vegetarian food was allowed to prepare. There also a dog that followed Damodhar Priya, the owner of the house, around.

     I asked my housemates in Namaste about Pisaq because it seemed to be a fairly large and interesting place on the other parts of Sacred Valley and it is easily accessible from Namaste House as well. I took a colectivo from Cusco, and it took about 45 minutes to Pisaq. I took off at about 9 in the morning, and I figured it would took almost half a day to see. The trip was not a disappointment, and in fact, I thought I had found some hidden gems.

The farm terrace

     Pisaq is a small town in the Sacred Valley, situated on the Urubamba River and it is northeast of Cusco. There is a large craft market, as well as there are ruins on the north side of the city. I was more interested into the ruin because the stuff that the markets sell are kind of generic and I had no idea which merchandise are good or not good.

The huge market

Clouds over hut

  







    The ruin is the mountain that overlooked the city from about 400 meters high. It was said that there were several cities there. There were some forts, tunnels, castle, and farm terraces on the hill. I was exhausted and there were a few showers along the way. I came across with some road workers and they shared some bread with me and we had some chats. It took me about another hour to climb to the top, and there was a few ruins that were quite scenic.

The Sacred Valley

The fort

     I spent about five hours walking on the top and I came across with different people. I took a less scenic and more quiet route downhill, and recorded some videos for my friend (for those who know me, they will know who I am talking about). I made it to the market and was a recommended to buy my lunch from a lady who harvests her only flower for her Menu of the Day. It was really yummy and the soup was excellent too. Market food are some of the better experience in dining in Peru. Usually the price is very fair and those ladies could make amazing homemade meals.

The delicious creamy rice and squash

     After that, I took another colectivo back to Cusco. I took some rest, and headed to Avenida del Sol for the coca ice cream and the traditional show at Centro Qosqo de Arte Nativo. I almost cried in tears when I heard El Condor Pasa played the 11 men orchestra.

The 11 piece orchestra at Nativo

Coca ice cream!

Thoughts on April and the Extraordinary World (Avril et le monde truqué)

   April and the Extraordinary World (French: Avril et le monde truqué) is an adventure cartoon which has some science fiction and steam punk element. It was produced by the same production team as Persepolis, an autobiopic about the life a Iranian-French artist Marjane Satrapi.

   The film was set in a 'what-if' scenario in the following two conditions: 1) oil was never discovered; and 2) the brilliant physicists in the last half of 19th century were abducted. The story was set in the 1940's and Paris was filled with soots that were released because of coal burning in the cities. Arvil, the protagonist, was a teenager and the only child of scientist family linage.

    Avril's parents invented a serum that could give eternity to all kind of lives, as a result, the authoritarian and oppressive regime of Napoleon V, was after them so he could become the king forever. Avril lived in a solitary after her parents were apparently electrocuted by a strange cloud. A talking cat, Darwin, was her only friend.

    The adventure story began there and the story was a fair pace. I liked the imagination of the author of the original comic, Jacques Tardi. I am not going to spoil more on the movie so I'll stop here. Here is the trailer: