Last night, we ate Alpaca steak in Cuzco. It is very similar to beef actually and quite yummy!
I´ve had guinea pig, alpaca, what next?
This morning we made our way north of Cuzco by foot to visit the ruins. Our trek started off with a 100ft flight of stairs up to the road! We were so out of breath.. even walking up a small hill kills you!
The ruins were pretty impressive, nothing spectacular. I think we are too excited about Machu Picchu to appreciate anything else, to be honest! We got some pretty pictures and met some cool llamas or maybe they were alpacas. It was very funny, because I got close to one to take a picture and then Liv tried.. but he spat on her!!! We named him Maurice!
After the last ruin, we waited for a bus to take us up to Pisac, which never came, so we hitch hicked . Yes it was safe!
Pisac is a cute little town with a busy market on the main square. I bought a small silver pendant of Tumi. Google it! It is much more expensive than Cuzco though, funnily enough!
I´m trying to book the train from Ollantaytambo to Machu Picchu for tomorrow night as well as a hostal for tomorrow night, so will update you soon!
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Hier soir, on a mangé du Alpaca. Ca a pratiquement le meme gout que du boeuf, tres bon!
Alors, j´ai mangé du cochon d´inde, de l´alpaca, quoi encore?
Ce matin, on a visité les ruines au Nord de Cuzco. On a commencé notre marché avec des escaliers d´une centaines de metres de haut pour arriver a la route! Facile! On était tellement essouflée.. un tout petit effort fatigue trop ici!
Les ruines étaient intéressantes, rien de plus. Je pense qu´on est trop excitée pour le Machu Picchu pour apprecier les autres ruines! On a pris de belles photos et on a rencontré des llamas ou peut-etre c´étaient des alpacas. C´était assez drole, car je me suis approchée pour prendre une photo et apres Liv a essayé et il lui a craché dessus! On l´a nommé Maurice!
Apres les ruines, on a attendu le bus pour monter a Pisac, mais il n´est jamais venu. Donc on a fait du stop. Sans soucis!
Pisac est une belle petite ville avec un marché sur la place principale. J´ai acheté un petit pendentif en argent de Tumi. Google! C´est vachement plus cher ici comparé a Cuzco bizarrement.
Maintenant, j´essaye de reserver des places pour le train de Ollantaytambo a Aguas Caliente et un hostal pour demain soir, donc je vous laisse!
Bienvenu Eric, Stéphanie et les enfants! :)
"The Tumi is a sacrificial ceremonial knife distinctly characterized by a semi-circular blade, made of either bronze, copper, gold-alloy, wood, or silver alloy usually made of one piece and used by some Inca and pre-Inca cultures in the Peruvian Coastal Region. In Andean mythology, the Moche, Chimu and Incas were descendants of the Sun, which had to be worshiped annually with an extravagant celebration. The festival took place at the end of the potato and maize harvest in order to thank the Sun for the abundant crops or to ask for better crops during the next season. During this important religious ceremony, the High Priest would sacrifice a completely black or white llama. Using a tumi, he would open the animal's chest and with his hands pull out its throbbing heart, lungs and viscera, so that observing those elements he could foretell the future. Later, the animal and its parts were completely incinerated.
ReplyDeleteOther Andean cultures such as the Paracas have used the tumi for the neurological procedure of skull trepanation. Many of these operations were carefully performed, suggesting that the surgery was done for the relief of some body disturbance other than that associated with injury, perhaps an organic or mental condition.
On November 21, 2006, archaeologists announced that they had unearthed 22 graves in northern Peru containing pre-Inca artifacts. Among the artifacts were the first tumi ever discovered by archaeologists. All previous examples had been recovered from grave looters.[1]
In Peru, to hang a tumi on a wall means good luck. The tumi is the national symbol of Peru and has become a symbol used in Peruvian tourism publicity.
In 1936 a great discovery happened in the valley of Batan Grande, Illimo, Lambayeque, Peru, the Tumi of Illimo was found. It is really more an ax than a knife with a weigh of 992 grams, height 41 cm. The Tumi is also known with the name of Ñyalamp. There is a monograph about its iconographic content saying that Ñaylamp was a mythic hero and founder of Llampallec or Lambayeque, that he was begotten from a totemic bird with his same name, Ñaylamp. When Ñaylamp died, a story was spread out about him growing wings and flying to the sky. This hero-king founder of Lambayeque built a temple named Chot were he placed a large stone that he called Llampallec, which means statue of Ñaylamp. In this temple many ceremonies and rituals were offered using a Tumi. The knife or Tumi of Illimo is represented with a mask of a bird, wings and bird shaped eyes. The mythic stories about the bird named Ñaylamp and the hero warrior founder of Lambayeque; it is represented in the knife or Tumi of Illimo, a birdman."
Much easier to "copy and paste" Wikipedia!!
Please tell Maurice to watch his manners!
Very interesting, thanks Papa!
ReplyDeleteAngélique, maybe next you could try llama or an insect or even a reptile if they are common.
Be safe & more pics please!
wow...MR. Freychet your comments are getting more interesting then angeliques blogs!(haha just kidding angel)but its nice to read then though!:)
ReplyDeleteaww..poor Liv!it must have been funny though!lol
u must be so excited for Machu Picchu!lots of pics!!!have a great time..p.s. i'll inbox you tomorrow..!!kisses xxx sophia
Moi , je crois qque Jacques a vécu dans ce pays dans une autre vie , bien sur . Moi non , mais je trouve tout ça passionnant . Robert
ReplyDeleteA propos de nouvelles choses à manger , que penses tu d'une éspéce trés répandue que tu peux trouver dans tous les pays et méme de différentes couleurs ... l'humain ?
ReplyDeleteDans une autre vie, nan nan je pense c´etait au temps des Incas!
ReplyDeleteLes humains? oui j´y ai pensé mais pas sur si je suis partante! Merci pour l´idee!!