This last post for Peru is an assortment of photos from the time we were in Cusco. I didn't get to document everything, unfortunately. For instance, often while I was at the markets, I was with other people and not only doing my purchasing but helping them, so recording information, carrying goods, bargaining, looking for what I needed, and taking photos really didn't work. But still, I hope it's a fun photo essay.
The view out one of the breakfast windows of the hotel. I love the rooflines and the mountains.
Downtown you will often see ladies in traditional clothes who will pose for pictures for payment. Sometimes they have baby llamas or sheep with them. They often pass the animal to you directly, as a way of ensuring they get some money from the tourists who pass by. This day we were on our way somewhere, but had a bit of time, and were all more than happy to hold the baby llama and get our photos taken. Thanks again to good colleagues willing to grab your camera and push you forward!
The morning of Inti Raymi is when I started to get sick. By the time we left the hotel, I thought I was better. The museum team was divided into four: one video camera by Qorikancha to get the first part of the ceremony; one still camera wandering in the crowd and capturing at all three locations; one video camera at the Plaza for the second part of the ceremony; and the educators wandering and talking to folks. I was assigned to the Plaza to help stake our place and handle logistics if we had any trouble. Our two consultants in town with us were supposed to join us there. We got our place and it was a good one, because we were nice and early. The morning was chilly and we were in the shade. The consultants didn't show. I called. They were on their way. I got really dizzy. The Festival arrived in the Plaza. They didn't. Video camera #1 did though. Since he had language skills, he took my place and I fought -- quite literally -- my way back to the hotel. I think I must have looked pretty ill, because people did make way for me. Back at the hotel, I found the consultants. Their double-take confirmed how poorly I looked. And I couldn't stop shaking. We made a plan for them to get to the Plaza, because they were the important link to get camera #2 into place at Sacsayhuaman for the third part of the ceremony. I started medications and went to sleep.
But before I left I took two photos of the Plaza before the parade started. If someone had to miss it, I was certainly among the best choices, considering I wasn't needed to run a camera, and I had seen it last year. But still.
One of the consultants was leaving early the next morning, so I rallied for an important meeting we had to have that night, and then dinner, as he wanted to go out with everyone. Not the smartest move I could have made, but there you are. The next day, our scanning specialist arrived, and we had to fight the airline looking for his lost luggage. Thankfully I was feeling better, and apparently looking better too. As one of the team told me that morning: "You never want to tell a woman that she doesn't look good. But you really didn't look good yesterday." Good thing I was feeling better as we had a couple of difficult issues to deal with that evening.
The next day I got some of the book shopping done, and that evening was trying to follow up on some of the difficulties from the day before, when I and the consultant were kidnapped by some of our contacts in Cusco. They wanted us to see the city at night.
And so they took us up the White Jesus statue overlooking the city. It's really quite a large statue.
And they were right -- the views are spectacular! That large gold rectangle in the middle is the Plaza, the heart of downtown.
Here, the two parallel lines merging to a point and continuing out of the city are the two lines of the rivers that are the sides of the puma, and merge into the tail. After taking in the view for a while, we went for pizza, and truly incredible pizza at that. Sadly, the team never got the chance to go there together.
The double-jamb doorway that we imaged and scanned. This is the best preserved and one of the few remaining original doorways in the city. It is now the entry to a hotel. And the owner was wonderfully kind in letting us film.
Over at the offices of the Ministry of Culture is this replica of the suspension bridge, made from grass. There is still one maintained today, and we will feature that in the exhibition and materials.
Over at the Qorikancha, the Temple of the Sun, we did a lot of work as well. These are the gardens, and in this center area are carved the three symbols of the Inka: the condor (heavens), the puma (earth), and the serpent (underworld).
Inside the Qorikancha is a beautiful courtyard.
Lovely though it is, it's colonial, and part of the over-building that the Spanish did once they stripped all the gold from the building.
This is part of the original temple. Notice the finely carved blocks (remember, no iron tools), precisely fitted together without mortar. Those trapezoidal windows are also indicative of Inka building. There are many rooms like this one, and some of them have great symbolism with celestial observances.
Outside you can see part of the water management system. Like other sites, gravity and terraces were central. Here you see a channel bringing water to a central pool.
And this is the actual Inka wall of the Qorikancha. Around and above it is the Jesuit church.
June is festival month! Each day we saw floats and parades and people. However this afternoon was the first time we were close enough to watch them carry these floats. No lie-- these are heavy! Each float had 10-15 men and they were seriously struggling. It was hard to watch.
On our last morning we were scrambling to get packed (we had so much gear and stuff!), finish documentation, and relocate our rooms. We had to visit a local museum first to photograph something that had come up in discussion during the week, and then do the documentation of the 3D work. So we headed back to the very famous street named for the very famous stone: Hatun Rumiyoc. Surprisingly, this is the one morning where we actually were stopped and question by the police. Thankfully, having the Mayor's blessing and knowing people in his office has its privileges.
The stone is remarkable. Twelve corners, with all the same wondrous rules as above. Sadly, it had been vandalized recently, so there are now monitors and cameras, and probably why we caught additional attention here. We did our shooting at the other end of the street, but we had a lot of gear and some strange-looking gear too. I'm in love with this green diorite stone.
And a whimsical last photo: documenting the documenters of the documenting.
We had a long and complicated trip home, with "discussions" at all three airports because of our gear (oversize and overweight). Thank goodness for official passports, business cards from well-respected places, official paperwork, and good language skills! We and all our things made it, with surprisingly little penalty. Families met the crew at the airport and they all headed off to enjoy their July 4 celebrations.
Production trips are always hard: long days, close quarters, ever-changing schedules, lots of unknowns. If the team isn't patient and flexible, they can be truly challenging trips. But I'll take a day in the field any day over a day in the office. And it's these kinds of whimsical moments, when we have a minute to relax and enjoy each others' company and the work that we do, that make it all worthwhile.
Next up: business meeting in Barcelona, hopefully followed by a bit of Spanish school and vacation.
No comments:
Post a Comment