Glimpses of the Moorish imprint on Spanish colonial architecture can be witnessed on a walk through the UNESCO site of Central Lima. Most glaringly in the stylised Mudejar influenced covered balconies incorporated into the facades of colourful 17th & 18th century mansions. Originally built as much for the same purpose as their Iberian counterparts […]
Read More
Whether it is a resurgence of indigenous identity or as in recent times, just political posturing by populist governments, a number of places from Peking to Pondicherry and Bombay to Burma, have undergone name changes in the past decade. Could I locate a renamed city among the photos in my archives for the story challenge: letter Q? It […]
Read More
“Remember to bury these under the Sun Gate.” Frank, our guide, handed over a bunch of coca leaves…. “For luck.” I carefully tucked the leaves into my pocket before boarding our train to Aguas Calientes. Frank was going to await our return to the Sacred Valley, the next evening. We lucked out with front row […]
Read More
According to local lore Cusco city is said to be laid out in the shape of a puma crouched over the Saphi river. And its streets denote its body parts. For example: Pumakurko street stands for the “Puma’s Spinal Column”, and the head is supposed to be located in Sacsayhuaman or “speckled head”! Furthering that myth, (rather shiny) brass plaques […]
Read More
Six concentric terraces surround a central circular ‘arena’ connected by a series of stone ‘steps’ fixed to the retaining walls in a radial pattern, mimicking the rays of the sun. Six more surround them in an elliptical shape and another eight stepped terraces at the perimeter, span a portion of the narrow end of the […]
Read More
Few conquests have been as devastatingly final as the annihilation of the legendary kingdom of the Incas. In under 40 years after their first encounter with Francisco Pizzaro in 1532, the Incas were history. Their gold looted, their religion wiped out and their architecture demolished. With the exception of Machu Picchu and a few other uninhabited […]
Read More
There are many images in my albums, that transport me back to Peru and the wonderful days we spent there last fall. Of the colourful, pensive Quechua women, their lovely rosy cheeked little children, the Ceviches, the stuffed potatoes (!) and the Pisco sours, the amazing Incan architecture of the sacred valley, the streets of […]
Read More
The Urge To Wander 