[from the
bus-trip]
-travelling Peru
is not for those who get carsick
-started at
3100m; climbing to 4600m
-“Chavín” maybe
comes from “Chaupín” which meant “center of everything”
-Incas tried to
conquest Chavíñeros to no avail (1460s) – by force
-ended up
marrying Chavín peeps into Inca civilization in 1500 … clever
-1533, Spanish
came and PAF!
-not quite clear
where Chavín peeps came from; much older than Myans, Incans, Egyptians
-Cordillera Blanca and Cordillera Negra run parallel. Last president wanted to rename Cordillera
Negra à Cordillera Dorada because of gold taht’s there. Peeps said
NO! Cordillera Blanca is said to have white cold, i.e. pure water from the
mountain peaks which will be the gold of the future what with global changes
-lots of
abandoned copper/silver/gold mines; mostly Canadian and Peruvian
-“cocha” means
“laguna”…like Cuicocha in Ecuador!
-Chavín peeps hyper-intelligent astronomers. Believed in 3 “pachas” or worlds;
essentially underworld, Earth, and Sky represented by Anaconda, Puma, and a
type of Eagle. This belief manifests itself in many figurines of a god with
head of a feline, claws of an eagle, and scales of the serpent/anaconda
-sill mystery on
how they got stones so smooth to fit so perfectly for structures; like Machu
Picchu but much much older.
