Jorge Jimenez Sanchez strongly hammers the piece of metal at one end while his wife Marisol Hernandez Castro holds and pushes the small anvil at the other corner. After the last blow, he has the wooden circles revolved around this axis. The truck is finally finished once I adjust the wheels even though I also have to paint the word Cusco above the windshield and that’s it, says he. During Christmas days the living room of his house becomes his workshop. Here I can watch trucks, cars, trains, and airplanes made entirely out of hardwood. Mr Jimenez and his family is just one of the dozens of craftsmen who have attended the 2009 edition of the popular handicraft fair Santurantikuy held on the Qosqo´s main square every december 24th.

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Tinkuy is a quechua verb which means to meet somebody. On the other hand, cuy is the spanish word for guinea pig. These two words were used to give birth to the First Food Fair Tincuy 2009. This was a two-day fair that gave Qosqo´s people as well as tourists and travellers the chance to gather with family and friends in order to indulge themselves with an array of flavours made not only with guinea pig but also with other regional produces such as trout and alpaca.

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Dozens of children fill the Kusikay Theater here in Qosqo with loud voices and laughs even though impatience parents attempt laboriously to keep them calm and quiet because the  presentation is about to begin. Unexpectedly, all the theater´s lights turn off and a muffled silence predominates, only broken at times by the sighs of surprised and frightened kids.  An unrestrained roaring spreads through the entire building as hundreds of puppets and flat cut-out figurines appear on the stage. The play resourcefully mingles clown, pantomime and music in order to tell three short but amazing tales.

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The red runway is already set around the restaurant Divina Comedia´s courtyard. Tall white candlelights on the floor and the tables make the ambiance warmer. Opera singers, both men and women wearing red and black tuxedos, begin scattering the melodies of famous european composers such as Puccini, Verdi and Mozart. Personalities from Qosqo´s cultural and entrepreneural life trespass the old wood colonial door of the Arqueologo Hotel in the San Cristobal neighborhood just a few blocks from Qosqo´s main square. The fashion show Divina Moda by Divina Comedia is about to begin.

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Los antiguos peruanos aprendieron a utilizar los escasos recursos que le ofrecía la naturaleza de una manera inteligente y racional. Hay muchas evidencias arqueológicas tanto en la costa como en los andes que atestiguan esta práctica. Los incas, que fueron la síntesis de una decena de culturas anteriores en lo que hoy es el Perú, no fueron una excepción a esta norma. Ud puede ser testigo de esta relación armoniosa con la naturaleza muy cerca de la ciudad de Qosqo al visitar los andenes de Moray y las Salinas de Maras.

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“quien no tiene de inga tiene de mandinga”
popular saying 

Would you like to dance or listen to any peruvian music? Your best chance to do so is on october 31st when most coastal cities celebrate the Día de la Canción Criolla or the Creole Song Day. Thus, whether you happen to be around Lima, Piura, Trujillo, Chiclayo, or Ica you would hear the sound of guitars and the “cajón peruano”. These musical instruments give rhythm to marinera, tondero, festejo, landó, and zamacueca which are five samples of the creole music. Couples dance with frantic movements of their arms and legs. They entice each other with their zapateo or tapping of the floor.
The traditional place for “criollos” to gather and start the “jarana” or rave is known as peña. However, nowadays the feast can even be held at plazas and parks.

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