Our tour group had a 5-day tour booked with a local tour company, Andina Travel (highly recommended for this area if anyone else travels here!), which encompassed some ruins, trekking, and of course Machu Picchu.
The first day began with a tour of the ruins of Saqsayhuaman (or "sexy woman" for those not accomplished with the local pronunciation!). It's located on a hill looking over the city of Cusco. The area is used for religious gatherings and concerts, but still sports some very impressive Inca stonework:
It is impressive to think that all of these stones were carefully carved to fit like a puzzle - and they were all shifted by manpower.
We continued on to the ruins of Pisaq, primarily used for agriculture with an impressive array of terraces and retaining walls heading down the hillside. After lunch, it was off to the beginning of the trek.
The trek was in an area barely frequented by tourists - we were the only non-locals in the area. We didn't do the "classic" Inca Trail, which is closed for the whole month of February, but I think the trek we did was quite possibly better. The scenery was stunning, and we were able to spend time in some truly authentic Quechua communities, untouched by tourism.
To see where the trek went, have a look at my trip map: www.trackmytour.com/htKvJ
Here are a couple of photos showing what it was like:
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| Approaching the highest pass at 4,800 m (!), looking back down into the valley below |
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| Typical Quechua house & waterfall with llama |
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| Tour group all wrapped up against the cold Back: Linda, Bill, Sharon, Blake, Tom, Sandra, Chris, Jared, Marissa, Steph, Leanne, Shaun, me, Christy, Michael, Nicole Front: Geert, Sarah, Stuart, Adam The group was from UK, Ireland, Belgium, Australia, NZ, USA & Canada |
The third day, it rained quite hard and we were very glad to arrive at our final camping spot - beside a wonderful set of hot springs!
The trek was a wonderful experience. I can't speak highly enough of:
- The 3 guides, who were very informative and supportive when we were struggling with the altitude, the rain or anything else,
- The 4 cooks, who woke up before us, brought us coca tea in our tents, cooked us a splendid breakfast, lunch and dinner every day and even a birthday cake for Shaun on the second night (which I am assured is not an easy thing when cooking with LPG), and
- The 7 mule drivers, who would wait until we had all left, pack down the tents, load the mules and then swiftly overtake us during the day to have everything set up at our next site before we got there.
They were all very grateful to us also, because our being there provides them with an income. We played football with them one night, which was a great way to enjoy their company - football truly is the international language!
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| Playing football at some 3,400 m (very tiring!) with the guides, cooks and mule drivers - si, si, si! Shaun's team 7, Blake's team 1! |
The 4th day of the trip involved driving to Ollantaytambo, a small town used by the Incas as a resting place along the Sacred Valley, midway between the towns of Calca and Machu Picchu. We took a 2-hour walk along a river along the way, and visited the Ollantaytambo ruins in the evening - another example of rather impressive ruins and some excellent background history from our guides.
We all went to bed very early because the next day was the pinnacle of my trip so far... Of course, none other than the immaculately preserved Inca city of Machu Picchu:
There's simply no way to describe what it's like at Machu Picchu. The structures, the agricultural terraces, and the surrounds are simply breathtaking. It's not just ruins, it's an intact city surrounded by incredibly steep hills on all sides, and you can't help but just stare in awe around you.
Everything constructed by the Incas - not just in Machu Picchu but elsewhere also - seems to have a very good reason for being that way. All of these details only make everything even more awe-inspiring. For example:
It's interesting that for the most part, the stonework here is not as impressive as many other ruins in the Sacred Valley & Cusco. Machu Picchu itself was not a capital, or a major temple, but sort of a learning city, where astronomers and the like would go. While the symmetry and precision of the stonework is incredible, the stones are generally not carefully carved to a perfect fit like some of the other ruins.
The main reason it is so famous is it's condition. It is believed it was never found by the Spanish conquerors, and so the stonework is as impressive today as during Incan times. Many other Incan areas were sacked by the Spaniards, some places being completely destroyed, as the Spanish wanted to removed any evidence of Incan grandiose or religious symbology wherever possible.
As touristy as it may be, it's one of those must-see places and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of visiting there. It's the primary tourist attraction in Peru (and possibly South America?) for a very good reason!!
We arrived back in Cusco late that evening (Saturday 9th February). Since then I've stayed in Cusco - but those tales will have to wait for another blog!
We all went to bed very early because the next day was the pinnacle of my trip so far... Of course, none other than the immaculately preserved Inca city of Machu Picchu:
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| I was there! |
Everything constructed by the Incas - not just in Machu Picchu but elsewhere also - seems to have a very good reason for being that way. All of these details only make everything even more awe-inspiring. For example:
- Many of the primary entrance gates face directly to the location of the sunrise on the winter solstice, which marked the beginning of the Incan New Year,
- An oddly-shaped stone in fact turns out to have been carefully carved to match the shape of the mountain visible behind it in the distance, and
- The windows of adjacent rooms line up perfectly so that one can look straight through all of them.
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| Detailed, symmetrical Inca stonework |
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| Agricultural terraces & the incredible surrounding scenery - very steep drops to the Rio Urubamba 450 m below |
It's interesting that for the most part, the stonework here is not as impressive as many other ruins in the Sacred Valley & Cusco. Machu Picchu itself was not a capital, or a major temple, but sort of a learning city, where astronomers and the like would go. While the symmetry and precision of the stonework is incredible, the stones are generally not carefully carved to a perfect fit like some of the other ruins.
The main reason it is so famous is it's condition. It is believed it was never found by the Spanish conquerors, and so the stonework is as impressive today as during Incan times. Many other Incan areas were sacked by the Spaniards, some places being completely destroyed, as the Spanish wanted to removed any evidence of Incan grandiose or religious symbology wherever possible.
As touristy as it may be, it's one of those must-see places and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of visiting there. It's the primary tourist attraction in Peru (and possibly South America?) for a very good reason!!
We arrived back in Cusco late that evening (Saturday 9th February). Since then I've stayed in Cusco - but those tales will have to wait for another blog!
