Sacred Valley Tour, 10/19

Friday, 10/18, we took the afternoon train back to Cusco. The taxi driver was there waiting with a sign with our names. We were ready to go to crash when we returned to Tayta Wasi Hostel.

Saturday at 8:15 am seemed early but we were in the lobby waiting for our bus tour of the Sacred Valley. We assumed that valley meant a place lower than Cusco, which was only partially true. Our first stop was the Pisac ruins. This particular Inca site is known for its rows and rows of terraces, unbroken by stairs. Stairs would require maintenance and would be affected by erosion. Instead, flags stones were built into the terrace walls as stairs. Until recently crops were grown in the terraces but as part of the UNESCO world heritage site agreement, farming has been stopped to avoid any damage to the walls. We hiked to a hut at the top of one part of the site, passed a cliff face dotted with holes. This was an Inca Cemetary and remains were found inside, some of which had been plundered by robbers looking for golden treasures. This site guarded the Urubamba valley and a pass leading into the jungle in the northeast. On the way back down to the valley the bus stopped in Pisac in case anyone wanted to buy any souvenirs. We saw three little girls in Quechua costumes, carrying baby goats and lambs, offering to pose for picture for some coins from the tourists.

After a long ride through the valley we stopped for a buffet lunch. 2 of our fellow tour mates were from Valparaiso, Chile, so we has some conversation with them.

Back on the bus and on to Ollantaytambo ruins. This site also has the characteristic terracing, similar to Pisac as well as a religious section on top where large stones were quarried from 6 km away, dragged across a river and then hauled up a ramp to the top. The stones are very smooth and very few markings are left. After the defeat of the Manca Inca at Saqsayhuaman, they retreated to this site. The Spanish were unable to scale the terraces under the rain of arrows and spears from above. To further defeat the Spanish, the Inca flooded the lands below and the Conquistadors and their horses were helplessly mired in mud. The victory was short lived and the Spanish returned in greater force and the Manca retreated to Vilcabamba.

Our next and final stop was Chinchero at 12,342 ft. There are more Inca ruins here but we were here to see more of the Quechua culture up close. 4 women, in full traditional Quechua garb welcomed us and demonstrate some of their culture. There is a plant that they use for soap and for washing their hair which they grate and mix with water and it produces suds like you would get from dish soap. They put in some raw sheep wool and it went from a dirty brown to a clean white. They also claim it prevents grey hair which might be true as I have not seen a single Quechua woman with grey hair. Other things they demonstrated was dying wool and hand spinning. Some of their weaving is very creative. Of course they also sold souvenirs but I guess that is all part of the deal.

We returned to our hostel tired from the long day and the altitudes and crawled under our mass of blankets.

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