TRAIL START AND OTHER INCA RUINS

                                              So Many Ruins

        It was an hour and a half bus ride over a very bumpy rough path to K 82 where we found many other hikers  and of course the regular hawkers.  We paid some enterprising fellow one sol to use the bano before starting out. It was the last toilet bowl I’d squat over for the next four days!

We had to sign in with the park service before crossing over the river on a swinging foot bridge.

The trail immediately started up, up. The scenery was beautiful, but the breathing hard. My

Crossing the Urumbabma River bridge

 

son and I brought up the rear, with a guide bringing up the tail. We were hiking with a group of middle to late 20 year olds; my son at 45 was the old man, so you can imagine what his mother was!

A good part of the trail

  The old Inca trail is the most popular trek on the continent. Walking from one beautiful ruin to another was an unforgettable experience. For some reason I expected a good packed earth tail, but most of the trail was rock paved. That sounds good, but the rocks were of various sizes from a good-sized flagstone (easiest to walk on) to small brick size. They were all intermingled and the surfaces were anything but even, forcing one to watch every step.

     Days before we ever got to the trail we did considerable site seeing. Surrounding the city in the Sacred Valley are several large Inca sites.

Our first stop was at Sacsayhuaman, 1450, Quechua for satisfied falcon, but is more easily remembered by saying sexy woman. It is a massive site and perhaps the most important Inca monument after Machu Picchu. Some of those stones weighed up to 300 tons. They formed parallel walls stretching 1000 feet. The skill of Inca builders was incredible! These stones are so accurately cut that a knife blade cannot slip between them! There is no mortar, the stones were precisely cut and fitted together. Archaeologists believe these walls outline what was a sun temple.

Covering an area of 6 square kilometers, the three tier structure held walls 30 meters, 20 meters and 15 meters high, bottom tier to the top. Standing in front of the 98 ton first-laid stone in a certain position it is said one can absorb positive energy from the rock.  Likewise there is another  area where one can rid himself of negative energy. The seven stones surrounding this rock represent the seven senses. There were three entrances and an underground passageway to Sacsayhuaman

Pizarro was attracted to this fortress-like area and made it his military base. Although the buildings are gone, still standing are the impressive zigzag walls, which represent the puma’s teeth. This once huge structure was cannibalized for years for building material for Cuzco’s homes and 22 colonial churches. Now only 20% of the ruins remain.              

     

     The Urubamba Valley was sacred to the Incas, and is known as the Sacred Valley.  It was so named because it had a good climate, fertile soil, and a river. The valley is 150 Kilometers long. Enroute through the valley to the Pisac ruins we passed many tile roofed, adobe villages.

The terraced hillsides of the valley are cultivated, producing one crop a year. But in the valley, which is irrigated via mountain water, three crops a year are grown.

       Pisac, 1570, ruins sit on a hilltop with a gorge on either side. The area contained 8 neighborhoods (Machu Picchu only had two).  Diagonal flagstone stairs set into the terraced walls join the many agricultural terraces. At the top of the site sits the usual sun and religious rooms. The highly defensible site guarded both the Urubamba Valley and a pass to the Amazon jungle. Excavations in 1980 uncovered baths and the largest Inca cemetery. 

  

   Ollantaytambo is another massive Inca fortress. Huge steep terraces guarded the fortress, and in 1536 Pizarro was unable to fend off the barrage of Inca arrows, stones, spears, and boulders, and made a hasty retreat.      It was late afternoon after a day of a lot of climbing so I climbed only halfway up the steep steps to the terraces as I figured my knees had had enough for one day. Later my son informed me the view at the top was fantastic.  I was happy to sit awhile in the site and enjoy the incredible scenery.