12, 13 and 14 Februry 2017 – Cusco, Tipon, Saqsaywaman, Ollantaytambo and the Sacred Valley (Peru)

We left Puno at 0700 hrs travelling as high as 4000 metres on the way to Cusco. There were llamas in the 100’s to be seen out on the mountains before we took all our belongings off the truck and onto a bus, the truck going into the Dragoman depot in Cusco for repairs while some of us stayed in Cusco and the others went walking a trail up to Machu Picchu. It was not possible for them to walk the Inca Trail as it was closed for maintenance and the dangers of walking the route in wet weather.

On the way into Cusco we called into Tipon, a 15th-century Inca ruin 3,400 meters above sea level. The complex covers 239 hectares and consists of wide agricultural terraces irrigated by a network of water channels fed by a natural spring. It is a place where hydraulic engineering comes to the fore with water even being pumped uphill just using the power of water itself.

Views of Tipon

We arrived at the Cahuide Hotel in Cusco at 1900 hrs, then there was heavy rain, something we had not seen since leaving Santiago. The following day I wandered round the craft markets for a while when it rained then in the evening there was a talk by the guide who was to go with the group on the walk instructing them how to behave and giving advice on what to expect on the walk. 

A lady sitting in the street weaving

A lady sitting in the street weaving

25p for a photo

Various knitted hats

Early on the following morning we went by bus to the Saqsaywaman Ruins (generally known, even by the locals, as Sexywoman) and after a quick look round the walking group were driven off to the start of their walk.

Sections of the Saqsaywaman Ruins were first built by the Killke people in about 1100AD; they having occupied the area since 900AD. The complex, at an altitude of 3,701 m (12,142 ft), was expanded and added to by the Inca from the 13th century who built dry stone walls constructed of huge stones. The stones were cut to fit them together tightly without mortar.The stones are so closely spaced that a single piece of paper will not fit between many of the stones. This precision, combined with the rounded corners of the blocks, the variety of their interlocking shapes, and the way the walls lean inward, is thought to have helped the ruins survive earthquakes in Cusco. The longest of three walls is about 400 meters and they are about 6 meters tall. Unlike the stonework in Machu Picchu where the stones are uniformly shaped in places, here the stones were made to fit each other with seemingly the minimum amount of work required.

A lot of the site was damaged by the Spanish in their quest to find silver and gold then using the stones to erect buildings in Cusco itself.

Views of the Saqsaywaman Ruins

After leaving the group the remaining four of us joined another tour group to visit the Ollantaytambo ruins in the Sacred Valley. The Sacred Valley is between the towns of Pisac and Ollantaytambo, parallel to the river Vilcanota. It is composed of many rivers flowing down gullies and valleys, has numerous archaeological monuments and indigenous peoples. I have not been able to find out where the name of Sacred Valley originated from.

This valley was appreciated by the Incas because of its special geographical and climatic qualities. It was one of the main production sites for the richness of their land and place where it produces the best maize in Peru. The diversity of microclimates allows the production of large numbers of various species of tall flowers that embellish their fields planted with a variety of potatoes, cereals, vegetables and fruit trees and ornamental plants. In the area is common to find deer, chinchillas, viscacha, foxes, Andean pigeons, and lots of birds and hummingbirds. In the Vilcanota river fish such as salmon and trout can be caught.

The Sacred Valley

Looking down the valley

204 steps to climb

Cut stone ready to be used

A stone seat cut out of the mountain rock

Stone blocks, cut and not used.

Part of a doorway

Earthquake proof gaps with small stones

Looking from the top

The slope to the top on which the rocks were dragged

The storehouses across the valley

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Looking down the valley

Buildings on the side of the mountain

The local craft market

Weaving

Crafts

Crafts

Crafts

On he way back to Cusco we stopped at some villages to look at crafts and enjoy the views.

The lama can only carry about 20kg and is not a pack animal normally

Local ladies just sitting on the wall

9, 10 and 11 February 2017 – Copacabana and The Island of the Sun(Bolivia) to Puno (Peru)

Leaving La Paz at 0700 hrs we headed for Copabanana first having to negotiate road works to get out of the city which then took 1hour and 45 minutes to get to the outskirts of La Paz.

View along the lake

A lovely old adobe house

View along the coast

Despite what seems to have been hundreds of speed bumps on the main road we reached Tiquina on the shore of Lake Titicaca where we watched as the truck was put on a barge and transported across the lake. We were not allowed to go on the barge but on a small boat instead. For some unknown reason (jobsworth maybe) an immigration official wanted to see all our passports when we arrived at the other side of the lake. We were travelling from Bolivia to Bolivia and could not see why this was needed but officialdumb (my spelling) won out.

Driving onto  the barge

Half way across

Welcome

On arrival at Copacabana (altitude 3800 metres) I went for a walk round the town to find it quite small and quiet filled with bars, restaurants, money changers, hostels and hotels. There was an odd collection of house not far from the shore that were more than interesting for their design, pictures of which are below.

Looking down on the town

The town and the beach

Plenty of boats around

Main Street

Quaint houses

A carving set into a wall

The cathedral, Basilica of Our Lady of Copacabana, was built in the 16th-century in the Moorish style and contains a statue of the Black Virgin. This I did not see nor was able to take photos inside the cathedral. Our Lady of Copacabana is the patron saint of Bolivia and Copacabana is the most visited religious place in Bolivia also.

The Basilica

On the morning of 10 February we packed all un-necessary clothes etc onto the truck and then went by a small boat to Sun Island which is in the southern part of Lake Titicaca. The first thing to be seen was the Inca terraces cut into the island cliffs and on landing a line of local women coming down the path to the beach to collect sand, and then having to carry it up again. I later found out that this was for a community project, voted on by all and all had to help, to build something further up the mountain.

Inca terraces

Landing area

Boats ready to leave

Ladies coming down he path

Collecting sand

Going back up the path

The community building project

The island is a rocky, hilly place with many eucalyptus trees (brought in from Australia). There are no motor vehicles or paved roads on the island. The main economic activity of the approximately 800 families on the island is farming, with fishing and tourism augmenting the subsistence economy.
There are over 80 ruins on the island most of them dating from the Inca period of the 15th century AD. Archaeologists have discovered evidence that people lived on the island as far back as the third millennium BC. Many hills on the island contain agricultural terraces cut by the Inca.

According to Incan lore, after a great flood, the god Viracocha arose from Lake Titicaca to create the world. He commanded the sun (Inti), moon (Mama Kilya) and stars to rise, then went to Tiahuanaco to create the first human beings, Mallku Kapac and Mama Ocllo. These first humans, the "Inca Adam and Eve," were formed from stone and brought to life by Viracocha, who commanded them to go out and populate the world. Thus Lake Titicaca is believed to be the birthplace of the Incas, whose spirits return to their origin in the lake upon death.

The walk across the island was a 9 kilometre slog after we had been told that the initial climb up the cliff the rest would be gentle up and down walking. No way was it gentle and at 3990 metres (13090 feet) altitude it was hard work then to find only a cold shower at the end.

The spaces in the wall would have been where the mummified bodies were put

This rock represents the centre of the Inca religion and some say looks like a puma

A bay on the island

New houses

An Inca building

An Inca doorway

The following morning we returned to Copacabana and the truck for the 15 minute drive to the Bolivian border at Kasani/Yunguyo and another 10 minutes to leave Bolivia, walk through no-man’s land to the Peruvian border where clearance took another 45 minutes.

After crossing the border we had to put our clocks back by one hour thus arriving at Puno at 1430 hrs. Walking into the town centre there was little to see in the way of old buildings except the Basilica Menos de la Cathedral De Puno built in 1757 with many of its paintings damaged by fire in 1930. While I was sitting in the cathedral, having taken a photo of the alter, lights were put on and a service started. That is why the photos show two different views of the alter.

Views of the Cathedral

The altar

The altar

A side chapel

I walked back to the hotel via back streets to find shops/workshops where people were making dresses/regalia for mainly folklore festivals, not necessarily religious festivals. The people were quite happy for me to take photos of the clothing but reluctant to have their photos taken, especially the women.

Made by hand by this man

A child dressed as Diablo (the Devil)

A glove

With flashing lights as well

 Some of the shops had traditional women's clothing, the skirts especially interesting me because of the pleats and what looked to be the weight of them.

Dinner that night was roast chicken and salad.