Welsh David's South America: 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.