PERU (Part 4) The Sacred Valley

The Sacred Valley of the Incas got it's name because it was the source of so much of the food that the Inca Empire used to feed it's people.   We traveled from Ollantaytambo to Pisac and then back to Cusco on the day following our trip to Machu Picchu.   We stopped at some amazing ruins an other sites along the way and because our taxi driver was also a history teacher, we had a guide along to share so many interesting facts an insights with us.

The ruins at Ollantaytambo were literally right outside the door of the hostel where we stayed.  In fact, the hostel's walls were actually Inca stone.  The city is known as the only living Inca city since it has been in constant activity since the times of the Incas.  

Imagine this....Megan made a friend at the hostel.

The owner of our hostel was happy to show us some of the treasures that her family has found over the years as they have owned the home.

The Cathedral in Ollantaytambo just down from our hostel

There is still water flowing through the town in the same channels as it did hundreds of years ago.

Another look at the ruins

Ollantaytambo is the only fortress ruin where the Inca actually scored a victory over the conquering Spaniards.  Their victory was short lived, however.  They were eventually driven from the site.

Notice the ruins built into the mountain across the valley 

Some of the fine stonework on the way up to the sacred part of the site

Looking down the valley from the ruins...

If you look closely, you can see terracing all through the valley.

The three of us in the sacred part of the ruins

More ruins up on the mountain

A close-up of the ruins from up a little higher....

...and then looking down at the city of Ollantaytambo.

More ruins.....

....more of the city

This is one of the streets of Ollantaytambo.  You can see the Inca stonework and the water running through the city.

After leaving Ollantaytambo, we traveled through Urubamba and got this photo of Megan and Steve  in front of the LDS chapel there

Next, we traveled to a site called Moray.  This is supposedly a place where agricultural experimental planting took place.  Because of the the different temperatures found at the levels of the terraces in the valley, different crops were grown here.  

This gives some perspective as far as how big the ruins are.  Those are people down there....

Meg with her Inca Kola along the journey

We next traveled to a place called Maras.  This is a place where salt water comes from a spring and is channeled into these various pools on a hillside where it evaporates and is harvested as salt.  The different colors represent different grades of the mineral.

Here we are at the Maras salt pools

A close- up  of the salt deposits

The last site on our journey that day was Pisac.  This is an amazing city and massive terraces which, according to our guide, would have rivaled Machu Picchu if the Spaniards had not found it and destroyed so much of it.  

Some of the terraces at  Pisac...

.....and even more terraces.....so extensive!!

Here are the terraces with part of the city in the background

Along the hillside behind the site were these many holes that we learned contained hundreds of mummies of Inca noblemen.  

We returned to Cusco that night after a very full day of amazing ruins and stories.  That night, we slept well and got ready for our bus ride to Puno the next day.

PERU (Part 3) Machu Picchu

We got up a little before 5 am on Monday, August 20, boarded a train, and headed to Machu Picchu.  It was about a two hour journey to Aguas Calientes and then a 20 minute bus ride up the mountain.   This amazing site is probably the best known tourist area in Peru and it did not disappoint.  There is still some mystery as to the actual history of Machu Picchu, but it is an Incan city built in the mid 1400's.  Although Peru is covered with terraces and ruins, this particular site was not found by the Spanish Conquistadors and consequently was not destroyed as were many other ruins.  After being discovered in the early 20th century, it has been restored and is such an amazing example of the Incan talent of construction.  There are even ruins at the top of the mountain behind the site.  

We had purchased our tickets  ahead of time for both the site itself and for Huayna Picchu, the mountain that you see in all the famous photos for Machu Picchu.  The site is only allowed by law to let in 2500 people a day.  Huayna Picchu is even more regulated.  Only two groups of 200 people are allowed to climb the mountain each day. 

As we entered the site Megan was laughing because there was this group of school children coming in at the same time.  She said she was going to put this photo on Facebook with the caption,

 "My Kindergarten Field Trip = Storybookland / These kid's field trip = Machu Picchu"

They suggested that we first go to the famous photo taking spot for the site.  Here are just a few of the pictures that we took there. 

Steve and Jill

Megan from a little different spot

The three of us

Huayna Picchu through the window of the caretaker's hut at the view point

Megan with her llamas

This photo was taken from within the site.  

Standing in line at the entry gate to Huayna Picchu 

Steve had visited Machu Picchu when he was on his mission in Peru, but had never been up Huayna.  He is the one that really wanted to make sure we got the additional tickets needed to go up the mountain.  All of the literature said that anyone should be able to climb the mountain as long as the person took his time.  I suppose that that is a true statement since we saw much older and much more out of shape looking folks during our journey up, but it was a little more rigorous than we expected.  The trails were built by the Inca's, too.  There were a few places where cables have been added to hold on to, but for the most part, it was like a combination of hiking and rock climbing.  

Megan heading up one of the many "staircases"

Steve and I stopping for rest and enjoying the view on the way up

Steve and Megan

Our view from a point almost at the top - Supposedly the Machu Picchu site is in the shape of a condor.  We really couldn't see it, but had fun trying to figure it out.  :)

Megan almost to the top

A little closer to the top we took this photo of Machu Picchu and of the switchback roads we took up the mountain from Aguas Calientes, the little town at the base.

Brave Megan livin' life on the edge

Steve from a little less precarious spot and our friend in the pink coat

This shot was taken as we headed up to the very top.  I was going to the right on a trail that took you gradually up, and the other people were on the "down" path that we would be on later

Megan and some of the ruins near the top of Huayna Picchu

Quite the staircases, huh?

Almost there

Me on the scary slanted rock....yikes!

WE MADE IT!!!!!

Now we can smile!!

What an amazing view all around!!!

But....then there was the little business of getting back down.  We said several times along the way that if this site was in the USA, no one would be able to climb it because there were not safety rails, no guides, and some pretty tough places to climb.  We were, of course, very careful, but you can see from this shot, that it was a little intense.

Another shot of the way down

Megan and Daddy checking out the view on the way down

Megan inside one of the rock houses

More fun....at least there was a rope here to hold on to

That's me at the bottom, and Steve going down.

Looking up at the same spot...Megan is on her way down

Back at the bottom , we took a little rest and then started to tour the Machu Picchu site.  This photo is taken looking back toward the original photo view spot.  That little hut at the top of the cleared area is the caretaker's hut from some of the first photos.

This photo shows some of the different kinds of construction in the site.  Notice the large stones at the bottom and then the more uniform small stones that form the top walls.

This is taken in the residential section of the site.  The construction in this area is not quite as fine as the kind used in the religious portion of the site.

Some of the rooms, buildings in the prison group section

The large rock in the center of the photo marks the Temple of the Condor

An overview of the terraces going down the mountain on the front side

Terraces looking up toward the caretaker's hut

An amazing view from anywhere you are (Huayna Picchu in the background)

Megan and I in front of the terraces

Looking back toward the city section closest to the terraces from within the site

Megan with a friend

Looking back at the site from near the exit

The site from a lower perspective

Another terrace view

Back to visit more of the site after a little ice cream break

The alter in the Royal Tomb under the Temple of the Sun

A view from the religious section of the site

Looking down at the residential/industrial sections from the Temple of  the Three Windows

Steve and I in the Sacred Plaza

Terraces continue down the back side of the mountain behind the Sacred Plaza

Megan near one of the windows in one of the temples

Notice the superior stone work here compared to that of the residential or industrial sections

This large rock was used by the Incas to predict solstices.  It is found in the major shrine called Intihuatana.  This is a Quechua word meaning "hitching post of the sun".

Megan and Steve take a moment to reminisce about our earlier accomplishment

A very tired employee

We spotted this strange little animal that looked like a combination of a rabbit and a squirrel.  We learned it was a chinchilla.

We stopped for a few minutes inside this residential structure for a break in the shade

Steve finds a comfy place to rest his back

The descending sun peeking over the temple sector of the site as seen from the central plaza

The Temple of the Three Windows can be seen at the left of the photo.

Since we had climbed so many stairs that day, we wanted a photo of the last set.

We actually encountered a few more on the way out, but this was the last major one.

Looking back at the site with a llama and alpaca in the foreground 

Megan took this one at a slanted angle

Here we are in what Megan affectionately calls our "line up" shot.  I was insistent that we needed a picture by a sign of Machu Picchu.  This was the one we found.  :)

The river running through Aguas Calientes, the village at the bottom of the Machu Picchu mountain

When we bought our train tickets from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes, the only return tickets did not leave until 9:30 at night.  This meant that we had the entire evening to spend in Aguas.

Megan at Indio Feliz, our restaraunt that evening

Thankfully I had spoken to a man on the bus that morning on the way up the mountain who mentioned that they had stayed the night before in Aguas Calientes.  He gave us a wonderful suggestion on a place to have dinner.  What a delight.  It WAS one of our more expensive meals in Peru, but it was also a little slice of heaven, especially since we just needed a place to relax and regroup.  Here are some photos from our time there....

A photo of the ceiling...so interesting

I don't remember who got this....but everything just melted in your mouth

These are some of our sides....home fried chips, green beans(notice the little ties) and fancy tomatoes

This was my tilapia, rolled in a little swirl served on this large leaf.....it was delicious!!!!

Megan posing with "King Lamoni" in the Plaza de Armas

Megan and Steve in the Plaza with the statue of Pachacutec in the background

This is Perrito.  He is a little stray dog (there are a lot of stray dogs in Peru) that took a liking to Megan as we were spending some time in the square that evening in Aguas Calientes.  She petted him a little as we sat on a bench and ate some ice cream.  As we went to leave to get on the train, he followed us whichever way we went.  It nearly broke poor Megan's heart.  We finally had to have her go off another way when he wasn't looking and follow us for a while in order to lose him.  She would have liked to take him home with her, I think.  We will miss you, Perrito.
At the end of an AMAZING day at Machu Picchu, and after a very bumpy train ride back to Ollantaytambo, we were very happy to crawl into bed.  We slept very well that night.  :)