Saqsaywaman to Ollantaytambo

Our window at the hotel, complete with the green interior shutters, opened onto another walkway.  I just loved the pretty colors with the red tile roof.

This group of police was one of the first things we saw on the way out of town.  We asked if there had been trouble but Walter told us that they were there "just in case" because when there was a strike going on nearby you just never knew.  Tourism is big business in Cusco, with tourist police very visible all the time.  We actually had a police escort until we got a little further from the city center.

Cusco is a place where violence is a part of its history.  Not long before the Spaniards arrived there were battles between Atahualpa and his brother, Huáscar to control the empires.  Cusco was sacked and occupied in November 1533 by conquistador Francisco Pizarro, more about him in my Lima post.  The Spaniards built on top of what they had destroyed, then major earthquakes damaged the city again in 1650 and 1950. People here know how to build and rebuild, and their Inca ancestors were the most amazing builders of all.

Only 15-20 minutes or so from downtown Cusco, sitting atop a hill overlooking much of the valley is the site of Saqsawaman (sacksaywahman) which means "house of the sun".  The complex here was never completed due to the arrival of the Spaniards.

Our ticket here was good for multiple sites, and an excellent reference for how to spell them.

Here's the view from the large open area at the base of the walls.  It would only have been important people, or the priests who lived in this area.

Here's Walter, explaining how the shape of the terraces at the base of Saqsaywaman create the shape of a lightning bolt, an homage to one of the ancient gods.

When the rocks for these walls were split they would have used tools that made markings like these.

It was absolutely incredible how the stones were fitted together.  I'd always read how they were so tight that you couldn't even slip a piece of paper between them and for most of them it was absolutely the case.  They were cut and shaped to fit together perfectly.  The thing that has always fascinated me about Inca builders is the precision of the stone construction that they did without any mortar.  Note the place where pieces of the rock have been cut out in the lower right photo.  It is suspected that rocks like these may have been propped up into position or possibly there was repeated percussive push that got them into place.

Behind me is the largest stone at Saqsawwaman, 128 tons.  Remember that all of these stones were moved into place without the use of the wheel, all were transported up and down ramps via logs that were placed underneath..

Even in the tiny cracks there is now life that begins to sprout like this little red and green fern.

Saqsaywaman was begun around 1438 and at times there were 40,000 people working at the site.  None of them were slaves, their work was considered their way of paying their taxes by working, or "ninka".  Later on, around 1630, the Spaniards would begin taking the stones from here and break them down to use in their own construction projects.  The Cusco Cathedral was one of those structures.

All of the doorways and niches have this trapezoidal shape to them.  In an area prone to earthquakes such doorways are stronger than those with a rectangular shape.  This one leads up towards the site of the Temple of the Sun where on June 21 the Inca celebrated the winter solstice, and yes, I did mean to write winter since we were south of the equator.  They would have a day of rituals to the sun god which often included the sacrifice of a black llama at the end.  Oracles would give predictions at that time about whether it was to be a good year or not.

We didn't see any black llamas anywhere near Saqsaywaman but we did see this combined herd of llamas and alpacas.  How do you tell the difference you may ask?  Lamas have a longer face and longer ears than the cousins the alpaca.

I liked how this little guy looked back at me as they walked away.  Around one corner I was surprised to see this lonely tree and some lupine growing.  

Also near Saqsawaman is this statue of Christ that was given to the Catholics here as a gift from their Palestinian friends.  It overlooks the city and can be seen, especially at night, from the center of Cusco.

We were off next to the Sacred Valley of the Inca so the next photos were snapped through the window of the moving bus.  Here is another Inca site called Q'enco where the dead were mummified and buried.

Here on the other side of the site is a spot where during the winter solstice, June 21, the sun hits two smallish rocks that poke up from the ground turning them into the eyes on a shadow that looks like a puma.

This spot is called Pukapukara, the Red Fortress, or its remains anyway.  It was a spot that separated the sacred valley from Cusco and was a commercial checkpoint for agriculture going in and out of the city.

Working side by side these two still toil in the fields by hand.  There is no commercial farming machinery in this area.

Fields are lush and green and you can still see the remains of terraces along the mountainsides.

Houses like these are apparently a bit of problem as well as an eyesore throughout the sacred valley, they never get finished.  There are columns like this with rebar hanging out the top everywhere. 

Some of the older places are made with mud bricks like the ones above but more and more are made with the type of brick you and I would recognize are "normal".

Brick buildings here climbing the hillside as well as a small shoe store in the middle of nowhere.

A quick stop was made at the overlook of the sacred valley for some pictures, and maybe a souvenir or two.

Check out the terraces here in the top of the mountains, a spot I figure has to be about 8500 feet in altitude.

I probably shouldn't have been, but I was surprised to see tuk-tuks, or moto-taxis as they're called in Peru, plying the narrow streets.  These are much nicer than the ones we used to ride in India.  They aren't used in the bigger cities but are great for smaller locations.

One of the rivers that runs through the valley is the Quechua River, called Vilcanota by the Spanish.  It is one of the many tributaries of the mighty Amazon River.

After driving through winding, narrow roads that were supposed to take us to our lunch destination we arrived at the beautiful Hacienda Sarapampa.  How anyone even knew this place existed in the spot that it was was a mystery to us but they served a wonderful meal.  We started off with smoked trout, which was followed by a baked trout (look how thick that filet is!), a piece of tenderloin, more couscous and the golden corn that they are famous for.  I found out later from one of the owners that she had less than 24 hours to prepare all of this and have it served to around 250 people.  Incredible!

The golden corn is grown only here in the sacred valley.  The seed has been adapted to this specific climate and doesn't grow well anywhere else.  It is an ancient variety that was developed during the time of Pachacutec who had wanted two varieties, one a giant white for the moon and the giant gold for the sun.  The Inca were not allowed to grow it anywhere else other than in this valley.  Surprisingly you can buy the corn grown at Hacienda Serapampa at Trader Joe's where it is called giant Inca corn, probably better known as corn nuts.

After lunch we were treated to a demonstration of the Peruvian Passo horse, a breed that has the smoothest gait of any horse in the world.  The rider nor his hat bounce a bit when traveling.  As the finale we had this lovely dancer come out to help demonstrate a courtship dance between a young horseman and herself.  It was fun to watch them move together and separately.  See Karl's YouTube channel for the performance.

It was such a peaceful and hidden place that I was sad to leave, but back on the buses we got so that the next group could arrive for their lunch and show.

On our way to our final stop we passed through the small town of Lamay which is known for its guinea pig restaurants.  I took this picture so quickly there isn't any detail but the brown you can see in the restaurant window are roasted cuy (kwee)/guinea pig on a stick.

I'm not even sure how I managed to get this photo but these silver pods on the mountainside are the Skylodge Hotel.  You get great views of the stars at night when your stay in them and get to zipline down to leave.  Don't ask me how you actually get up there to them!

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Ollantaytambo (ohyawntaytahmbo) was our final stop of the day and the best preserved Inca town.  This is where the son and heir of Atahaulpa, Manco Inca, fled as he left Cusco and was the site of the final battle between his people and the Spaniards in early 1537.  It is interesting to note that a group of around 150 ended up subduing a civilization of one to two million, mostly through treachery.  Part of the complex here was destroyed but much remains and over parts of it the conquistadors built their town.

There was a pretty lively marketplace at the foot of the Inca terraces.  Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately for my wallet, we didn't have time to have much of a look around the aisles.

On the hillside above the town could be found some unique features, close ups of two in the photos below.

This is all that remains of what would have been storehouses, or colcas, that the Inca used.  Keeping things stored at a higher level mean keeping them cooler.

Do you see the face in the rock here?  There is a question as to whether it is there naturally or if it was carved into the mountainside.  There even appears to be a crown atop the head.  What better location for a king/emperor/The Inca, Pachacutec, to build a town with a temple to the almight sun god?

 

Refugees from Cusco and its turmoil would have come here in hopes of staying hidden.  These are just some of the stones left from the constructions here at Ollantaytambo.

These stones are examples of the precision and perfection of the stone carving that went on at these Inca sites.  They were just beautiful to look at.  With some much green on the hillsides it was surprising to me to see cactus along one of them.

There were about 300 stairs to climb to get to the top.  Part of our group tended to struggle with steps and the altitude so only part of us got to the top.  Going down I opted for some easier stairs partway down rather than the stone ones that were of varying heights.

Contemplating all those stairs I just had to be grateful I was climbing them rather than this type from terrace to terrace.

At a breather on one of the terraces I called over my friends Everett and Wyatt to take a picture.  Wyatt, who is nine, and I have been friends almost since day one of the cruise.  The first time I met him he told me people like to call him Wow, mainly because those are his initials, but he is so full of energy and fun so it's a great nickname.  This day he asked me why everyone always wants to take their picture and I responded that it was because they were so darn cute.  These little guys struggled with the altitude the first day but were feeling better on day two.

The higher you went here at Ollantaytambo the finer the workmanship on the stone with the best of it being at the top.  Again you see the incredible way the stonemasons fitted the stones together.  On the right is the entrance to the Temple of the Sun, you can tell it's important because it is a double set of stones, a double entrance.

This is an example of what a home would have looked like when the Inca lived at Ollantaytambo.  The straw roof on this one has been added to look like the original and is replaced every few years.

Niches like these were throughout the Temple of the Sun and were used for making offerings.  Note again the excellent craftsmanship.

More examples of the niches.

Just a photo of Karl and I in a "not as important entrance", and yet look at the smoothness of the stones and the beautiful, sharp angles of the corners.  As at Saqsaywaman it would have been the upper echelons of the people and the priests who were able to come up here to the highest levels of the site.

Found my soccer game of the day as I looked down from the top of Ollantaytambo.  Looks like they had quite a nice field here unlike so many of the others I'd seen.

Just to give a little idea of the height at the top, this view is looking down at the marketplace where we started from.

The valley that Ollantaytambo is situated in is a beautiful one.  It was a thriving place in the days of the Incas and continues to be so today.  The trains that take you to Machu Picchu leave from this area.

One more look at the beautifully finished stones.  They would have been hauled to the top using the ramp in the photo on the right.  It switchbacks along the side of the mountain, just try to imagine rolling one of these massive stones up it using just human power.

When the larger stones didn't quite fit together the stonemasons would create smaller ones to use as spacers to make it all fit together like a perfect jigsaw puzzle.  

Just wanted to prove with this one that I had actually made it all the way to the top!  Karl did as well, even with his sore knee.  This was truly an amazing site and we loved every minute of being there.

And why this photo you may ask, well folks, this was as close as we were going to get to Machu Picchu, tantalizingly near at only 27 miles up and over that mountain in the distance.  Ah well, a trip for another time!

Just another alpaca and llama that were near the site, couldn't seem to get enough of taking pictures of them!

On our way back to Cusco the clouds finally parted and we were able to get glimpses of the peaks of the Andes and a few of the glaciers there.  These views were a wonderful way to end a fabulous day!