Today we got up and got ready to go the Sacred Valley. We didn't have noise all night (Yeah!), but Sandra is having a lot of trouble with congestion and coughing, so she didn't sleep well even though it was quieter.
Our bus took us up the mountain past Sacsaywaman and even higher and then out of the Cusco Valley and into the Sacred Valley on the other side. This valley has the Urumbamba River running through. For Inkans dualities were important and it was believed that the Urumbamba River was the other side of the river in the sky: the Milky Way. Thus, this valley is a sacred valley. The Urumbamba eventually flows into the Amazon and finally into the Atlantic Ocean.
Our first stop was the ruins at Pisac. There is a current town of Pisac in the valley floor, but there used to be lots of buildings and a temple on the mountain slopes above current day Pisac. The bus driver took us up to Pisac ruins, so we only had to walk mostly down from ruins (and only a little up). But saying we walked down hill does not cover how difficult the hike was. It was straight down the mountain mostly on stairs that were very irregular and many so high that I had to turn sideways to step off them. Pisac ruins are at about 12,000 feet and the town of Pisac where we were hiking down to is 9000 feet.
Diego, our guide, pointed out how all the mountains around here are striped because they used to be terraced. What we were seeing were the ruins of terraces. The Inkans put terraces just about everywhere, not just for growing, but for building on as well.
 |
| This mountain is striped with ruins of Inkan terraces |
The terraces allowed the Inkans to cultivate the sides of the mountains so that when the river flooded, their dwellings and crops were not destroyed. They also served to retain the sides of the mountains, so there wouldn't be mudslides. Each level contained a layer of topsoil, then sand, then small rocks, then bigger ones to filter the water slowly into the ground.
 |
| Nita and Sandra in front of restored terrace |
 |
| Restored terraces at Pisac |
On a hillside by the Pisac ruins was a cemetery: holes in the mountainside where tens of thousands of people were buried. In the photo below you can see the holes in the mountainside, but normally, these would not be showing. The holes mean that the graves have been looted.
 |
| Gravesites on mountainside |
After viewing the Pisac ruins we hiked up a bit and then over to the temple. First we passed through a gateway you can see in the photo below. Notice the difference in the masonry on the gateway and the rocks just above the gateway stones. Both are the mortarless Inkan masonry, but the bigger, more carefully placed stones on the gateway mark it as something special. (The terracing and much of the other cultural artifacts we are seeing were present prior to the Inkan conquest of this area; but the way they do their masonry is only found in one other place: an indigenous group around Lake Titicaca. This group may be related to the Inkans.)
 |
| Sandra approaches the gateway to the temple |
We also had to go through a tunnel. At last we arrived at the Inkan temple. The rooms looked very similar to the ones in Qorikancha.
 |
| Sandra at the Pisac templ |
Then we started our trek down. We were hiking on the very side of the mountain with sheer drops and very little guardrailing. The photo below shows Sandra in one of the few flat parts of the trail and the drop to one side.
 |
| On the way down from Pisac |
The trail was grueling and we didn't get many rest stops on the way down. I was popping Ibuprofen (should have taken it before we started, but forgot til the knees started speaking) and guzzling water (the air here is pretty dry). We were sure glad we practiced all those stairs in Seattle.
 |
| Nita hiking on a terrace |
It was a little after noon when we made it down to the current town of Pisac. We had started out a little after 9 (and of course a few stops for talking and resting). Even after all the stairs we have been doing in Seattle, my knees were really exhausted, but not injured. Sandra held up very well with her cold and the walking. But we arrived at the Pisac market where we had 40 minutes to shop, we spent the first 15 minutes sitting! We did do a little shopping, but this Sunday market is so huge it was a bit overwhelming and we were afraid we would get lost in all the stands. Sandra did find a ring she liked and we also got an alpaca wallhanging and a striped cloth we'll use for a table cloth.
Finally, we headed to Urumbamba for lunch. After about an hour we arrived at Wayna Ranch where they served us this huge meal with empanadas, tamales (no filling, just the corn), anticucho (marinated beef heart on skewers), several types of potatoes (a must at every Peruvian meal), avocado, tomatoes, pork, chicken, trucha (trout), and for dessert, a sweet pudding with a soft meringue on top, caramel dipped gooseberries, cookies, and fruit including fresh tuna (prickly pear). They just kept bringing food out. Most of it was delicious.
Between lunch and the dessert we saw a demonstration of the Peruvian Paso horses that the ranch keeps for guests. The Paso breed of horses has a special gait that keeps three feet on the ground at all times. This allows the horse and rider to go for great distances without getting tired because it's not as bouncy as a trot. This isn't something that is trained into a horse, it is genetic. The Peruvian Paso has been bred to have this particular gait. The video below shows a formation demonstrating the gait with the Paso horses and their chelanes (Paso caballeros).
 |
| The riders tip their hats as they finish their routine |
The signs for the doors to the bathrooms at Wayna Ranch had a woman and man in traditional Peruvian dress. On a third door, there was the matching sign below. It took me a few minutes to figure out what it meant.
After the show and dessert some of our tour mates rode the horses for a bit. Then we got on the bus and headed to our hotel in Yucay, just a few minutes away. The hotel is built on a property that was a historic hacienda that housed a monastery. Our room is in a newer part, but still has a monastery theme (although it is very nice inside). Below is the outside of the door and key to our room. We spent the couple of hours we had before dinner resting.
 |
| I had to have someone to show me how to work the latch on this door |
 |
| Our room key |
 |
| Sandra checks through the door peephole. |
At 7 we went to dinner at the hotel restaurant. The food was again delicious and plentiful. We both had trucha because we liked it so well at lunch. And chocolate cake for dessert. We're hoping to sleep well tonight. We're staying here two nights, so we don't have to get up and pack tomorrow.
Posted with Blogsy