| Nov 23, 2005 - The Sacred Valley, Peru
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 | | show all 96 | | Pisac Market | | Maddy, Bryan, and Sarah at market | | More of the larket | | |
| Well, with all that crap finally taken care of, it was time for me to finally enjoy myself and get to see some of the things that Cusco and the surrounding area is famous for. Cusco sits at the head of the Urubamba valley, through which runs the Urubamba river. This valley is more commonly called the Sacred Valley due to its importance to the Incas and its subsequent holiness to their descendents. There are some nice towns in this valley, as well as some very impressive Inca ruins. Many people take organized tours through the valley, but the 4 of us figured we could save some money and go at our own pace if we went solo, so that is what we did. It turned out to be a much better idea.
After a slow morning, we finally took a taxi to the town of Pisac about 30km north of Cusco. Pisac is known for its large market on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and especially Sundays, and also for the ruins that sit on top of the mountain overlooking the town. We went on a Tuesday so spent the first hour or so just exploring the market. Yes, by now all markets are starting to blend together and I don't buy much anyway, but still it was nice to walk around in and see the merchandise. For some reason Sarah ended up buying a mini diorama of the last supper, and I got a pair of Alpaca gloves for the Inca Trail hike. There is a long path from the town up to the ruins, but we decidedto take a car up to the top and then walk down. When we got up there, I was blown away. I heard and read so much about the ruins along the Inca Trail, and the ruins of Sacsahuayman that are vloser to Cusco, and of course Machu Picchu, but really didn't know anything about Pisac. Therefore, my expectations weren't so high, it was just something to do. But man, I loved walking around up there. Not only were the ruins largely in tact and very impressive, but there were so many of them. Spread out over about 4-5 mini peaks on this mountain sat many types of ruins of varying sizes, such as an Inca fortress and one of the many "hitching post of the sun" in Cusco area, all of which are above these beautiful terraced hillsides. We ended up walking around for a few hours up there, much longer than we probably would have had if we took a tour. Of course, Bryan was pretty sick, and Sarah's leg was injured, so they may have different opinions of the day than me anyway. But I had a great time up there, wandering around an not knowing exactly what I was looking at or what would come next, but enjoying it nonetheless.
The weather started to look bad, so we decided to star the walk down, and promptly got rained on for the 30 minutes it took to get back to the town. Luckily I had also bought a cheap plastic poncho in Pisac, also for my Inca Trail hike, which served as a good pack cover for this walk. We relaxed with some hot chocolate, coffee, and tea in a cafe, and then continued on our tour. Since by this time it was getting dark, we just went straight to Ollantaytambo, the other town with famous ruins on the opposite side of the valley, and decided to pass right through the town of Urubamba. Here we spent the night.
The next day we visited the ruins of Ollantaytambo, which were also quite nice. When the Spanish conquistador Fernando Pizarro entered Cusco and attacked the Incas, the Incas lost battle after battle and retreated here. The ruins, though commonly thought of as fort due to their role in this battle, were actually a temple. There are other small ruins on the surronding mountainsides, but you cannot visit them. In Ollantaytambo the Inca warriors made their final stand and actually resisted the Spanish. It had little effect on the outcome of things since the Spanish still eventually controlled the whole area, and the continent for that matter, but these ruins hold importance for the locals as the place the Spanish could not conquer. They consist of the main temple structure, then a small path that winds around the curve of the mountain, and arrives at another small patch of ruins. From here there is a large and long Inca staircase back down to the town. After seeing the ruins for a while, it was time to go.
And this is where our little foursome split up. Sarah statyed in Ollantaytambo to cath the train up to Machu Picchu that night. Maddy and Bryan had to head straight back to Cusco, but I wanted to see Urubamba. Urubamba is another small town in the valley, half-way between Ollantaytambo and Pisac, and also with its own direct road to Cusco. It is also a location that houses Visions Service Adventures during the summer, the company that I worked for in the British Virgin Islands last summer before starting this trip. I had the contact into of the local people who help out Visions, so I wanted to meet them and possibly see some of the old Visions sites and projects. I got in and went to the house of this couple, but only the wife Berta was home, as well as an American student who was staying with them in a homestay while she worked for Pro Peru. So the three of us sat and talked for a while, and since the husband Nico was in Cusco, I decided to head back there and we arranged to meet up in the Plaza. I then met up with him, his daughter, and a woman that was either his co-worker or sister, and chatted for a whole over some coffee. It was so great to have some local contacts to meet, and they were such nice, friendly and interesting people to spend time with. Its these types of experiences that are out of the daily routine of a backpacker that really stand out and feel great and end up having a lot of meaning. We arranged that I would visit Urubamba again after I got back fromt he Inca Trail for a home-cooked lunch and to see some of the Visions sites.
After that my night was pretty tame. Some dinner and relaxation, and Maddy, Bryan, and I checked into Hostel Loki, which was very recommended and much nicer than the hostel we were staying in before. |
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