Sacred Valley of the Incas

Saturady, March 15, 2008
Pisac, Cusco, Peru

Today marked the end of my two week respite since arriving in Cusco. Or rather, I will no longer be spending my afternoons watching pirated movies and drinking Inca cola. It's got to go. It was a great change from the chaotic schedule Lenay and I had in Ecuador, but I've got to see all that is Peru. Why not start with the big one?

Lenay's good friend Liz flew into Cusco this morning. With her came two cases of red bull to satisfy my friend the aficionado, along with some grog, candy, and socks. I have never had warmer feet at night. Liz told me she barely made the weight limit. What she also came to share is the cornerstone of our stay in Peru. Machu Picchu, or 'Old Mountain' in Quechua is what has been weighing down my mind for days. The flagship of Peruvian heritage (and it's tourism industry), it's what all the tour guides have been hounding me about. Lenay set up a trip through Dos Manos, the sister business to our Amauta Spanish school. One hundred and seventy dollars will get us into the ruins, and pay for our train ride to and from the Sacred valley of the Incas. But who can put a price on one of the new seven wonders of the world?

After getting bus tickets at Amauta at 10 AM saturday morning, we all took a taxi ride to a bus station in Cusco, a few short blocks off of the Avenida de la Cultura. As we drove up the hills surrounding the city of Cusco, Liz got her first look at the Peruvian countryside, as varied as it is. Dried brick houses, centuries-old terraces, and breathtaking Andean vistas showed us how beautiful was the land that the Incas once ruled over.

After over an hour of watching the mountains roll by us, we descended upon the town of Pisac, the first leg of our Sacred Valley tour. Though definitely not a large town, Pisac displays the signs of a steady tourism industry, as it lies between Cusco and Machu Picchu. Gringos were present here, and restauranteurs were busy herding them into the many spaces that Pisac has to eat. Taxis lined the main drag, where a driver named Carolina greeted us. She told us of the famous ruins of Pisac, hundreds of meters above the town, that were once inhabited by the ubiquitous empire. She charged us five soles a piece to drive us up there.

The Ruins of Pisac sat at the top of the Andes in this area. Dozens of terraces scarred the mountain side below the abandoned town. To reach it though, Lenay, Liz and I had to follow a narrow path amid the heights, sometimes climbing 500 year old staircases, inches from a violent fall to our deaths (not to sound overdramatic, but it was really high!). At the end of it all we found the ruins of Pisac, with a restored water system still churning it out.

We hung around in Pisac for a while, exploring the market and grabbing some lunch (fried chicken sandwich, just bread and chicken, creative) from a very pushy owner, and caught a bus to Ollantaytambo. The town seemed memorable for several features. First, it sits below a massive ruin site. Secondly, the construction of the village is notable for it's stone and mortar walls, and inlayed drainage ditches. We spent the night here, after getting a light dinner and being serenaded by a local music group.

Tomorrow, Aguas Calientes.