The Sacred Valley,

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Sacred Valley Tour

In a country, where there is hardly any level ground and where hills and dales abound, why this particular valley alone should be sacred?

The answer leaps to the eye. This is not a valley but a vale, broad and fertile with special climatic conditions. It also controls the route to the Amazon jungles. No wonder that it was thought to be sacred, and was heavily fortified against the incursions of the jungle tribes. In fact, the massive fortifications of Ollantaytambo are a mute witness to the might of Incas that was concentrated here.

The Incas were masters of stonework. How did they cut and polish the hard stone like the granite? Our guide told us about a technique, which I am just repeating here. I take NO responsibility for it, because I myself find it difficult to believe.

He showed us small holes in the granite cliff which, he said, were made by a particular species of birds. The birds found that an application of particular types of leaves will soften the stone and allow them to make holes in it for nesting. The Incas observed the birds and followed the same technique.

It is difficult to believe, but I have seen that sick cats do eat grass, which is not their natural food, and cure themselves. Maybe the birds and animals have more intelligence than we give them credit for.

For more information on this fortress, please follow the link:

http://www.world-mysteries.com/mpl_8.htm

The romantic tale of Ollantay, a plebian and Princess Nusta Cusi Collyu, daughter of Great Inca Pachacuti of the South America parallels that of Hiawatha and Mineahaha of the North America. This kind of princess-plebian or prince-Cinderella theme is also the staple of our own Bollywood industry. Hiawatha inspired Longfello to write a loooong poem and Ollantay inspired Markham to translate the original drama in English, which you will find here:

http://www.sacred-texts.com/nam/inca/oll/index.htm

Ollantay’s was the only Inca’s statue that we found in Peru, others in Lima are those of the conquistadors. Ollantay was highly esteemed by Incas.

Our guide however claimed that Incas were mad. (He himself had Inca blood.) Nobody in their right minds would quarry massive stones from the top of one mountain, bring them down, ferry them across a river and again take them up another mountain to build a temple. Sensible people would have built the temple on the mountain where the porphyry (pink granite, which is different from red sandstone of the Red Fort.) was found. I am inclined to agree with the guide, especially because I had to climb to the top of Ollantaytambo practically on all fours. Other tourists enjoyed it and encouraged me to greater effort. I have particularly developed a dislike for those three old women who did NOT climb but waved and made a ‘thumbs up’ sign to me.

I am glad that they missed a highly hilarious sight.

The top of the Ollantaytambo was full of tourists, native urchins and native stray dogs. The dogs were apparently well cared for, because they were pretty sleek, not mangy. One fat puppy had attached itself to three American girls of about 8 or 9 years. It just followed the girls everywhere wagging its tail and the girls also accepted it as a companion.

The puppy, though very friendly, had its principles. It ate the French fries and the hamburger that the girls shared with it, but when the girls tried to upend a Pepsi bottle down its throat, it dug in its heels and turned away its head. Try as they might, the girls did not succeed in making it drink the fizzy Pepsi. The puppy was adamant about it and made it abundantly clear that it would do everything -- wag its tail, lick the girl’s faces, follow them to the end of the world -- but would NOT drink Pepsi.

I am sure Coca Cola would be very happy to read this blog. They owe me a hefty royalty.

Can you see the Inca face on the hill opposite Ollantaytambo and the sealed granaries up there? A fort has to have huge stores of food in case of siege.

The Andean (Yes, it is Andean, though it is sometimes also referred to as Indian) markets at Pisac are so colorful and attractive that it is very difficult to come away from there without buying something. The woolens, the wall hangings, the pottery, the ceramics, everything has that unique stamp of Andean workmanship and blazing bright colors. I have a sneaking suspicion that Picasso was inspired by the Pisac art. Don’t the tapestries in the photo remind you of the Modern Art of Picasso? Long before Picasso, the Andean artists were depicting gods with an eye in the center of their stomachs.

In fact, Andean art is as surrealist as it can get. They were dabbling in Modern Art centuries before Cezane.

This reminds me of a joke I had read somewhere, which I found highly hilarious, but I do not remember where I read it.

A modern Artist’s house in Paris was broken into and robbers ran away with a few valuables. However, the Artist had seen them and offered to make a sketch of them for helping the gendarme i.e. police.

Based on his sketch of the robbers, the police arrested a flowerpot, a cow and the Eifel Tower.

Please, please do not level a charge of plagiarism against me. I am admitting that I have READ this joke somewhere and am just reproducing it. I am not Kaavya Viswanathan, right?

The next day we traveled from Cuzco to Puno in a very comfortable bus. This part of the country is very scenic. It is dotted by small villages with the snows of Andes in the background. At one place, they showed us the ruins of the Wiracocha temple. Only one wall is standing now. The round, stone silos that were used to store grains, are very impressive. At some places, its defenses are strengthened by the ‘Inca Wall’, a smaller version of “China Wall’, you may say.

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Photos

The Sacred Valley
The broad Sacred Valley

The unfinished Temple
The Unfinished Temple at Ollantaytambo

The Ollantay statue
The statue of Ollantay

The Ramp
The Ramp

The view from the top
The view from the top

The granneries
The Inca face and the granneries on the opposite cliff

The Pisac market
The Pisac Market

The Andes panorama
The Andes Panorama

The Wiracocha
The ruins of the Wiracocha Temple