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Published: March 20th 2010
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Pisaq and ollantaytambo 7th February 2010
Early this morning we tok a taxi to the top of the ruins above Pisaq in the sacred valley about a half hour drive from Cusco. We had started at first light, getting up showering but a delayed breakfast meant it was almost 8 when we arrived at the ruins, we were determined to avoid crowds and we knew this particular site is very popular even more so because Machu Pichu is closed.
The first area of the site is dwelling places of the Hauri people (Pronounced Wari) from roughly 1200 years ago, once again the precision of the stones is amazing considering the time in which it was erected and the fact that its on a cliff, clever lads these Hauris, From the same area you can see the whole site as well as the whole valley, a pretty picture, the site is huge and has been one of the most important places for centuries to the various peoples that have settled in this area, As you walk into the site a cliff looms ahead you, it has holes all over the face of the cliff about a half metre in diameter,
these are tombs, now mostly excavated, quite literally the bodies of the deceased where slid into man made cavities in the cliff, at the time pathways and structure to made maintenance and the burials possible but now after years of mudslides and seismic activity there are no way to walk up there, nevertheless over the years the tombs were excavated and the remains removed although earthquakes dislodged a lot of the remains over the years and the valley floor below is said to be littered with bones. It is estimated when the Hauris were here 10,000 bodies where in this cliff by the time the Incas arrived 400 years later that number had halved.
Looking below us one could see the terracing for farming, unbelievably symmetrical with aqueducts placed in strategic areas to aid irrigation on the massive terraces, It was said, corn, potatoes, quenoa, and many other vegetables where grown here, just above the terraces is the military barracks, its here beside the food to protect it from looting, the Incans grew enough food for all its people, everyone worked, everyone ate, No-one went hungry in Incan society but the food needed to be protected from any other
tribes foolish enough to attack.
On the other side of the valley lies the temple of the sun of the Huari and along side it the temple of the sun of the Inca, You can see how the Inca were influenced by the building styles of their predecessors though they had a skill for perfection not just sturdiness.
The oldest area of all lies just below here, Here adobe features probably from the time of a tribe called the Pisiqas, this settlement overlooks modern day Pisaq, In all its an interesting place made even more interesting by our knowledgeable guide Phillippo. The whole hill is covered in wild flowers of many colours and the views are so picturesque, the sun shone all day and we had spent hours there, its a beautiful walk and not too strenuous, tired and hungry we climbed down the back way through the terraces and back into Pisaq.
We left for Ollantaytambo in a taxi from Cusco a few days later, It is a service which takes you and 3 others for 10 soles each…bargain, as we got closer to Urubamba the scenery was magic, the fields are pasture and crops, green
and fruitful but in the distance the beautiful snow capped peaks peak above, this was where we had been walking to Lares on a few days before it was immense.
Ollantaytambo is a delightful little place, quaint and friendly but again because of the floods it was deserted, I mean deserted there were virtually no tourists here, The Stone houses and cobbled streets flanks by waterfilled aqueducts that flows from the surrounding peaks including several glaciers, We booked into Hotel Sol for the night, it sits literally on the rivers edge and had been damaged when the river broke its banks, the adjoining bridge had also been damaged but remained intact though looked a little dodgy to me, The bridge led to the ruins, It was late in the day but we decided to wander through citadel.
Here 3 valleys merge into one making it strategically important for the Incas, this was the seat of the kings where he could observe his empire, Garrisons spotted the cliffs above and crops still grew in the places they had grown then still surviving off the waterways so carefully built by these clever people, Again this was an important site for
food distribution as the 3 valleys lead to vast open areas where many people lived. Once again the temple of the sun stands pride of place in this ruin, the stones were hauled from a mountain at the other side of the valley, they are huge their passage across the valley and up the other mountain was a feat of engineering.
I loved it here and as John and our guide went off to other parts of the site I wandered around and took it all in, the water fountains, the arrangment of the stones, the breathtaking view, truly a magical place.
We decided to climb the cliff at the other side of the valley to watch the sun go down, I was a wee bit nervous as it started to get dark as some of the paths are very narrow and its a long way down, there was the remains of a watchtower there, loved this place and it really needs the tourists back, this town survives on tourism.
Later that nights we sat having dinner at a restaurant over looking the river we noticed about 40 people walk across the bridge followed by a bus,
they then boarded the bus again and away they went, I suspect the bridge might have taken a severe beating by the flood waters and wasn't at all safe.
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