It's all about Inca

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Day 591 (9/11/08)

Feeling a little more refreshed after our lazy day we wanted to see a couple more of the Incan sites around Cuzco. We had been recommended to see a citadel a short walk from Cuzco called Saqsaywaman (pronounced by all travellers as 'sexy woman') and took the 30 mins uphill walk out of the city to the gates. The unique thing about this site is the size and craftmanship of the blocks that make up the city. Some of the blocks making up the three levels of zigzagged walls were HUGE! We opted to walk around solo, and whilst walking around found some excellent views back over the city. We walked around the main areas and taking what Roger had taught us, theorised what sections of the site were used for.

Feeling pretty hungry by now we walked back down to town and to the local market for some food, stopping at a stall selling Ceviche. This is another local delicacy which is made up of raw fish, a bit of spring onion and chilli and other salad bits covered in lime juice. It was superb!

Feeling satisfied after our Ceviche, we went back to the hostel and pulled out a pre packed day bag before catching a cab to the bus station where we were planning an overnight trip to Pisac. As we stepped out of the taxi we were lucky that a posh tourist bus pulled up going our way. A couple of soles each and we had a comfy ride. Nice!

As we arrived we had caught the local market in full swing. Pisac has a huge market every sunday (with a smaller version on other days of the week). Pottering the streets we were able to get a couple of bits of jewellery for Chrissie before finding a budget place to stay for the night.

Dumping our stuff in our room we went for another walk around the market and town before stopping for a pre dinner glass of Chicha with some locals and later another menu dinner.


Day 592 (10/11/08)

To our surprise when we rose in the morning the market stalls that had been taken down the night before were already going back up for the next influx of tourists.

The ruins at Pisac sprawl over the top of a steep hill overlooking the town so we jumped into a taxi to take us to the highest part of the ruins. The views back down the valley when we reached the top were fantastic with large parts of the hillside covered in the ancient Inca terraces.

We spent the next few hours exploring the many sections of the ruins at Pisac and clambering up and down steps and tiny paths to see as much as possible. The Incan path that joined sections of the ruins hugged the contour of the hill and even included a small tunnel through the rock. One section of the site had buildings that were extremely well preserved showing incredible building and rock carving skills. After visiting as much of the ruins as we could we found the path that would lead us back down to town and wound our way down the ancient steps through the vast agricultural terraces admiring the views over Pisac sat snugly against the river below us. Pisac is a fantastic site and we were glad we'd made the journey to visit it.

Back in town we picked up our bag and before we knew it had grabbed a couple of standing spots on the bus back to Cusco. We revisited the Cusco market and our little OJ shop for some refreshments before heading back to the hostel for a shower. We packed up our stuff and in the evening caught the bus that would take us to our next stop in Nazca.

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