Cusco, the Lares and the amazing Machu Picchu
Trip Start
Nov 24, 2005
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22
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Trip End
Nov 24, 2006
Cusco,
Peru
Monday, June 19, 2006
Cusco is a beautiful city with an amazing central square that has two beautiful old churches around it. You can also see evidence of the Incaīs intelligent building style in walls throughout the city and in the foundations of some old buildings, which the Spanish built on top of
01. Cusco from the Loki Hostel
. It was festival time when we were there so that made the whole experience even more special, with dancing, floats and parades in the square to mark the start of Winter Solistice. On one of the days there was an entire street lined with foodstalls preparing the local specialty, cuy or roasted guinea pig! After finding out that the Inca trail was fully booked for months (of course, we are so disorganised!) we decided to use the same great agency that Andrew and Kat (our buddies from Copacabana) had used and recommended. This agency offered a trek through the scared valley (where the Inca trail starts) and into the Lares valley, where communities still live like their Inca ancestors used to. The hike takes four days and you end up at Macchu Picchu on the last day for sunrise. The trekking agency we used was community based and had various projects designed to enable the communities in the Lares valley to maintain their traditional lifesytyle. Perfect agency for us!
Our group included young and old from all over the world and there were twenty of us in total. We were accompanied by three excellent guides who we became great friends with and who all spoke perfect English, seven porters (man are they strong), three cooks, four donkeys and even a herd of llama for some of the way
02. Cusco church....one of the many
! We began early with a four hour hike through the Sacred valley, which the Incaīs so named because you can grow any type of crop on its fertile hills and it has a river that runs through the entire valley. After lunch and a dip in the hot springs of a little town at the beginning of the Lares valley, we began the real trekking! Luckily we were used to the altitude coz we reached heights of around 4400m and it was a struggle up those steep valleys regardless of the fact it was even harder to breathe than usual! After three days of seeing the amazingly steep paths they navigated through the valleys, we had taken to shaking our heads and saying with much respect īoh those crazy Incasī. Incredible! The valley environment changed as we got higher and parts of the lower region reminded me of The Shire in Lord of the Rings....just beautiful!
The camping we were treated to after a day of walking was excellent.....we were greeted by hot milo (!) and popcorn on arrival into camp! Our tents had been set up already and dinner was always excellent! On one of the nights we were able to stay with a small community and were invited to see inside one of their houses. The house was made in the Incan style, a stone upon stone structure with no windows and a thatched roof made of a type of grass particular to the area. Inside was very basic and the family sleep together on the dirt floor with a woolly llama skin as their bedding. They all keep guinea pigs and that is the reason for the lack of windows as the guinea pigs are a precious food source and if they are exposed to extreme cold they instantly die, so they are kept inside until eaten. Another example of how life is a reflection of how it was in Incan times is the manner of dress
03. Cusco´s main square
. The women dye llama wool and use backstrap looms (Mum and Katie R I thought you would appreciate this so Pauley put a photo on for you both! xo) to make their colourful clothes. They all wear hats that signify their age and marital status and everyone wears the same style of sandal the Incaīs wore. It was so freezing and there were little children running around in sandals! Another special experience was visiting a local school further down the valley. The agency asked us to help by donating pens and paper to the children. We met two classes and we sung songs with them! The schools in that area have decided that they want to continue the Quechuan language, so classes are taught primarily in Quechuan not Spanish. It was nice to see this and although the Peruvian government are not particularly helping the community do this they are not hindering their efforts either. Seeing the school and exactly how people live is one of the highlights of this particular trek and we loved it! Along the way we also saw many little known Incan sites, such as watch towers, produce storage houses and a terraced side of a hill that highlights their ingenuity in building irrigation systems. Imagine what they could have acheived if it hadnīt been for Spanish colonialism!
On the third afternoon we arrived in Ollantaytambo, where after walking 45kms over the three days, we were greeted by the train that took us for a scenic ride to Aguas Calientes, a small town at the foot of the valley which Machu Picchu sits atop
04. Fountain and Church
. We were certainly in need of a shower by then! We woke up on the fourth day at 4am to get the bus up to Machu Picchu to see the sunrise. We made the second bus and were one of the first thirty into the site that day! It was just AMAZING! One of the best things I have ever seen and it will stay with me forever. The lost city of the Incaīs was well worth the walk! Upon arrival you can see how the town was divided into Urban and Farming sectors with a gateway dividing them. After walking through the gate, we saw the sun rise through the Temple of the Sun and shine directly on the rock where they used to place offerings. After this, our guide Jose, took us on a fascinating tour of the site and we marvelled at everything! Especially the Sundial that helped them work out the seasons! Incredible stuff!
After the tour we decided that, as we hadnīt walked enough in the last few days (!) we would climb to the summit of Waynapicchu, the famous mountain, to see the site from above. The climb was steep and once again Those Crazy Incas came to mind...the ancient stairs were so narrow but it was worth it when we saw the view! Machu Picchu is meant to resemble a condor (surprise, surprise!) from above! And it was just spectacular!
After a few more hours of exploring and just sitting and comtemplating how amazing Machu Picchu is, we headed back to get the train to Cusco. After a four hour journey, we were back in Cusco and ready for bed! Next stop is Lima and the coast! Canīt wait for a swim! xo
Comments
Scared Valley?
You boys have gone soft on me!
Enjoying the updates, lots of manly love, Dave (from Salta)