Cuzco Days… The Sacred Valley Tour…

There is so much to see and do in and around Cuzco..

Rather than go to the trouble of riding to see all the sites, I booked a full day bus tour of the area, figuring that I would not have to worry about where to park the bike and if it would still be where I left it on my return…!!

Easter weekend saw crowds of both tourists and locals flocking to the steps of the Cathedral...

The 40-seater bus left Cusco at 8.00am, and by lunchtime, I was wishing that I had checked to see if there wasn’t a smaller bus I could have taken the tour on…!! The guide had a very hard time keeping the group together during the course of the day, and the tour took at least two hours longer than it should have, arriving back in Cuzco at 9.00 pm that night…!!

Getting a huge bus down the narrow streets of Cuzco is no easy task...!!

I sat up in the front seat next to the driver, which made for a roller-coaster like ride, and had me closing my eyes and praying quietly to myself when the driver tore through the mountain passes at what seemed like breakneck speed, to make up for lost time…!!

Our first stop was at a large arts and crafts market in the town of Ccarao, where we admired the handiwork of the local tradesmen...

Tapestries and wall hangings woven from Alpaca wool... It is much finer and softer than sheep wool, and also a lot more expensive...!! I saw a bike in Cuzco that was using one as a seat cover...!!

These young guys were charging just a few cents for tourists to take photos of them... But don't get too close to the Alpacas... The buggers sneeze and spit at you...!! The Guinea Pig was for sale, the Alpacas not...!!

Exquisite colours and designs, handcrafted under the most basic of conditions...

We drove on to the town of Pisac, famous for it’s silversmiths who crafted beautiful jewelry using silver mined from the local mountains, and crafted together with semi precious stones found throughout Peru and it’s neighbouring countries…

The antiquated machinery they used reminded me of the places in India I visited where jewelry was made under very similar conditions, and at very affordable prices too…

The wives and girlfriends on the bus went crazy…!! The husbands and boyfriends silently cursed the tour guide…!!

The “factory” where they worked was part of another large market place, and it quickly became apparent that this tour was tailored to allow tourists to buy gifts at cheaper prices than they would have to pay in Cuzco and other cities…

At each stop, my fellow passengers got back on the bus with bulging bags, filled with handwoven tapestries and other “dust-collectors”…

Peruvian girls in their traditional outfits... Photo: 1 Sole, about R3.00...!!

Outside on the sidewalk, their mothers and aunts were busy with their weaving and knitting...

Roadside refreshment stall... Do not try the green sauce...!! The lining of my stomach has yet to recover...!!

We stopped to get photos of the Sacred Valley, where the Incas grew crops on a large scale...

On a torturous climb up into the mountains north of Pisac, we came upon the ancient Inca stronghold of Kallaqasa, a place that was used as a retreat for the upper class, as well as an experimental farm where a variety of crops were grown on the many terraces built into the mountainside…

There was also an area set aside to breed and cross-breed guinea pigs to make them bigger and presumably better tasting…!!

The ruins of Kallaqasa... The climb up here had me sweating bullets despite the cool temperature...!!

Quasi-Inca in the ruins... Price for photo: 2 Soles...!! I was getting a bit peeved at the whole money-for-photo lark...!!

It never failed to amaze me, how much work it must have taken to build all the terraces to grow crops on... They are all 2 metres in height, and made up of different soil types to grow different crops on...

But this area was especially famous for another reason… In the rock walls of the surrounding mountains were over 3 000 tombs, where the middle and upper class Incas were buried… Niches and shallow caves were carved into the rock faces and the mummies buried within them…

The Spaniards looted over 90% of these tombs, taking whatever gold and other valuables they could find, and scattering the remains of the dead in the process… The contents of only 300 tombs have been moved to various museums in Peru and other parts of the world…

Up on the top of the ruins, were two small temples, one dedicated to the moon and the other the sun… The walls have been preserved and narrow passages connect the various buildings… From up here, I could see all the way down into the valley to Pisac, which in ancient times was probably a whole day’s hike away…

The bus took us back down into the valley, through the towns of Lamay and Calca, where we stopped for a late lunch… I had Alpaca stew with rice and boiled vegetables, not the tastiest dish I have ever consumed, but filling none the less…!!

The Inca ruins at Ollantaytambo... I was a bit "ruined-out" at this point, and wished I had the Big Fella to hand... I would have hightailed it back to Cuzco...!!

After another long ride, we reached Ollantaytambo and prepared for more climbing of steep steps to see the ruins of this ancient city…

It was by now late afternoon, and many of the passengers groaned aloud when our guide indicated that we would be going up to the Temple of the Sun on the ridge far above us…

The original site was built for the Inca Pachacuti, who first conquered the region… It was also a very important religious centre where many temples of worship were built… As we climbed the slopes of the mountain leading to the Temple, we could see the town laid out in the valley below us…

Shadows begin to creep across the valley where Ollantaytambo is situated... Although we were all very tired at this point, the spectacular views served to brighten flagging spirits...

Image of the Inca... The face of an Inca is outlined against the sky. This is a natural phenomena, that led the Incas to build their stronghold here...

We hiked along narrow pathways that have been hacked into the mountainside and eventually came out to the original site of the Temple…

I had hoped that there would be a lot more to see than there was… Only one wall of what must have been an impressive structure, was left standing by the Spanish, who tore the temple down and pushed many of the large carved blocks of granite that made up the other walls, down into the valley below…

(Cue the words: (“The Bastards…!!”)

Each time the guide mentioned something the Spaniards had destroyed or torn down, I said this word loudly, much to the amusement of all my fellow tourists…

Except for the Spanish couple, who didn’t find it funny at all…!!

Our guide then turned and asked us to look at the mountain opposite where we were standing… He pointed out the outline of face that looked remarkably like that of an Inca, and told us that this was one of the reasons that Ollaytantambo was built here in this valley…

Another face on the mountainside... This one is of a grumpy looking guy, who is said to have been watching over the Incas toiling away in the fields below... He was there to remind them not be lazy, and to keep the storage rooms behind him, full of grain and other crops, for the harsh winter months...!!

Looking down onto the ceremonial area and Sacred Fountains and baths...

By the time we had stumbled back down the mountain and boarded the bus, it was already dark…

Our last stop was at the Expo Andina in Chinchero...

I was looking forward to getting back to Cuzco and having a hot shower… Most of the passengers fell asleep as we took the road back through the mountains…

But out tour wasn’t over yet…!!

We stopped in the little village of Chinchero, in what seemed the dead of night…!! Our guide woke everybody up and informed us that we were now at our last stop for the day… More groans from the sleepy occupants of the bus…!! Most of us had had more than enough cultural visits for the day…!!

But a pleasant surprise awaited us… We were gathered together in a large circle, and presented with tea made from Coco leaves, which got many of us perked up real quick…!1

Then a young girl began explaining how they used all manner of natural plants and insects to make the various colours used to dye the woolen products they knitted and sewed..

We were also shown how the tapestries and carpets were woven by hand on a very simple loom…

Traditional methods of dying material are still used to this day in many parts of Peru... The red colour came from a juicy worm that feeds on Cacti...!!

Her hands moved so fast, I could hardly make out what she was doing...!! Such complicated patterns made with such a simple loom...!!

"Okay, Bucko...!! If we don't leave for Cuzco in the next few minutes, I might just wring your neck...!!" ....After a long day traveling in a bus, and tramping up and down steep mountains, GB gives the guide some sound advice...!!

We arrived back in Cuzco over an hour later, to the accompaniment of a chorus of loud snores coming from the back of the bus…

It had been a very long day, and I was only too happy to see the Casa Grande Hostal again…

The manager greeted me with a broad smile as I staggered through the glass doors, and reminded me that I was due to be collected at 8.00 am the following morning for the next tour I had booked…!!

“What…?? I booked another tour…?? What have you been putting in that tea you serve every morning…??”

I canceled the tour to the Salt Mine and some other place I forget the name of, explaining that I had had my fill of buses and would not be contemplating setting foot in another for some time to come…

As I walked into the courtyard, I saw that there was another bike parked next to the Big Fella…

“I see you have company…!!” I said, as I walked past him to my room… “Find out where he has come from and what the roads were like… We’ll catch up in the morning…!!”

I went to bed planning for a few days of rest before I made my next ride…

©GBWT 2012