Exploring Sacred Valley

The bus or coach took up a substantial portion of the road outside our hotel but the traffic through the settlements in the valley was usually sedate. But once outside the settlements.... hang on and hope! 

These motor bikes with a canopy on the back (tuk tuks or mototaxis) were everywhere in Peru.

Had to include a photograph of some rocks in a cutting... 

The valley is productive farmland ...

... with eucalypts a common sight. 

We crossed the train track leading to Machu Picchu and continued to travel through rich farming land.

The bull-fighting ring below is apparently used for just that - bulls fighting each other rather than the Spanish practice of matadors etc.

The drainage around the villages included small gates and channels. 

The village where we stopped was colourful and well-kept. 

We were able to visit a traditional house.

Rosie did not speak English but photos were ok.

There was a pen for some guinea-pigs, a delicacy in Peru and looks easier to maintain than a chicken coop. 

The small shrine included the skull of the grandfather, with the expectation that he would look after the family. Hmm... Different!

There was excitement, from me anyway. to see a quipu on the wall.

These were knotted and coloured ropes which summarised, in a very sophisticated way, the details of a community during a period of time - what we might call a census period. Births, deaths, numbers of animals, crop sizes etc were all detailed by the number, size, colour and placement of the knots. The Incas had a different mindset: they saw centralised government as part of who they were, rather than something imposed, so sending census data back to Cuzco was accepted. These quipu, read and interpreted by quipu-camayocs, were remarkable communication devices.

Drainage through the streets looked clean and didn't smell, so presumably it was storm-water.

The mud adobe walls built on top of rock walls was a common sight. Must have coped with earthquakes etc.

A large block of rhyolite in the town square called me to rest! Well... it could be fine-grained andesite. A moot point. But who cares, I hear you say!

The town markets.

   More Incan ruins loomed over the small town. 

The corn crop looked healthy. 

The small track on the far side of the river is an early stage of the Inca Trail, a four day hike up to Machu Picchu for those young enough and fit enough. I am in awe of Kate for completing this trek some years ago. 

Unfortunately, the sun was in our line of sight, but we did stop to check out the scariest hotel in the world! That’s how it is marketed. 

Adventurers pay a lot of money to be suspended in pods for the night. They are briefed, then climb up to their pod. 

Next day, they zip-line down. No thanks!

The photos online highlight the views.

 

More train-line crossing as we head back towards our hotel in Yucay... 

A stop in Urubamba along the Sacred Valley, took us to the pottery and ceramics workshop of Pablo Seminario, a world-renowned craftsman with exhibitions in New York etc. 

His courtyard was colourful

The significant Incan symbol featured on some of his pottery.

The small bowls were hand-painted and sundried - after extensive polishing of the surface by rubbing gemstones over them, rather than glazing. Hired workers do this - not Pablo. 

 The master at work with a new creation.

Another stop was organised for taste-testing of corn beer and guinea-pig!  

The elderly lady has been making this corn beer for years and it was quite refreshing. 

But the delicacy of roasted guinea pig caused some differing opinions. 

Houses were carved into the hill-side. 

As we neared the head of the valley, the restaurant where we stopped a few days ago was very obvious.

The markets at Pisaq were colourful. 

As the wind blew, the canvas canopies over the market stalls threatened to become airborne, but the locals seemed unfazed.

  A last glimpse of Pisaq as we left Sacred Valley. 

Some truly spectacular sights!

On the hills just above Cusco is the ancient Incan site of Sacsayhuaman (there are variable spellings including Saksaywaman or Saqsawaman and others). It was a temple, a fortress and a storage site. 

The walls were large and the stonework was precise with interlocking blocks made to fit a particular spot. No mortar was used and the site has withstood 500+ years of earthquakes.

Climbing a slope for a better view was worth it - but it had to be done slowly to counter the effects of altitude.

The long grooves on the hilltop rock surfaces must have been glacial striations.

Cuzco was not far below.

It was the end of the working day for those who pose for photos.