Touring Ollantaytambo and the Sacred Valley
The conquistadors lost a battle here to Manco Inca in 1537
We spent a total of 7 days biking in the Sacred Valley, with a one day visit by train to Machu Picchu. I am not sure why it is called the Sacred Valley, except that it was a very important farming center for the Incas and there are many different Inca ruins here. People, also, must travel through the valley to get to Machu Picchu and perhaps its ¨sacred¨name is due to the mystical nature of this site. While it is now a tourism center in Peru, many, many people continue to make their living farming the fertile soil in the mild climate of the valley, irrigating as needed from the Urubamba River. The major crop grown here is maize (corn). Each of the ruins we visited impressed me in their own way.
The town of Moras just above the valley was our first destination where the ruins of Moray lay 7 km away along a beautiful gravel road with views of the high snow capped mountains. Here are several large bowl-like hollows in the land where terraces built in characteristic Inca style spiral down, the largest hollow being about 100 feet deep. I thought this looked more like an amphitheater. David gave short orations of the Gettysburg address and Hamlet´s ¨To be or not to be¨ at the bottom and I heard him quite well at the top. Each of the terraces had drains for irrigation indicating the area was used to grow crops. There is about a 25 degree (Fahrenheit) difference in temperature from the top to the bottom and archeologists believe the Incas experimented with different varieties of corn, potatoes, and other crops to determine the best variety for a particular elevation and temperature. Amazing.
The next day we cycled 5 km in the opposite direction from Moras to the Salineras Salt Pans. Looking down into this deep valley that empties to the Sacred Valley we saw thousands of small rectangular pools, formed from dried salt in various stages of a murky evaporation of salty water. It was one of the more incredible sights for me on this journey. Made in pre-Inca times all of the pools were connected to an irrigation system that allowed them to be filled by a natural hot spring coming from farther up the mountain. Biking down into this valley and standing on the walls of the salt pans, we saw several people in the process of extracting the salt from evaporated pools as this ancient area continues to provide salt for the local market.
After a long climb out of this deep valley we cycled down and down and down again into the Sacred Valley. Following the Urubamba River we made our way to Ollantaytambo. This town had been an important Inca town and many original Inca stone foundations and walls remained forming the streets, courtyards and homes of today. The sound of running water was everywhere as Inca irrigation channels funneled water along the streets, around and under structures and fed terraces still used to grow maize and vegetables. The ruins overlooking the town contained a temple area that was likely being built at the time of the conquest. Huge smoothed stones that lined one wall of the temple had been transported from a quarry 5 km away that was high up the ravine of another mountain. People needed to transport them down that mountain, then 5 km along the river, across the river and then up the mountain in Ollantaytambo. We marveled at how these large stones may have traveled from that distance as wheeled carts did not exist in this part of the world before the Spaniards. On a later hike to visit the quarry, we saw a few large stones hewn smooth lying along the path that likely were meant to complete the unfinished temple at Ollantaytambo. These were known as ¨tired¨stones. The word ¨tired¨ and the now lichen covered unplaced stones called to mind for me the lost labor and forgotten technology of the pre-conquest peoples who built these grand structures and with their knowledge of agriculture created surpluses that fed a huge class of artisans and stone masons. This culture was dismantled and discarded (though not destroyed) by conquering westerners. How tired must have people felt as they lived through this period.
The last major ruin we visited besides Machu Picchu was in Pisaq. Arriving just an hour before nightfall we did not have a lot of time to explore. The fine stonework on the Temple of the Sun and the Temple of the Moon was visible and a broken Intihuatana, called the ¨hitching post of the sun¨ remained in one part of the temple. The Spaniards considered these to be heretical and destroyed each one they found. Archeologists say they were used for astronomical and agricultural purposes as the sun´s shadow when hitting them during the equinoxes and the solstices points in a specific direction. The Incas and other pre-conquest peoples likely used them to tell when it was the best time of the year to begin the planting of crops.
Steep terraces lead to the temple/fortress.
Cobblestone streets dating to the 13th century.
Cuy (guinea pigs) are not pets here; they're livestock.
Note the Inca stonework with large cornerstones.
Manco Inca holds a staff topped with maize (corn).
Ceremonial baths for the Chosen Women.
Nevado Veronica (5750m) rises above the Sacred Valley between Ollantaytambo & Machu Picchu.
