One thing about it, flexibility is important! While our itinerary said we leave at 8am, Ruben sent a note and said 7:15am is the plan. Partly to pick up a couple of folks for the Pisac tour, partly to beat the crowds, and partly to get us to our Salkantay Trek team and to camp before dinner. As it turns out, that extra 45 minutes saved us from quite a logjam of tour buses at Pisac, nice.
So we’re up early! Wrestling with the 9 pound weight limit for our duffels. The Rumi Punku has a set of scales in one of the breezeways and we’ve been making a few rounds! With the possibility of mountain weather and tropical weather in the same day, we’re struggling with which clothes to take! And in hindsight, we’ve brought too many.
Another concern was how much water we needed to be able to carry. The gear list says bring a one liter and/or a 3 liter Camelbak, so it wasn’t real clear. We opted to carry my super-handy, super-light, super-tough, super-packable Platypus collapsible bottles (four one liter bottles) and two half-liter Nalgene bottles. This turned out to be a wise setup.
After a nice breakfast at the hotel, we were on our way, promptly at 7:15. The van climbed into the mountains above Cusco and crossed over into Sacred Valley. A pullout and view overlooking Taray revealed the headwaters of the Urubamba River, itself being a tributary to the mighty Amazon!
Pisac – The Laboratory
As we rolled through these beautiful mountains and high valleys, we could see ancient terraces everywhere on the steep slopes. From my previous post, it should be clear that the Inca were the stone masters of the world, I just can’t think of any other culture that brought stone work to this level. And not easily shaped rock either, most of it is volcanic and very hard.
But now, to my amazement, I’m seeing that they are mountain masters and irrigation masters as well. But wait, along the walk, Ruben plucked some grass from the mountainside and proceeded to show us how the Inca made rope from it. There’s a bridge over a chasm that is still being made this way today. Search for the Last Inca Bridge. It’s about two hours from here. Here’s a link to a Nat Geo article about it. Simply amazing. Straw masters too.
The terraces are so expansive! Each terrace consists of grades of rock covered by sand and then topsoil. All of it hauled up the slopes. There is a water management system at the top with aqueducts that can distribute the water as needed. Buildings at the top housed the engineers and astronomers, and also provided storage for the harvests.
The Inca used these terraces to learn how to best grow different crops. And based on that success, the methods were spread throughout the empire.
It’s hard for me to conceive just how BIG the empire was and how extensive it was! And all the incredible technology making it work. And all connected by Inca trail.
You just never know what’s around the corner…
On our way to Ollantaytambo and lunch, we drove through the village of Lamay. Many of the villages in Sacred Valley seem to have their own character. One seemed to use tuk-tuks as the main mode of transportation, for example.
But for Lamay it is the humble guinea pig. They are wild here, you know. And they’re fast! And they’re raised like rabbits for food. But I never expected this. A guinea pig as a waiter? How about an Incan ruler? No need to go inside, get one on a stick at the stop light. Unfortunately, I have a mammal meat allergy (no lie), so it was off the menu for me.
One last crazy thing before lunch. What day is it anyway?
If you can enlarge this and look close. You’ll see some glass habitations of some sort way up near the top of the cliff, middle-left. I’ve circled in red a couple of people who are trying to get to them, ostensibly for lunch.
It’s an iron-wire climb, and I think the person on the left is a guide for the person crossing the wire bridge.
I like my guide just fine.
Ollantaytambo and Wiracocha, the Sun God
So our group today consisted of us and a couple from San Francisco, and of course our man Ruben. Lunch at the Temple del Sol was simply amazing, as all the meals are turning out to be. The owner took good care of us, there has been just so much food!
We climbed up yet another set of terraces at Pisac and Ruben explained to us that is was the royal estate of the ruler Pachatuti. And near the top, there was the fine stone work we came to expect for the royalty.
You know, this is only day three of our odyssey. Every day seems to outdo the previous one, but in a completely different way. Somewhere on Sacsayhuaman, I slipped off my huaraches. I wanted to feel the Inca stones beneath my feet. Ruben noticed right away and gave me a smile of approval. “Feel the energy,” he said.
This was a bit of a relief, there was a big emphasis on footwear in the guidance and, well, I’m a barefoot hiker. At least if the trail is agreeable. And now I’m wandering over ruler Pachatuti’s palace grounds, enjoying the warmth and texture of the stone, and wondering what life was like here.
Yet another amazing place. The Wall of the Six Monoliths just defies description. There’s so much going on here.
Wiracocha
But even with this, when we turn around and face the east we see Wiracocha. Wirachoca is the Incan Creator, the supreme god of the Inca. His likeness has been carved into the cliff face on the mountain on the opposite side. It is said that it was clad in gold.
Can you see him? He’s facing left, to the west. A little zoom helps you see his nose in profile. The structures to the right and left are multi-story granaries. Crazy.
History says he is ancient in the culture, and he’s typically depicted as an old man with a beard. Prepare to be amazed.
I’ve really zoomed in, and in the middle photo, I’ve played with the filtering to draw him out. Maybe even give some of his gold sheen back!
The bottom photo I shamelessly swiped from Ruben’s guidebook (not the page!). It shows the bearded one, shouldering a load. Just so cool.
The Glass Cabanas at Soraypampa
FINALLY, we’re on our way to the start of the Salkantay Trek! We meet our new companions and transfer our stuff to their van. It’s a full load, five trekkers, a guide, a chef, two porters, and a LOT of gear.
We say farewell to Ruben and the San Fran couple (we’re hopeful we’ll meet him again for the Rainbow Mountain trip). And we say hello to Sergio, our new guide, and his team. Our group size is perfect, two from Australia and yet another from San Francisco.
About five minutes into the trip and Patricia realizes she has forgotten her phone! She just decides to have Ruben hang on to it, but Sergio makes a call and we make a quick rendezvous. In another ten minutes she panics a little, “I didn’t see my trekking poles, do we have them?!” This is important. The most difficult part of the entire odyssey is before us and there are no extra poles. She really relies on them. “I’m pretty sure Ruben tied them to your duffel.” Alfredo, the chef, pulls her duffel out and we see them, whew!
Harry, one of the Aussies, quietly says, “And now’s the time when you start thinking about all the other things you could have possibly left behind.” We all laughed, and I playfully pat her on the head. So many things…
We drive a crazy mountain single track dirt road in the dark up to camp, arriving around 6 or 6:30pm. While we get settled in, the crew starts making dinner. It’s been a long and rewarding day, and the evening meal did not disappoint.
Sergio calls, “Family! We will be knocking on your door with hot coca tea at 4:20am!”
And it was so.
Could tomorrow top today? We shall see.
Okay, even with the day, I couldn’t go to sleep. Not just yet! The night sky through the glass ceiling was pretty sweet. Patricia suggested I go ahead and get a couple of shots of the sky by mounting my little tripod to the headboard.
NOW I can go to sleep….