After yesterday´s giddy tour of Cuzco wonders I wasn´t sure what to expect from today´s 10 hr guided tour of the Sacred Valley. Carlos, our tour guide, collected us from the hotel at 07:15 hrs. Thankfully, the weather had cleared, with sunny skies dominating the journey out of Cuzco along a narrow road, with innumerable hairpin bends cut through stunning scenery to the beautiful Rio Urumbamba Valley, known as El Valle Sagrado (The Sacred Valley). Our first major stop was the lofty Inca citadel of Pisac, situated high above the modern-day town of the same name, on a triangular plateau. The most impressive feature is the agricultural terracing, which sweeps around the south and east flanks of the mountain in huge graceful curves. Instead of steps, the terracing is joined by diagonal flights of stairs made of flagstones set into the terrace walls; thus minimising soil erosion during flash floods.
Above the terraces are cliff hugging footpaths, well defended by massive stone doorways, steep stairs and a short tunnel carved out of the rock. Topping the terraces is the sites ceremonial centre, several working water channels (aquaducts) and some precision fitted masonry in the well preserved temples. Across the Kitamayo Gorge at the back of the complex are hundreds of holes honeycombing the cliff wall. These are Inca tombs that were plundered down the centuries and are now completely off limits. The vistas across the Urumbamba Valley are truly exceptional.
Following a delicious lunch at Chinchero we continued on to Ollantaytambo, which is dominated by 2 massive Inca ruins and is the staging point for the 4-day, 3-night hike along the world famous Inca Trail to the fabled temple complex of Machu Picchu. The huge steep terraces that guard Ollantaytambo´s spectacular Inca ruins are one of the few places where the Spaniards lost a major battle. Aside to being a highly effective fortress, it also served as a temple. A finely crafted ceremonial centre is at the top of the terracing. Precisely fitted stone walls were still under construction at the time of the conquest and were never completed. The walls incorporated the largest individual stone blocks found at any Inca site, some weighing more than 800 tons. The stone was quarried from a mountainside 6 km away, high above the opposite bank of the Rio Urumbamba. Transporting huge stone blocks to the temple complex was a stupendous feat that involved carting the blocks to the riverside, then diverting the entire river around them!!! Recent experiments have indicated that it would take 160 people to pull an 80 ton rock along a horizontal surface. No one has yet been able to determine how the Incas managed to pull rocks 10x that size up a steep mountain to the temple complex; particularly given the very confined space available.
We then embarked on the 2 hr journey back to Cuzco, completing the round trip by 17:30 hrs. On arrival we did some last minute shopping for the hike to Machu Picchu before then returning to the hotel for a briefing with our guide Ronny as to what to expect during the hike along the world famous Inca Trail. During the 1 hr long session, Ronny was pumped for information and we were assured the 7 kg weight limit we´d heard about only related to the luggage we´d each be able to offload on one of the porters. Any additional luggage would have to be carried by ourselves. With the El Niño looming large on the horizon and a distinct possibility of bursting forth any day now, we decided yet more shopping would be prudent. Therefore, following the briefing and prior to a very late dinner (especially considering our early rise the next morning) we again hit the shops for yet more shopping, prior to sitting down to a sumptuous, but fateful, final wine and carbo-loading dinner at Papacho. Astrid´s decision to opt for a healthy side salad would prove ill conceived......
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