THE INKA TRAIL

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 What an amazing journey!  The Peruvian  indigenous people of the mountain or Quechua people are very special.  They opened up their hearts and sacred lands for us to experience and be humbled by.  I have to say this was the most difficult thing I have ever done.  The terrain was challenging but the most difficult part was not being able to breathe due to the high altitude.

Gadventures was a fantastic tour company.   Our group consisted of 16 hikers, 22 porters, 2 cooks and 2 guides.  Bill and I were the oldest in the crowd, with the rest of the group except one ranged in age between 19-25.  The kids as we called them, were from the U.S., London, Denmark, and Canada.  The porters are restricted to carrying 25kg so our duffel bags could only weigh 6kg, 3 of which were for our sleeping bags and mattress.  Anything over that you had to carry in your day bag.  

We met every one the night before we left at a briefing meeting.  When we left the next morning we were two hikers short, they had not shown up.  (I'll explain why later).  The first day was spent travelling through the sacred valley by mini van. 

Our first stop was in a local village.  However the rain had washed the road out so the women gathered all of their treasures and walked down the road to meet our van.  All of their products were had made alpaca products.  

They demonstrated how they dye the wool from natural things they find on the mountain.  Some were plants, others were berries but the most interesting was a tiny red bug they pick off the cactus plant, dry and then crush.

They then add different liquids to the dry bugs to create different shades of red.  The lime juice completely changed the colour.  They then wash the wool in salt water to set the dye.

These woman carry large blankets full of products on their backs all over the mountain to sell to the tourists.

THE SACRED VALLEY

The sacred valley lies midway between Cusco and Machu Picchu.  It is framed by the bold Andes and the Urubamba river runs through the middle.  It is a lush agricultural region that supplies Cusco with much of its produce. 

 Our first stop was the Pisac ruins.  The Incas tiered the mountain directly in front of the structures to slow down the erosion of the soil.  These tiers are only found on the sides of the mountains where ruins are located.

 The intricate water systems built back in the 1500's are still operational today.  Each of the structures had public areas where the Inca's could come to collect water.

 

 

The Inca's believed in reincarnation, however they also believed that your body had to be present to be reincarnated.  Therefore they mummified their dead and laid them to rest in the caves located across a small valley from their living quarters.  When the Spanish invaded all of these grave sites were destroyed and the bodies and treasures removed.

We arrived back in the town of Pisac and spent about an hour walking around the market.  Swen and I bargained with the local woman and purchased beautiful table cloths.  I also spent some time in the silver shop learning how they make their silver jewelry and purchased a great pair of earrings.   We then stopped for lunch which was a buffet of wonderful Peruvian foods.  All you could eat!  Then we carried onto Ollantaytambo, the town we would be staying in for the night.

The ruins at Ollantaytambo

This was our first taste of uphill climbing.  The ruins are not complete because the Spanish invaded prior to completion.  The rocks used to build this site were transported by hand from a quarry about 35km away.  Most of the rocks are massive and I can't image how many people or how long it would take to transport them.  Our guide Percy told us they used water and dropping temperatures at night to break the rocks apart using nature cracks within the rocks.  The Inca people were amazing in what they accomplished.

 Across the valley from the site high up on the mountain side was another set of structures.  These were used to store food due to the cold winds currents that passed through. 

The face was a symbol of protection.  We had the option to hike this trail as well, but we opted to go for a beer and relax instead.

 



All of the ruins we visited had series of never ending steps built from stones which for the most part are original. 

Just an example of the size of rocks that were in place.  Each rock had a small protrusion which Percy said was used to brace the rock as they put it into place.