BT – Pisaq

Today our exploration of Incan ruins continued, with a day-trip excursion to some of the ruins in the Sacred Valley. This valley follows the Urabamba River, a river which eventually (via another river) joins the mighty Amazon. The U-shaped glacial geomorphology of the valley — together with the lower altitude, warmer temperatures, and good rainfall — resulted in it being a desirable fertile food-bowl for the Inca civilisation. As a consequence, many ruins are found there, including the famous Machu Picchu at its further end.

We had been picked up relatively early, and were pleased to have another good Quechua guide. Our first stop was the ruins at Pisaq (S 13°24.4′, W 71°50.5′), which are at the top of a very steep and winding entrance road. This site has amazing terraces cascading down the hillside into the valley. Their sheer magnitude and precariousness, and the amount of work required to build, maintain, and actually farm on them were simply jaw-dropping.

Here you can see the embedded cantilevered stone steps that allow people to move from one terrace to the next (each wall is about 1.5-2m high).

It was nice to have an initial orientation talk and then time to explore at our own pace instead of being directed every step of the way. Cath and I walked up to the top of the ruins, and then back down, with the time allowed just right to achieve this without feeling rushed.

After returning to our bus (now surrounded by dozens more tourist buses jammed on the narrow road), we then stopped at a silversmiths, where we were shown Peruvian silver and gems. This was, almost certainly, an advertising ploy as well as a tourist experience, but there was some nice jewellery on display, and I ended up buying myself a necklace with a geometric design (note that, although we were in the Andes, the Incan civilisation extended to the sea, and so sea shells were certainly a “local” material in some sense).