Things We Liked About Lima

·      Walkability: The nice neighbourhoods, such as Miraflores, are clean, green and full of open public spaces. They are incredibly walkable, providing miles of paths for pedestrians along the beaches, the malecon on the cliff overlooking the beaches, through the parks and along the streets lined with historic buildings.

·      Parks: there are more than you can count within walking distance. They are impeccably well-maintained and landscaped. They vary from open spaces with any number of imagined uses to specific parks for skateboarding, BMX, skydiving (!), picnicking, and using the free mini-gyms they have set up. They also have a Park of Love, with a steamy statue as a centerpiece (CLICK HERE to see it).

·      Food: Lima offers a wide variety of food, both Peruvian and international. The city is known for its culinary fusion. One of the most delicious things we tried were causas. These are essentially creamy sandwiches made with mashed potatoes instead of bread. They are filled with avocado, meat, sauces, seafood, hard-boiled eggs, olives and/or vegetables. Possibly the best dish in Peru!

·      Shopping: Lima has possibly the best mall in the world. And I don’t like malls. But this mall is a multi-level complex that is completely open-air, facing out onto the ocean. It also offers some of classiest and most cosmopolitan stores you could think of. Lima also has huge artisan markets that sell everything made elsewhere in Peru.

CLICK HERE for a few pictures from Lima

Pictures of Ballesta Islands & Paracas Reserve (Peru)

We recently stopped over in the town of Pisco on the South coast of Peru for a short while in order to visit the Ballesta Islands and Paracas Reserve. The Ballesta Islands are sometimes called 'the poor man's Galapagos' for their numerous bird populations. During our boat trip to the islands, we saw:

• Cormorants, gulls, pelicans, small shore birds
• Humboldt Penguins
• Peruvian Boobies
• Inca Terns (the only endemic species to the islands)
• Sea lions

We then visited the land portion of the Paracas Reserve, which is all desert. It rains an average of 2mm a year, so pretty much never. The landscape was fascinating - it is surprising how many colours a desert with no vegetation can contain! We learned about the natural resources that are extracted from the reserve:

• road salt (with a high dirt content) for export to Canada
• table salt
• fish and shellfish
• guano (for fertilizer)
• seaweed for collagen (sent to Canada for processing)

CLICK HERE for some pictures from our trip

Pictures of Arequipa & the Colca Canyon

CLICK HERE for pictures of Arequipa and our Colca Canyon trek

Arequipa and Colca Canyon

Arequipa…the Lonely Planet calls it “an irresistibly sexy city”…we say, “meh”. Although an alright city in which to spend a couple of days, overall the highlights of Arequipa were, in this order:

·      Our super-comfortable bed with soft sheets and perfect pillows at an otherwise unremarkable hostel

·      A visit to an almost 500-year old convent, Monastario Santa Catalina. It was mainly for upper-class women, so their rooms often included private kitchens, servants’ quarters and opulent decorations. It was one of the most photogenic buildings we have visited (PHOTOS HERE & HERE)

·      Good food at a variety of tourist-oriented restaurants, including a couple of bottles of wine in tree covers

·      Visiting the local city market’s potato section

·      Leaving

We booked a two-day hiking trip to the Colca Canyon while in Arequipa. The Colca Canyon is about a 3-hour drive from the city, and extends for several hundred km from there. It is now recognized as the deepest canyon in the world, at over 4000 meters deep. It is possible to walk down into the canyon at various points along dirt donkey paths. So that is what we did.

The geography and geology of the area are both quite stunning. On our drive (which began at 3am) from Arequipa to the canyon, fading in and out of consciousness and sleeping in strange minivan seat positions, we went over a pass that is above 5000m high at sunrise. It looked a lot like what I imagine Mars would: red rock, no vegetation, skiffs of ice and snow, and hazy light. The canyon itself had a wide variety of geological formations and colours, as well as vegetation ranging from scrubs to large cacti to lush plants and palm trees. All arable land has long ago been formed into terraces by famers so you can also see corn, cereals, potatoes and other crops growing along the hillsides.

After doing other hikes, this one didn’t seem as spectacular. It was a long hike down to the canyon bottom and took almost the whole day. One of the girls in our group fainted from the heat and it was interesting to see how the guides used local plants and a flower water (timolina) to help stabilizer her. By the time it was over our legs were jello. We spent the night in a mini-oasis in adobe huts with thatched roofs. After we had a couple of beer and cleared the room of spiders and any other creepy crawlies, we were exhausted and it was easy to fall asleep early. 

We ate standard Peruvian fare for lunch, dinner and breakfast during the trek. A highlight was that in Peru you often get delicious olives with every meal, even breakfast. The sharp taste actually wakes you up. After our climb out of the canyon (which I barely made), we spent a lovely hour not moving while soaking in some hot springs.

On our drive back, we saw huge herds of wild llamas and alpacas. (Sidebar: you can tell the different between them because llamas have “long everything” – faces, necks, legs, tails, and alpacas have “shorter everything”. At least that’s how our Inca Trail guide explained it). And, we got to see a small herd of vicuñas! This is quite exciting, as they are not that common. Oh, and we saw a couple of Andean Condors. Nothing close enough to get a good picture, but we saw them. They are an important symbolic bird in South America, both now and historically. They are also endangered, and have a giant wingspan. But that doesn’t change the fact that they are quite ugly.

Two hours after arriving back in town we were on another overnight bus (very posh: internet, big comfy seats, movies, and they even played bingo!).  Off to Pisco.  

Pictures of Huayna Picchu

CLICK HERE for pictures of Huayna Picchu

Huayna Picchu: A Perfect Place for a Question

It felt like we had slept in when we didn’t have to wake up until 7 am. We had relatively dry cloths and we felt like we were ready to get back to Machu Picchu.  After a light breakfast we noticed it was raining. At this point, it didn’t bother us because we now knew that each day in the Sacred Valley it is nice at sunrise, it rains until about 10 am and then clears off by noon. Other people were racing up to the city in the clouds to great rained on for the next 3 hours.

We got to the gates just after 10 am and watched the new pack of hikers that had arrived that morning trying to recover from the Inca trail hike. We felt their pain, but we were also more or less over our physical experience after soaking in the hot springs and a great night sleep in a nice bed.

Huayna Picchu is the incredibly lush mountain that overlooks the citadel. It is a good hike up about 300 meters on a narrow staircase, and ends at a very interesting set of buildings that sit on top of the peak. We made really good time up, even stopping to get some pictures along the way.   

After about reaching the midway point the sky started to clear. We saw people coming down who had made the trek too early in the morning to get the view and now were cheated out of the most incredible view in the whole experience. 

Once reaching the summit, we found ourselves there with about 50 plus other hikers all staring off towards Machu Picchu. The people down below looked like little festive ants in their multi-colored ponchos. It was also interesting to see how defined the contours of the citadel are; some people say that it actually looks like a condor in flight.   

We found a way to get away from the crowds by climbing up to the higher rooms, through a short tunnel, and up to the highest boulders that crested the peak. We grabbed a seat and avoided all the other people vying for their next Facebook profile picture. We had a perfect view of the whole Scared Valley, the Urubamba River, and the Sun Gate that we had passed yesterday, and of course the Machu Picchu citadel itself. 

I pulled out my trusty GPS SPOT that I have been using to track our movements on the trip (it provides a location and time to a list of people). I hit the send function and handed the device to Catherine. It takes a couple of seconds to triangulate.  While it was working, I reached into my bag and pulled out a little cedar box and gave it to Catherine. In it was an engagement ring made of Peruvian gold with two dolphins coming together in a kiss. I asked her to marry me, and she accepted. It was the perfect location, the perfect time, with perfect weather, to have asked the perfect question, and I even got the perfect answer from the perfect girl. Perfect!

We spent about an hour on top of the mountain having a little private celebration while surrounded by, but not noticing, the other tourists. After getting some important pictures, including ones of our travelling companies (Bear and Mulligan) we headed back to see a couple of our favorite spots in the citadel and to sit and look at the amazing view one last time before we left to catch our train back to Cuzco. 

Pictures of Machu Picchu

CLICK HERE for pictures from Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu

After another incredible breakfast (at 3 am), we all discussed how this was our last meal of the hike and we were seriously unsure if our future travels (or our homes, for that matter) were going to have food anywhere close to the same quality.

We needed to get moving early for 2 important reasons, the chaskis needed to break down the camp and get to the closest train station on an alternative route with the company equipment and we needed to get as close to the front of the line as possible for the checkpoint. It was really unclear why being at the front of the line was so necessary, other then trying to be one of the first groups to the Sun Gate. We were not allowed to clear the checkpoint until dawn because a couple hikers got hurt walking in the dark a while back. The unfortunate outcome of this situation is that people that stay in nice hotels and take a bus to the site get to experience Machu Picchu in the early light, before the trekkers. We felt a little cheated, but that is life. 

We had spent so much time on the trail in smaller groups because of the way the companies staged the progress that it was strange to realize that there were 200 other hikers that would be going with us on this 2-hour tourist parade to the Sun Gate (the first point where Machu Picchu would be completely visible). It was a perfect morning, stars were setting and the first glimpses of the morning light were breaking through. We were all totally excited, while one of our guides slept against a support post. This wasn’t his first rodeo. 

Once we cleared the checkpoint, the reason to be at the front of the line became obvious. It seemed like people were in a race to get front row seats at a big concert.  Some were racing along the narrow path and others were trying to actually block people from passing them. All this stupidity on the edge of a cliff. Part way through the walk we came to a place where in the early morning there had been a rock slide that had washed out part of the trail. It took some time to traverse and I think the majority of people realized then that there was a slim margin of error during this walk between getting to the site and being the reason why hikers in the future couldn’t walk after a rain shower. In fact, falling debris almost killed a guide and a hiker after we passed.

This section of the trail had beautiful Inca steps and was a joy to walk. As we passed the rockslide we turned the corner and of all things, we saw a beautiful Quetzal (sexy bird). I starting freaking out like a geeky birder and telling everyone how rare it was to see one and I figured it was a good sign for the rest of the day.

The last climb to the Sun Gate was a steep flight of stairs and just as we crested the top ready to scream in joy “I am a golden god”, we saw thick clouds rolling over the site so quickly that we didn’t even have time to get a camera out. The site was gone. It started raining. I couldn’t breathe and I wondered what was going happen next.  One by one people came over the pass and gasped as they saw only the edges of the ancient city and then really nothing at all. There were lots of pictures taken of people in front of a fog. Our ever positive guides told us that the weather changes like the mood of a Peruvian woman and not to worry, it would be great in a couple of hours.

We had to do another check-in at the main gate. We walked down to the site in the rain and we could immediately tell that this site was different from all of the amazing sites we have visited so far and somehow the rain, mist, and cloud made it even more splendid. After 4 days of hiking, we looked like drowned rats as we walked passed hundreds of people that were ready to model for their Facebook profile pictures. People even smelled really nice and I am positive that we didn’t. It was really funny and a little scary at the same time. After walking one of the most beautiful trails in the world, we ended up in a line that resembled Black Friday sales or a Disneyland ticket booth. The whole thing was a little deflating. We checked our kit at storage and decided to hide under an awning for an hour and let some the crowds go through and in hope that the rain would stop. I guess we should have sacrificed some small animal or a virgin before we arrived to ensure better weather.

We walked back into the main site and found a sheltered spot where our guide started the tour and provided background on the site. One of the most important things to understand about Machu Picchu, as well as most other Inca sites, is that no one really knows how the complexes were exactly organized and used. There are dozens of theories about the potential use of Machu Picchu, but one of the only common threads is that it was a very important place and it has amazing energy. During the rest of the day, it was quite funny to hear other guides give completely different (and contradictory) explanations within earshot of each other.

We started to walk from area to area, getting information on architecture, engineering, and potential usages. The level of sophistication of some of their systems was impressive. It was also amazing to see how rude people were to others.  We actually watched three 70-year-old ladies push through the middle of our group while our tour guide was in the middle of an inspirational speech and start arguing with us about their rights to be in the exact spot. It was absolutely appalling.

Our tour lasted a couple of hours and it was incredible to see most of the site on an area by area basis. Once our tour finished, it happened! The clouds parted and it got really hot and we could see the whole site opening up out of the retreating mist and the uniquely shaped lush green mountains. Everyone went quiet as we sat on top of an east facing view. It was one of the most amazing moments of my life and I could completely understand why any group of people would have chosen the site simply based on the view. The view seemed like it was impossibly real, as though a special effects team could have constructed it. You actually felt dizzy trying to distinguish between the overwhelming number of contours, colors, and the sensory overload.

We spent the rest of the day walking through the site and simply sitting on rocks being mesmerized by it all. Sparrows glided through the air and butterflies that were brown on bottom and metallic blue on top showed off as they fluttered past us. 

Mid afternoon, we took a bus down to Aguas Calientes where we had a final lunch with the group and said good-bye as most of our group was taking the train back to Cuzco. We then attempted to dry out our smelly kit by hanging it all over our hotel room and headed for the local hot springs. The pools were absolutely amazing and we even got served drinks while floating around. Very posh! It was an incredible way to top off the day. We also knew that we were not finished. 

Tomorrow we were planning to return to do the anticipated hike up the adjacent mountain of Huayna Picchu and to go back into the full site and revisit some of our favorite places. It had been simply one of the best days of our lives. The adventure of the Inca trail and Machu Picchu was only increased by the great people we got to experience it all with over our 4-day journey.

Pictures from the Inca Trail (Peru)

CLICK HERE for lots of pictures from the Inca Trail

The Chaskis of the Inca Trail

We arrived in the pouring rain to the SAS tour office. We were the first of the group to get to the briefing room. It was lined with couches and on the center table was hot water and coca tea. Coca tea had become our staple since arriving in Cuzco a couple of days earlier to help us adjust to the altitude. We were only going to need more of it: Cuzco is at 3300 meters and the highest pass of the Inca trail is about 4300 m. 

After a few minutes a number of couples start to file into the room and you could feel the excitement building in the room as we all tried to determine how we would get along over the next 4 days. Immediate thoughts: it seems like it was going to be a pretty fun group.  Our guide (Saul) arrived to start our pre-trip briefing and he was very enthusiastic guy that looked like he belonged on the national soccer team. Saul provided a lot of detail about what we should expect and some last minute tips on packing. It was going to be an early morning; we were going to be picked up at 5 am the next morning. 

At first light we drove for a couple of hours, ate breakfast and had a chance to pick up some last minute essentials like rain ponchos; they turned out to be one of the most important purchases of the whole trip. After breakfast we drove past Ollantaytambo to “Km 82” where we would start the hike to Machu Picchu.  We saw a number of groups preparing (200 tourists & 300 chaskis (porters) start the Inca trail everyday).  It was very organized and people were getting their kit on and the chaskis were even dividing up rum into pop bottles. We exchanged friendly nods knowing that I had already done the exact same exercise earlier. 

The amazing men that carried our supplies are generally referred to as porters on company websites.  This generic term is not preferred because it often refers to a servant. Our guide explained that we should call them chaskis because it means “Inca Runner”. As we were about find out, there was no more fitting a title…other than perhaps “superhero”.

It was incredible to see the amount of kit that the chaskis were about to carry. The bags were often bigger than them, as these guys don’t stand more then 5 feet tall. I later commented to our guide that these were Inca Turtles that were built for speed.  As we lined up to check in at the entrance, we watched these super-human porters start the trail with a sprint across the suspension bridge, while they were cheered on by the crowds of trekkers. I, for one, felt like a lot less of a person knowing that they were not only carrying their own food, tent, sleeping bag, and other equipment, but also our tents, food, cooking equipment, propane tanks, chairs, tarps, first aid and oxygen, and our extra gear (including my rum). This group did not cease to amaze me during the whole hike. 

The Inca trail is well trodden given that 500 people walk it everyday. It was a beautiful walk the first day and even though it was a long day, there was very little difficult hiking, just a lot of it. We stated to pass small villages or groups of 4 -7 homes where families lived and provide suppliers to the trekkers. They even sold pisco, the local hard alcohol of choice. 

Each time we stopped for a break we watched groups of chaskis move past us at what appeared to be double time. These guys needed to make up enough time to get to the next lunch or campsite and set everything up before we arrived. I feel I have done a lot of hiking in my life and I have a routine in my head that I feel is necessary to make it through a sold 7 day hike in the back country with a full 60 -70 lbs kit on my back. I had my pack weighed at the beginning of the hike and I was only carrying 17 lbs. Basically, I should have been able to run the hike. Chaskis carried at least 50 lbs. and moved at incredible speeds.

We made it to our first lunch stop and I expected to have some boiled rice or rehydrated astronaut food. We walked into the site to find a clean tent, wash basins with hot water ready for washing, with chairs and lime-flavored water to get things started. Then we had a 3 course meal, including soup, rice, chicken, vegetables, all of it potentially the best food I had eaten in 5 months of traveling. It worked out that two of the chaskis were also certified chefs. This was going to be a completely different hiking experience! (As a bonus, it only rained during lunch, clearing up when we had to get moving again).

We moved out before the chaskis and within about an hour of hiking they were passing us again. It was unbelievable to witness. It was a long day and there was about 16 km of hiking, but the trail was good and the rain was minimal. We got to camp about 30 minutes before sunset to find all of the tents were up and the chaskis were making an afternoon snack of popcorn and tea for us. Again, I was absolutely amazed. We found all of our kit in our 2-person tents and we quickly got our gear figured out and got into clean warm clothes. Then we had a “Hola” from outside of our tent. It was one of these amazing chaskis with a basin of hot water for washing. Dinner was even better than lunch, again with three courses followed by amazing Peruvian special tea that included rum. By about 9 o’clock it was time to go to bed with an early 5 am wake up call. It was easy to fall asleep.

The next thing we knew one of the chaskis was outside of the tent providing tea service at 4:30 am. This is a brilliant idea to get hikers going: providing a cup of hot liquid at 4:30 in the morning to someone half asleep guarantees they will wake up very quickly because they will either spill it all over themselves or they will drink the lovely coca tea without spilling it. Either way, mission accomplished.  Breakfast was on par with every other exceptional meal we had had and we were on the move very early for the hardest day of the hike and Dead Woman’s Pass at midday.  Day Two is basically climbing a vertical of over 1000 meters in four hours. Then down almost the same distance, then up 300 meters and down 300 meters over a 10 hr day.

It was on this climb that we started to really see how incredible the chaskis were. They were carrying huge loads in the high altitude and they started to appear to get exhausted about 2/3 of the way up. Trekkers started to give them water, coca leaves, chocolate, and candies, and every type of moral support possible. Every time our group was passed, we would always say “Gracias!” to them. We all made the pass at around the same time and we were greeted by chaskies with snacks and drinks. It was impossible to explain the level of respect that we had for this group of men. Our guide pulled out a Peruvian Flute and started playing Beatles tunes for the group.  We were definitely starting to become a much tighter group after that climb. The hike down was almost as difficult as going up, but the chaskis felt that it was easier to run down the slop using inertia to get them there. Our guide told us the most important thing on the way down was to stay out of their way. He wasn’t kidding, these guys came down like an avalanche.  The last person back starting call out to the other trekkers downhill “chaskis –on the right” and we would all move as group to the side and make sure they could run through as quickly as possible. 

By the time we got to camp, everything was set up and we were almost expecting a small circus to come alive based on how high our expectations had become. We ate another amazing meal and again got ready to move out for the next section. Most of us were feeling pretty exhausted at this point, but no one was saying anything because were watching the chaskis get ready to go again.

We moved out in the rain and we knew that the hardest part of the Trail was behind us and we would all be celebrating when made the next camp. We passed two incredible archeological sites but the clouds were moving in and out and we had very little opportunity to see them. We were told that if not for the clouds we would be looking at Machu Picchu mountain. By the time we got close to the next camp, the skies parted and we saw the amazing valley and it only built our excitement. We got to the beautiful camp (already set up) and we had a perfect view down the valley.  The clouds were both below us and above us. This inversion made it seem like we had found a place in the sky where you could have walked out into a field of clouds. We spent almost an hour just standing there looking out and talking, but no one could move from the spot until the show was over. Once it got dark we move inside the dining tent and we were all high on the experience and a little rum.

Another morning, and another cup of coca tea at sunrise.  This morning started off with rain and we all got moving and into the dining tent for breakfast.  It was amazing again – with quinoa porridge – amazing!  People were a little slower because of the rain, but we knew that it would be a short day no matter what. We got moving fast once we started and it looked like we would substantially cut the time to the next camp. Eventually we arrived at camp, the staging point for the walk to Machu Picchu the next morning. We spent the afternoon at one of the most incredible archeological sites, Winaywayna (“Forever Young”) and had one of those moments that really brought us together. Saul said that we would end the trek as a family and I believe that this was the point when we all felt that close. That evening we had a chance to thanks the chaskis for all of their help and service. We put together a group tip for them and thank you speeches, but I don’t think that any of us believed that we could thank them enough for their help. As we all shook hands and said thank you, their modesty and pride in their work came through in an indescribable way. 

The next morning came early and under a blanket of stars where got up at 3 AM to move the check point and the 2 hour hike to Machu Picchu’s Sun Gate.

Pictures from the Sacred Valley, Peru

CLICK HERE for pictures from the Sacred Valley in Peru (Inca sites and llamas!)

Pictures from Cuzco, Peru

CLICK HERE for pictures from Cuzco, Peru

Cuzco and the Sacred Valley (Peru)

We arrived in Lima, Peru two weeks ago; more on that in a retroactive post, though. 

Cuzco

Cuzco is unlike anywhere else we’ve been, although it shares lots of elements with places in Guatemala. It has the syncretic mix of Incan and Spanish cultures, in language, dress, religion, food and people, so we have seen the two very distinct sides of the Andean culture. Cuzco is a relatively large city (350,000) situated at the high altitude of 3300 meters. (I have never been at this altitude, and it took some adjustment for both of us the first few days. Coca leaf tea is a life-saver. Too bad we can’t bring it back to Canada!). The Plaza de Armas, the main square, is a gigantic open space with benches and flowers. It is surrounded everywhere by narrow cobblestone streets leading up steep hills, interspersed with old Spanish churches built with Incan stones. There are a lot of tourist and trekker-oriented shops, touts, and restaurants in the main area, but anywhere outside the square the city feels surprisingly authentic. Modern Peruvians in business attire mix in with Incan descendents in traditional skirts, top-hats and multi-coloured shawls carrying goods or babies (or both).  Cars zip between people on narrow 400 year old streets beeping noisily in codes that we still don’t understand. 

Besides the amazing cultural experience of wandering around the city, our two main activities in Cuzco have been eating and shopping. How is this different from any other place we’ve been? Both activities are cheaper and more delicious! The amount of beautiful weaving and knitting in the area is overwhelming. Anything you can think of is made in every colour, size and style...and the best part is, it comes in baby alpaca wool. So soft! The cold weather here definitely encouraged us to buy more than we normally would have...but that’s really just an excuse, because how many alpaca scarves can one wear at the same time?

 And the food. Both Lima and Cuzco have been pleasantly surprising in terms of food. As with the rest of their culture, their food is an intriguing mix of old Andean and Hispanic. Imagine mixing the possibilities of 4000 kinds of potatoes with Spanish cooking styles and flavours. We have tried lots of interesting dishes (and narrowly avoided a few that are stewed in peanuts!), including alpaca, skewered beef hearts, and stuffed local peppers. They are also masters of soup. And best of all, there are all sorts of popcorn! Big, little, partially popped, blue, red…it’s popcorn heaven with over 150 types of maize! What we have not tried so far is cuy (guinea pig), mainly because it seems to come roasted whole. With the fur.

Cuzco also offers all sorts of non-Peruvian dining experiences. We spent a lovely afternoon drinking pints and watching Champions League soccer in Norton Rats, the motorcycle-themed British pub. Other evenings were spent at Paddy Flaherty´s (the self-proclaimed highest altitude Irish pub in the world), and in a tiny restaurant with a mini wood oven for some delicious pizza and Chilean wine. The drinks of choice here are beer (the local beer, Cusqueña, is one of the best we’ve had all trip) and the pisco sour. If you haven’t tried one of these, you should. It’s kind of like a mojito on speed, but substitute the mint for frothy egg whites.

We decided to try out the massages offered on every corner of the main plaza. How can you go wrong at $8 an hour? And, they are offered by nice young Peruvian girls...no hint of the creepy Indian mustachioed men here! It is a funny experience overall, with the massage beds set up with only curtains between them, girls running in and out, and cold wind blowing in off the street. It got even better when they started their atmosphere music: pan-flute versions of Celine Dion, the Beatles and Toto. Yes, Toto's Africa in pan-flute. But you still can’t go wrong at $8 an hour.

The Sacred Valley

The Sacred Valley runs in the Urubamba river valley between Cuzco and Machu Picchu, about 50 km away. It comprises several of the main Andean Incan sites, as well as their modern village equivalents, along with stunning scenery. We visited several of the ruins on a combination of group and self-tours.

The closest site to Cuzco is just 2km up the hill: Sacsaywaman. This doesn’t seem far, but between the altitude and my bad directions that took us double the distance, it was quite an outing! It was amazing to breathe in as we walked through imported eucalyptus trees that have turned into an important industry. Anyways, Sacsaywaman (insert James Brown emphatic scream here) is quite the place. It was both a religious site and a military stronghold for the Incas. Many of the boulders used to create the walls weigh hundreds of tons each. Even more amazing is that they created the site to resemble the head of a puma (with giant teeth), as they had built Cuzco in the shape of a puma. Equally as exciting as visiting this ancient wonder were the roaming llamas on top of the site. It’s hard to get as excited about old rocks as it is about cute furry beasts with long necks giving their best Blue Steel looks. 

Many of the other sites we visited were impressive examples of agricultural terracing making the best use of microclimates, as well as highly sophisticated hydraulic engineering. In 300 short years, drawing on knowledge and specialized skills from some of the pre-Inca groups that they conquered, the Inca built phenomenal sites. Their use of aqueducts, drainage systems and irrigation is apparently unparalleled. Most of these systems are still functional today, giving a substantial advantage to the local populations in terms of agriculture. The famous terracing systems that the Incas put in place are also still functional, as evidenced by plots of various grains, legumes, potatoes and vegetables throughout the Sacred Valley.  Respecting the Inca history, today clean water is still free to residents, and hopefully will be into the future.

One of the most impressive sites we visited was Ollantaytambo. Originally an Incan town, the modern village still uses all of the original stone foundations for their houses and stores. Towering above the village is a mountain of terraces with structures on top. Some of them are religious or ceremonial (temples and baths), while others (more impressive in my mind) are storehouses. They constructed these storehouses on mountainsides with strategically placed windows for the wind and sun to move through to help preserve all of their food after the harvest and their seeds for the next planting. Genius.

We visited one of the villages in the Sacred Valley known for its textiles. Representatives from a women’s cooperative demonstrated how they wash, card, dye, spin and weave wool from sheep and alpaca. They use all traditional, natural, labour-intensive methods. One of the most fascinating things is how they dye the wool with natural ingredients. They use a variety of leaves, flowers, bark and other parts of plants for most of the colours. For red, they use the same method as the Mayans in Central America: they pick the cochineal insect from a cactus plant and squish it. It creates the most beautiful shade of red dye, which they then alter with either lime juice or salt. It is a truly beautiful form of art.