The Story of our trip to Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador & Galapagos Trip 31.7 to 15.8.10

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After a while we arrived at the destination of our first stop, the village of Chinchero:

 

 

 

 

 

 

The following image was a poster that was exhibited at our hotel in Cuzco but I'll put it here because it explains exactly what we were going to visit here in Chinchero:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Entering the village there is even a statue dedicated to the women of Chinchero:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the street where we were going I was amused to see some pigs eating in the street and the whole scene around him:

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The next image shows us again as to how superstitious the people are in this country. The photo is not good, but if you look just above the roof of the house, where you can see the 2nd yellow square from the right and you'll see some symbols for luck placed on the roof:

 

 

 

 

Here you can see it better:

 

 

 

 

 

Chinchero is a village in the Peruvian province of Urabamba, at 3780 m altitude, 30 km northwest of the city of Cuzco. The village women work at weaving. Also characteristic for combing their hair with many braids and plaits. When you arrive in the village they will reciev you in one of the houses where they have all gathered to show you the complete weaving process.

 

 

 

 

 

They first wash the wool with natural soap made from roots:

 

 

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They cleverly use a spinning wheel to spin the yarn:

 

 

 

 

They use natural dyes to dye the wool:

 

 

 

 

One of them is the cochineal, a parasite that lives in the leaves of the prickly pear.The lady has put some of the cochineal insects in the palm of her hand and with her finger has squashed out the burgundy-colored natural dye:

 

 

 

 

They also use other dyes such as those from leaves, roots etc.

 

 

 

 

They use the wood stove to boil the wool with natural dyes:

 

 

 

 

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I don´t know whether you can see it properly, but if you look in the following image at into the dyed wool of the lady at the center, as the wool has two colors, the bottom part is almost an orange color and this color is obtained by adding salt to the cochineal, while the top remains as burgundy or purple color.

 

 

 

 

Below, the ladies were preparing the warp of the weave that has a special process in order for the design to be appreciated on both sides of the fabric:

 

 

 

 

 

 

There was a huge variety of products from hats to ponchos and rugs:

 

 

 

 

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After the visit we went back down the steep street again and took the car to continue:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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We passed through the village of Urubamba and it coincided that today was their market day and therefore the town was crowded and we saw many women dressed in their traditional clothing, their hats and braids in their hair:

 

 

 

 

There were also plenty of moto-taxis around town ... ... ... ... ... ..and these were not for the tourists but were used by the local village people.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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We arrived at the town of Ollantaytambo which is called "Live Inca Village", since the inhabitants maintain their ancient customs and traditions.

 

This typical Inca town, located 93 km northeast of Cusco, was named in honor of the chief Ollanta, who according to the traditional legend, fell in love with a princess daughter of the Inca Pachacutec. As the story goes after winning numerous battles, the ruler Pachacutec offered the general anything he wanted. Ollanta asked for the princess Kusi’s hand in marriage. It was sacrilegious for people in different casts to marry. Ollanta was forced to leave and Kusi was jailed with her son. Ollanta gathered forces and started a rebellion which lasted 10 years. Ollanta was eventually defeated and enslaved. When Ollanta was taken, Pachacutec had just died and Pachacutec’s son took over. Pachacutec’s son listened to the story of the two lovers and granted a pardon and allowed their marriage. The two lovers then lived happily with their child.

 

 

Ollantaytambo is an attractive little town located at the western end of the Sacred Valley (about two and a half hours by bus from Cusco). The town has been built on top of original Inca foundations and is the best surviving example of Inca town planning.

 

The town is divided in canchas (blocks) which are almost entirely intact. Each cancha has only one entrance (usually a huge stone doorway) which leads into a central courtyard. The houses surround the courtyard. Good examples of this construction can be found behind the main plaza.

 

The town is located at the foot of some spectacular Inca ruins which protected the strategic entrance to the lower Urubamba Valley. The temple area is at the top of steep terracing which helped to provide excellent defences. Stone used for these buildings was brought from a quarry high up on the opposite side of the Urubamba river - an incredible feat involving the efforts of thousands of workers. The complex was still under construction at the time of the conquest and was never completed.

 

After Manco Inca was defeated by the Spanish at Sacsayhuaman following the unsuccessful siege of Cusco (1536) he retreated to Ollantaytambo. Francisco Pizarro's younger brother Hernando led a force of 70 cavalry, 30 foot soldiers and a large contingent of natives to capture Manco Inca. The Inca's forces, joined by neighbouring jungle tribes, rained down showers of arrows, spears and rocks upon the unfortunate Spanish troops. In an intelligent move the Inca's flooded the plains below their stronghold making it difficult for the horses to manoeuvre. Hernando, uncharacteristically, ordered a hasty retreat. Ollantaytambo became the only place ever to have resisted attacks from the Spanish.

 

However, their victory was short-lived when the Spanish returned with four times their previous force. Manco Inca retreated to his jungle stronghold in Vilcabamba and Ollantaytambo fell into the hands of the Spanish.

 

 

 

 

 

You can see the tourist influence with the words "Kodak" painted on the facade of a house:

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you look at the photo above, on the left hand side in the middle of the mountain you can see the colcas (agricultural deposits), I will give you more details about them later:

 

The archaeological complex of Ollantaytambo was a strategic military, religious and agricultural.In the complex, located on the hill overlooking the village, some buildings stand out such as the Temple of the Sun, the Mañaracay or Royal Hall, the Incahuatana and the Baths of the Princess.At the top is a consistent fortress in a series of carved stone terraces and was built to protect the valley from the potential invasions of wild ethnicities.One of the best preserved areas is that lying north of the Hanan Huacaypata square: a total of 15 blocks of houses built on walls of stone.

 

 

 

 

I also found this map of Google which will give you an idea of the location of everything within Ollantaytambo:

 

 

 

 

 

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We climbed up the terraces or platforms:

 

 

 

 

I was very curious to know and understand how the stones which the Incas used to build their cities were transported so far and high without having the roads or machines like today.

 

 

Juan Carlos our guide explained everything extremely well, and with old drawings where you could compare what you saw with your own eyes to what with drawings showed which made it so much easier to understand. Being so high and far from everything, I found it fascinating to think they achieved to move the huge stones and pieces from several miles away. Normally I am not very interested in archaeological sites but as Juan Carlos explained everything so well, I really enjoyed it and found it very interesting.

 

The Sun Temple was constructed with huge red porphyry (pink granite) boulders. The stone quarry is named Kachiqhata (Salt Slope) and is located about 4 km (2.5 miles) away on the other side of the valley, by the upper side of the opposite south-western mountains. He explained to us that the boulders were carved partially in the quarries, and taken down to the valley's bottom. In order to cross the river Quechuas constructed an artificial channel parallel to the natural river bed that served for deviating the river's water according to conveniences. Therefore, while that water flowed through one channel the other was dry, thus stones could be taken to the other side of the valley. More over, the boulders were transported to the upper spot where the temple is erected using the inclined plane that is something like a road which silhouette is clearly seen from the valley's bottom. They had the help of log rollers or rolling stones as wheels, South-American cameloids' leather ropes, levers, pulleys, and the power of hundreds and even thousands of men. Today, on the way from the quarry to the temple there are dozens of enormous stones that people know as " tired stones" because it is believed that they could never be transported to their destination; those stones are the reason why some authors claim that the Sun Temple was unfinished when the Spanish invasion happened.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The Wall of the Six Monoliths at the Sun Temple:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The highlight of the Sun Temple are some peripheral walls and a classical larger wall which according to most historians are part of the main altar which consists of six enormous stone blocks that weigh about 90 tons and has as vertical joints a few other smaller stonesmaking a rare wall in Inca architecture.

 

 

 

 

Here are some more photos of the colcas (agricultural deposits), which the Inca archeology and architecture were "Qollqas" or "Pirwas" that is, barns or storehouses for food, clothing and weapons of the local army.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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To the north of the entrance to the religious sector there are a number of water fountains which due to their position they must have performed duties of "Ceremonial fountains, ie, used to worship the god of water.There is one inside a building where water still flows, and to the east is another called of " Nusta Bath" ("The Bath of the Princess"):

 

 

 

 

 

The Water Temple Fountain:

 

 

 

 

 

The Nusta Bath or The Bath of the Princess:

 

 

 

 

 

 

When we finished the visit to Ollantaytambo, we took the car and returned to the town of Urubamba for lunch and we stopped at a restaurant where we enjoyed a typical Andean buffet:

 

 

 

 

 

 

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And what could be nicer than eating listening to "The Flight of the Condor” played on the panflute?:

 

 

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We left Urubamba and drove towards the town of Pisac, and saw the following scenes in the streets, with the moto-taxis, you could see that they used actual motorbikes:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My attention was drawn to the fact that in these small villages with basic infrastructure and quite poor people, that they had the children beautifully dressed in good school uniforms:

 

 

 

 

And in the next picture you have the mixture of the modern (the boy with his cap backwards and cool sunglasses with white frame) with the moto-taxis and people in the background:

 

 

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We arrived in Pisac, 33 kilometers from the city of Cusco.Pisac is famous for three reasons: their artesian markets; their Sunday Masseswhich are celebrated in Quechua and are accompanied by the sound of pututos (marine snail horns which are inherited from generation to generation), and finally, as a means of payment they use barter, meaning that their dealers not only sell but also exchange goods.For example, those living in the highlands are supplying their products in exchange for something else which they want to buy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We went directly to the main square which is full of color with the market where you can buy textiles and many other things.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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We saw again women with braids in their hair and their hats:

 

 

 

 

 

 

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And here again we see the superstitions, lucky charms etc:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And finally we saw this beautiful girl:

 

 

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We finished in the market and started on our way back to Cuzco.Along the way we saw the views of the valleys:

 

 

 

 

 

Also we could appreciate the damage which the area suffered by the heavy flooding last February:

 

 

 

 

We stopped along the road where we saw some nice panoramics arriving in Cuzco:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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We have said goodbye to our guide Juan Carlos and he lives in upper part of Cuzco, you will see in the next 2 images where he goes down to his house with extremely sloped roads and steep steps:

 

 

 

 

 

 

The driver dropped us off in the centre of Cuzco at our hotel.We showered and relaxed a bit and at 8pm we met our friends from Malta who we had bumped into by chance the previous day.

 

The restaurant was the Tunupa which was also in the Plaza de las Armas.

 

Our friend took the guinea pig which is a specialty of the area and originally from the Andes.

 

 

 

 

His wife tried the alpaca:

 

 

 

 

 

The alpaca is very similar to the llamaIt differs in the size, the alpaca is smaller than the llama and its hair is finer and a more silky fiber that of the llama, etc.

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My dish was lamb:

 

 

 

There was a folkloric show at the restaurant where again you can see the masks related with spirits and devils, superstitions, etc.:

 

 

 

 

 

 

We spent a very pleasant evening together and after such a coincidence of the unexpected meeting up we promised to keep in touch this time.We said goodbye and went back to the hotel and straight to sleep as we had a very early start the next morning at 5am.

 

 

TO BE CONTINUED ……………..in Machu Picchu.

[Christine Frances]

Absolutely fascinating:D Can't wait for more!

[taxjam]

wonderful. Can't wait for the next installment. We're in the Galapagos and Machu Picchu in February with Celebrity

[caramelo]

Thanks Christine Frances: I hope to have time in the next few days to translate & continue.

 

Thanks also Taxjam: You can be sure that February will be one of the best trips of your life time................. I hope I don´t spoil too many surprises with my photos & details when it comes to the Galapagos?

[Tom47]

My dish was lamb:

 

 

 

 

There was a folkloric show at the restaurant where again you can see the masks related with spirits and devils, superstitions, etc.:

 

 

 

 

 

 

We spent a very pleasant evening together and after such a coincidence of the unexpected meeting up we promised to keep in touch this time.We said goodbye and went back to the hotel and straight to sleep as we had a very early start the next morning at 5am.

 

 

TO BE CONTINUED ……………..in Machu Picchu.

Thank You for a wonderful travelogue. I enjoyed the pictures and commentary. :)

[caramelo]

Thanks Tom47. I had hoped to be back sooner but have been very busy the last few days. Hopefully I´ll get some time over the next couple of days to continue with more. Thanks again. :)

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Thursday 5th of August.

 

 

 

 

Today we had to get up early at 5am and we were collected at 6 o'clock to take us to thePoroy train station in Cuzco to take the train to Machu Picchu.

 

 

 

 

 

 

You have to be at the station 30 minutes before the train departs.Our train was due to leave at 6.55 am. The passengers are only allowed take with them one piece of baggage which should not weigh more than 5 kilos!I am sure that we had twice as much because our small case must weigh about 1 kilo when it´s empty, but luckily nobody contolled neither the baggage or the weight.We have left our big luggage in the hotel in Cuzco as we would be spending one more night there on the return from Machu Picchu.

 

 

 

 

 

When travelling this route there are about 90 kilometers distance from Cusco to Machu Picchu by train and the trip takes three hours and 40 minutes, going slow, not more than 20 km /hour because ofthe complicated geography by the edge of the river Urubamba, but the scenery was so beautiful that I have enjoyed every second.

 

 

 

 

 

The journey begins at the Poroy station in Cusco, passes by the mountain Picchu via a winding zigzag track until reaching the highest point called "El Arco" in the northeastern part of the city.

 

 

It descends through the towns of Pory, Cachimatyo and Izcuchaca to the Pampa de Anta, an ample livestock area of undisputed geographical beauty, through the narrow gorge of Pomatales, into the Sacred Valley of the Incas, by the Pachar train station.Then it carries on through the Urubamba River to the right until arriving at the Ollantaytambo station and then continues to the Puente Ruinas station in Aguas Calientes also known as the Machu Picchu Village.

 

 

 

 

 

These were some of the images which we saw along the way: