The Ruins in the Sacred Valley
We met a girl from Canada and together we hired a taxi for the day to take us around the Sacred Valley outside Cuzco to see all the Inca ruins.
This is portion of the valley. It is gorgeous with good farm land in the bottom, green mountains along the valley, and snow capped mountains in the background.The Ruins of Pisac
The first stop we made was at Pisac. These were one of the best ruins I have seen. They were huge! This is a shot of the citadel with the moon hanging above.
We are standing on another section of the ruins, and you can see how far away those people are standing on the citadel. That might be half the length of the entire site...it is huge!
This is where we were standing in the last picture. We did not have a guide, so I am not quite sure what this part was for...I think it might be part of the fort. The whole site acted as a citadel, farming, fort, military area, and cemetery.
Us
The farming terraces going down the mountain side.
The water system that is still working today. This acted as their bathes, but the water is freezing cold!!
The holes in the mountainside are old tombs. Grave robbers did their thing awhile back leaving these holes.
Me walking down a narrow, steep stairway.
Nick taking a pictures from the top of the fort. He was not supposed to climb up there, but you know Nick.
More empty tombs on the mountainside.
Our Canadian friend enjoying the view.
A little tunnel along the path that we got to walk through to get to the other side of the ruins.
The temple of the sun. The stones are carved with a lot more detail in this section of the ruins.
The view down to the town of Pisac and the river.
A better picture showing the perfect carving of the stones.
Looking down on more ruins that we imagine are some kind of grain storage or something to do with farming.Ollantaytambo
The second site we visited was called Ollantaytambo. This town has been inhabited for the last 700 years. The ruins was a massive fort that protected the valley from the west I believe. It was one of the view forts where the Incas actually won a battle against the Spaniards. This is a close up of the walls lining the terreces.
A picture from the bottom looking up to the fort on top.
Other ruins we could see across the town.
More terreces on the second section of the ruins.
Rooms of the fort.
On one part of the fort they had huge rocks like these. I cannot imagine the work it took to get these huge rocks all the way up to the top of this mountain!
Two farmers tilling their field in front of the ruins.
We do not know what this building was used for, but it reminds us of a barn. We do not understand why it is so tall. The front door opens to a 3 foot walk way right in front of a sheer cliff.
Inside the tall barn like structure.
Us with the terraces and the town of Ollantaytambo in the background.
More of their water systems that are still working today.
The creek being channeled around their agriculture area.
Nick wants to think this groove is the channel the blood after sacrifices, but I am pretty sure it is for water.
On the way to the next site we seen these two guys relaxing after a hard days work.Salinera de Maras
This is not an official ruins site, but it is a salt factory that was started by the Incas. I have not been able to find out too much information about it, but it is a very neat system. This little stream comes out of the mountain, and it just so happens to be salty water. The people were able to capture this stream and build an elaborate system to collect salt.
They channel the water along the top portion of this valley, and they have built hundreds of pools all down the valley. They have built small channels allowing the water to flow down from the main stream and fill these pools. They fill the pool, close the small channel leading to that pool, wait for the water to evaporate, collect the salt, and then refill it.
This is the big picture showing the hundreds of pools all down the side of the valley. It was pretty smart if you ask me!Moray
The next site we visited was the famous Moray. This was an agricultural laboratory for the Incas. They tested the effects of climate on crops by planting things on different terreces. Each terrece varies by 15 degrees centigrades, so they were able to tell which crops grew better in colder weather or warmer weather.
This just shows the rest of the area.
This is in the bowl. They built these neat stairs in the walls allowing for easy access to each level.
This was an older bowl that has not been kept up so well.
The view from Moray of the snow capped mountains.
Leaving the valley at dusk with the sun rays shining over the crops.Chinchero
This is the last site we visited today. This is the birthplace of the rainbow for the Incas. I am not sure if the church made the rainbow or if it was in the valley.
Us in front of the church. This site did not offer much, but a big market where you could buy all the alpaca sweaters you could ever wear.
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