Today is the last official day of our group tour, which will end tonight with dinner. We had a morning of travel, with a train from Aguas Calientes to Ollantaytampo. The views of the valley were beautiful as we followed the river most of the way, and had the chance to see several snow-capped mountains in the distance. The Glacier Veronica had new snow, likely from the same weather that produced the rains we encountered at the lower elevation. Once in Ollantaytampo,we had two vans to transport us another 2 hours into Cusco.
Before we headed to the hotel, one group of us wanted to visit Saqsaywaman, affectionately pronounced “sexy woman”. High on a hill above Cusco, at over 12,000 ft is another massive Incan archeological site. Believed to have been begun by a pre-Incan people, most of the stone work and design was clearly done by the Inca people. This complex is considered the most important ceremonial site of the Hanan Qosqo (High Cusco) period. The site has three retaining terraces, featuring huge walls with precisely interlocking stones, creating a zigzag formation. Some speculate the plan was to always be able to outflank a besieging army, others that the shape forms the teeth in the figure of a puma that Cusco was designed to resemble. The fort contains three towers. The Central Tower, called Muyuj Marca “the round place” was a residence for the Incas. Its walls were covered in gold and silver plate. The second tower was known as Paucamarca “the friendly place” and the third tower, called Sallajmarca “the rough place”. The stones are so precisely fitted that you can’t wedge a piece of paper between them.
Largely damaged and plundered by the Spaniards, who removed many of the stones to build the Spanish Cusco, it was then left in ruin and covered for centuries under mounds of earth. It was named a UNESCO site along with Cusco in 1983. While clearly important as a fortress, it was also clear that it was a major ceremonial and religious site. There are many large boulders and stones that were uncovered and discovered to have altars and meaning for astrologers, based on the position of some of the platforms. I was pleased to have had a chance to see this site, as it is one of the three most important places for understanding the culture and the ingenuity of the Incan people.
We had a free afternoon, so I found a restaurant on a plaza across from the palace that Francisco Pizarro had built for himself when he conquered the area. My lunch choice was a Causa Rellena, the stacked mashed potato and tuna tower that we were taught to make in one of the lodges. I do believe that the ones we made were tastier. A wander around town allowed me to pick up a few souvenirs and re-acclimate to this higher elevation. Machu Picchu is at 8,000 ft, and here in Cusco we are at 11,200 ft.
Dinner tonight will be the time to say goodbye to most of the people from my group; a few have late flights tomorrow so I may see a few stragglers, but this is when we all say adios and exchange phone and email info and show our appreciation to our guides Fernando and Yuri. I’ve been on 8 REI trips and this has been one of the best. The guides were wonderful, the accommodations luxurious and the group all managed to get along. Another adventure for the books.
