Sacred Valley - Pisac and Ollantaytambo

Pisac

The first place in the Sacred Valley we visited was Pisac. At Pisac we went to see the Inca ruins.  Opposite the ruins, Rene pointed to the caves on the other side of the valley where he said were graves for over 50,000 burials.  Some of the bodies were mummified but not all.  Here too was a system of aquaducts which probably were used for cleansing.  There seemed to be a fair bit of ancestor worship going on.  The Incas were also very concern about their transition to the spiritual world after death.

 

After visting the Inca ruins we headed to Pisac market.  We went the bakery below and ate the most delicious empanas.  They were baked in the wood fried oven in the photo below.  The man is the baker.  He also roast guinea pigs in the oven (as shown in the photo).  We also tried a drink made from purple maize juice and egg white - very nice.

From Pisac we drove to Urubamba and had a nice buffet lunch there.  It was 30 sol per person.

Ollantaytambo
We got to Ollantaytambo at around 3:00pm.  We checked into Tika Wasi Valley Hotel before going for our walk to the Ollantaytambo ruins.  Ollantaytambo whilst quite small relative to Cuzco, is still a charming town with the characteristics mud brick houses, narrow lane ways and nice friendly people.

Rene told us that Ollantay is the name of a Spanish general who fell in love with an Inca princess and tambo means storehouse.  The town is designed in the shape of a corn cob and the niblets are each block.  From the top of the hill, it certainly did look like a corn cob.

Ollantaytambo is very impressive with very fine Inca constructions and massive terracing.  Here we saw the wall of the six monoliths and other intricate water features.  Rene told us that the rocks for this construction came from the mountain on the opposite side of the valley.

He also told us about the image of the god of the Andes, Wiracocha craved on one of the cliffs.  Wiracocha is the great creator. He said that these beliefs are still very strong.  Currently, Rene is learning a lot about traditional medicines and practices from his Master.