From Puno we travelled by train across the Altiplano to Cusco. Taking most of the day, our journey took us to the highest point of our entire trip. With the land rising gradually as we left Puno far behind and the distant mountain ranges closing in on each side we crossed a pass at about 14,200 before we started our descent to Cusco at about 11,480 feet. The following day we took a bus ride out to Pisac, walking part of the Inca Trail before rejoining the coach for a visit to Ollantaitambo and returning to Cusco.The day after arriving in Cusco we headed out to the Sacred Valley of the Incas. Our itinerary was to walk some of the Inca Trail, visit Pisac, a small Spanish village and then, after lunch move on to Ollyantantambo, an Inca village with ruins on the mountain-sides above.The approaches to the Sacred Valley and the river Urumbama which further upstream flows below Machu Picchu.As we drove down the mountainside to enter the ‘Sacred Valley’ there were vendors and ‘posers’ waiting at the side of the road. You paid a small fee to take a photo.Pisac. We drove through the village and up the slopes opposite, to where the road crossed the Inca Trail. There we disembarked and walked the trail.At the start of the Inca Trail we were greeted and seranaded by a group of local women. Again we were permitted to photograph them for a small fee. I am sure some of them earn a reasonable living this way.Cute.This is probably pre-Inca as the stonework is rough. During the Inca period the constructions were a lot more refined.DCF 1.0As we looked at some tombs carved into the rocks, a couple of locals (left of the large bush ) made their way down from the upper slopes. They had been gathering long grass higher up and were carrying it back down to the village far below. They use it mixed with mud, to make the bricks for their houses.. Seeing them provides an idea of scale.Inca stonework. (Plus props.) The stones are not cemented in place, but rely on gravity. When earthquakes occur it allows the stones to move against each other, but they usually remain intact. The Spanish sometimes used Inca stonework as the foundations for their churches and cathedrals. When an earthquake hit, the Spanish construction was often destroyed but the Inca work remained.Big drop, narrow path and a very nervy feeling in my lower gut!On the Inca Trail above Pisac.Our group and guide on the Inca Trail above Pisac.An Inca temple built over an earlier religious site (they did that a lot).Then it was back to Pisac for a wander around the market. I was about to be waylaid by the mother and child.This little one with a puppy, just to round off the cuteness factor.When a male baby is born the mother often gives them a hat. Many boys keep the hat and retain it still into maturity and old age. They wear their ‘first’ hat under later ones – I am told.This woman had set up near our lunch stop.Much of the town of Ollantaytambo was well preserved, with many courtyards and dwelling that had changed little over time. The temple on the slopes above the town was unfinished when the Spanish invaded and it gives a good insight into how the Inca went about construction.The old Inca town, seen from the slops above.Interlocking blocks. The stone is not soft or easy to cut. This is craft on a grand scale.Grain stores were built high up on the mountainside as protection against being raided by enemies.Part of the unfinished temple at Ollantaytambo.After the temple we went into the village and went inside one of the small houses. The guinea pigs are a great way to keep lunch fresh….they are lunch! Lucio demonstrates a spade used in the fields.The smoke stained kitchen.I am sure these older places are used just for visiting tourists to see what life was like. Once we are all gone, they will go back to their more modern surrounds, put their feet up and watch TV.
