June 16, 2001 (Sacsayhuman)
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Left our room at 8:00am and decided to skip the hotel's free meal in order to hit the recommended 'La Yunta' for breakfast. La Yunta, located on Plaza de Armas specializes in fresh fruit juices. The selection of fruits fills one full page of the menu. Excellent juices with decent food & service ($7US after tip).
Next stop is the Incan fortress of Sacsayhuaman. Located atop Cuzco, SH was built to defend Cuzco from other South American civilizations, not for the unknown Spaniard arrival. It is still unclear who the civilizations were and why the fortress was built in such gigantic proportions. A 7 soles ride takes us to the entrance where we buy the obligatory $10US tourist ticket. This ticket is good for 10 days and allows us into almost all Cuzco & Sacred Valley sites.
First thought seeing Sacsayhuaman was the length of the walls. This fortress stretches ˝ mile long, with archaeologists believing 80% of the fortress was torn down by the Spaniards. Fortunately, they weren't able to topple the massive stones of the fortress's three tiered walls. These 3 walls run a zig-zag parallel throughout the ˝ mile distance.
Approaching the walls we began to realize the enormity of these stones. As in most Incan engineering, no mortar was used to secure the stones, just insane craftsmanship. Hundreds of stones weighing up to 300 tons, with thousands of the smaller stones weighing 5- 50 tons are perfectly stacked upon each other. We cruised this awesome site for 1 ˝ hours. There is an impressive arena used for Inca Cuzco gatherings atop the hill opposite the walls.
Sacsayhuaman ran a close second place finish to Machu Picchu, on our Peru favorites list. SH has the best overall Inca stonework of all the sites we saw, the place is incredible. The sheer size of the fortress and its mysteries make SH more impressive to see than even Stonehenge. Unfortunately for SH, Machu Picchu receives all of the Inca mystery press. SH is something we'll simply never forget for the rest of our lives.
We decide to take the downhill walk back into Cuzco. On the way I took a photo of a local brightly dressed lady with her baby llama & Linda (2 soles tip). The 7km easy walk dumps us on Plaza de Armas near our pizza lunch at Baghdad Café. Pretty good oven fired pizza. Baghdad café has a large menu of pizzas and Andean dishes (30 soles after tip).
Many local restaurants serve three Peruvian dipping sauces before meals; a milky looking garlic & onion sauce, a pink spicy delicious sauce called 'mayonesa' (mayonnaise), and a green herbed spicy salsa that is also good (not cilantro or parsley, something we've never tasted).
Linda takes a quick nap back at the hotel while I head into one of the many Internet cafés in the Plaza de Armas. $1US per hour is the going rate in Cuzco, and a very nice price indeed.
We head out this afternoon to Santo Domingo Church/Qoricancha ruins. Once the most revered Inca temple in Cuzco, Qoricancha was torn down by the Spaniards, who then of course built a church on top of Qoricancha. However, for some reason they left standing Qoricancha's foundation a few well preserved walls that are on display.
many vendors were outside the church. A well dressed woman speaking excellent English had a sales pitch for her tour guide duties. We declined her tempting offer, then spent 20 minutes seeing the few pieces of Spanish art, the 5-6 Incan rooms, and the courtyard's original Incan well pot (appx. 200 gallons). The sign claims that the well was used for Inca ceremonies while filled with the chicha drink. This site costs $3US per person which is not covered by the Cuzco tourist ticket. A great site to visit. The walk down Loreto street to get here is famous for its original Inca walls, but more importantly, Loreto street shows the beggars, peddlers, and also the local cuisine cooked in large pots for the passerby's to view.
For dinner we decide on a restaurant called 'Greens', labeled by Lonely Planet as 'the best curry in Peru'. Being Indian food junkies, we are already in a curry mood, so 'Greens' was a no-brainer. The restaurant has 5 tables located in the living room of a house. Two guys were playing backgammon in the corner of the room while we are seated. Candles light the room with surround sound DJ house music. Linda had a mediocre Indian curry dish and I had a not so impressive beef flanks with a cranberry sauce. The atmosphere of Greens was actually a worthwhile change of pace from the Plaza de Armas which we have been migrating to everyday. Two young English women run the waiting service and the bar.
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Today is dedicated to the ruins & market of Pisac. Pisac is small village known for its tourist market on Tuesday, Thursday, and the most crowded Sunday. 7kms uphill from the village are the Inca ruins of Pisac.
From our Hotel Arquelogo, we walk to La Yunta for another breakfast at this convenient establishment. We then negotiate for a 20 soles taxi ride to Pisac Village. The local bus that drives this same route costs 6 soles per person round trip. Along the ride into the Sacred Valley, our driver told us of how he doesn't have the taxi license to take us up the hill to the ruins. He drops us off at the village, where we have the option of hiking uphill for an hour or taking a 10 soles ride up the hill. Once we saw the height of the mountain, we quickly accepted a separate taxi ride while promising ourselves we'd take the hike back.
The taxi/tourist drop-off atop the mountain leaves us with a 30 minute pleasant hike to the ruins. After reading our guide book's hype of the Pisac ruins, we were a bit disappointed. The ruins are small and not very impressive. We were later frustrated by not being able to find the path back down to the village. The path begins with signs pointing to the village, then the signs disappeared as we descended. With nobody around, we have to head back to the taxi drop-off which is still viewable. We're forced to take another negotiated 10 soles taxi ride back to the village's market.
The 30 minute easy hike back & forth from the taxi drop-off to the ruins is beautiful. However the village's market definitely makes Pisac highly recommended.
The market has many booths selling similar items and there is a great food section with dried chilies and nice wooden kitchen utensils. Excellent fire-oven empanadas are served for 1 sol each. We cruised through the entire market, bought some nice plates, and many dried chilies for home cooking back in the States. A 20 soles taxi ride takes us back to our hotel.
Dinner was at 'Al Grano' restaurant, an Asian theme menu, with a guide book recommendation. Unfortunately 'Al Grano' had a mediocre Thai beef and Indian curry. There is a selection of 6 different Asian countries each night listed on the menu (38 soles after tip). A drink at nearby O'Flarety's, then a 4 soles taxi to our hotel.
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May 18, 2001 (Sacred Valley & Ollayntaytambo ruins)
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We were picked up by Nicolas & our driver for our day tour of the temple/fortress of Ollantaytambo, located 90 miles away from Cuzco. Nicolas accompanied the driver in order to introduce us, then he set off on foot without a car. Nicolas also told us we'd be picked up tomorrow morning for our Lima flight. Tomorrow's ride will be our 4th free ride offered by Nicolas (we tipped 5-10 soles each ride). Today's driver speaks zero English.
We have our driver take us to our first stop, the ruins of Tambo Machay, 20kms outside Cuzco. Tambo Machay is small, but definitely beautiful. Water flows from underground and streams down a large fountain at the center of the ruins. The temple is very well preserved with tourists able to walk through the entire complex. We snapped a photo of a local lady and her tiny dog. We almost fainted from laughter after she told us her 10 pound dog's name, 'Peligroso' (dangerous). We hop into the car and head out for the 1˝ hour ride to Ollantaytambo.
Ollantaytambo is described in history as both a temple and fortress. This site was most likely a temple, then later labeled a fortress by the conquistadors after their defeat on their first attempt to take Ollantaytambo. They eventually took the site on their 2nd effort with more men and fewer problems.
The ruins are awesome from entrance to exit. The entrance put us at the bottom of the steep terraces that front the ruins. The climb to the top takes 20 minutes, straight uphill. There are 3 large famous stone slabs at the top of the ruins, but you cannot see the original Inca carvings that once existed. These 3 stones were quarried 6km away and then transported across the Urumbamba River. Somehow history knows that the stones were laid upon the river's edge then the river was diverted to the other side of the stones, thus never actually crossing the river's waters.
Once atop the ruins we ventured along the perilous trail with steep drops along the way. You must take this path in order to see the whole site. The path leads to small stream branching from the Urumbamba river which can be seen and heard just 100ft away. I climbed a nearby rock wall with carved steps to enjoy a temporary defeat of my fear of heights.
There are many functioning original Inca fountains at this far end of Ollantaytambo. These fountains were not used as a drinking resource, but rather as an altar to the Inca belief in the 'gift' of water. Absolutely beautiful two hour walking trip through the ruins. Ollantaytambo was rated as our 3rd favorite site in Peru. We paid $45US plus 15 soles tip for the 6 hour car & driver. Gasoline costs $2.50US per gallon in Peru, at least 6-8 gallons were burned by our driver on today's trip. We had heard many great stories about Ollantaytambo, and the ruins definitely lived up to the hype.
Dinner tonight was at 'El Cuate', a Mexican restaurant on the busy Procuradores street. Every tourist is bombarded by each restaurant's menu wielding host. 'Encontramos amigos a 'El Cuate' (we're meeting friends at 'El Cuate' restaurant), kept the wolves at bay. Superb pico de gallo with chips await us while we are seated at the restaurant. We were later served excellent tortilla soup, blistering hot 'chile rellenos', and decent fajitas. With margaritas and cokes, the total is 70 soles after good tip.
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May 19, 2001 (Lima/Miraflores, Peru)
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We are picked up at 6:00am by a driver Nicolas sent for the 15 minute ride to the airport for our 7:30am flight to Lima. A 10 soles tip for the free ride, 1 hour check-in process, and a 1 hour flight puts us in Lima's Jorge Chavez Airport.
Everyone was climbing over each other to get to their luggage on the belt. We met a young American girl who was about to wait out a 14 hour layover back to the States. |
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