THE URUBAMBA VALLEY
(SACRED VALLEY OF THE INCAS)
By Emmanouel Laleos
The beautiful Vilcanota/Urubamba
River valley is popularly called El Valle Sagrado, or the
Sacred Valley of the Incas. It is about 15 km north of Cuzco. The
climate is pleasant because of the elevation which is 600 meters lower than
Cuzco and there is much todo - visit Inca ruins, rafting, bargain in Indian
markets, stroll through Andean villages or take an exciting river-running trip
down the Urubamba.
Urubamba, The Sacred Valley Of the Incas
AROUND CUZCO RUINS
The
Sacsayhuaman Fortress or 'The
satisfied falcon" as its name means in Qechua is located at the top of the
Inca road on the left side.
Opposite
is the hill called Rodadero with its retaining walls, curiously polished rocks
and a finely carved series of stone benches known as the throne of the Inca.
Between the zigzag ramparts and Rodadero hill lies a large, flat parade ground
that is used for the colorful tourist spectacle of Inti Raymi, held every June
24. The site is being actively excavated following the recent discovery of seven
mummies behind the Rodadero Hill.
Three towers once stood above
these walls. Only the foundation remain, but the 22 meter diameter of the
largest, Muyuc Marca, gives an indication of how big they must have been. Muyuc
Marca, with its perfectly fitted stoned conduits was used as a huge water tank
for the garrison. Other buildings within the ramparts provided food and shelter
for an estimated 5000 warriors.
QENKO
Qenko is another small but
fascinating ruin consisted of a large limestone rock completely covered with
carvings, including the zigzagging channels that give the site its name. It is
full of enigmas, too. It's just 4 km form Cuzco, on the right-hand side of the
road. The carvings are thought to have been used for the ritual sacrifice of
chica or, perhaps, blood. Tunnels are carved below the boulder, and there is a
mysterious cave with altars carved into the rock named Salumpunku, with a very
eroded puma shape and sundial.
PUCA PUCARA
A
little further on the right-hand side of the road towards Pizac is the small
site of Puca Pucara or 'red fort' as his name literally means. In some lights,
the rock looks very red and it is the least interesting and least visited of the
four ruins.
TAMBO MACHAY
Tambo Machay, some 300 meters on the
opposite side of the road, is the last small ruin on the way to Pisac and
consists of a beautiful wrought ceremonial stone bath and is therefore called 'El Bano del
Inca'. Tambo Machay marks the end of the ruins but the beginning of
a hike towards Pisac. It's a 25 km hike with altitudes from 3,500 to 3,900 m and
down to 2,930 m and it will take us 1-2 days to reach Pisac.
PISAC
A
worth visit in the valley is the colonial
Pisac, a quite Andean village located
32 km from Cuzco. The village comes alive on Sunday, however, when the famous
weekly market takes place.
The Sunday Market and its vendors
This
attracts traditionally dressed locals from miles around and garishly dressed
tourist from all over the world. Selling and bartering of produce goes on
alongside stalls full of weavings and sweaters. Many of the stallholders come
from Cuzco. The main square is thronged with
people and becomes even more crowded after the mass, when the congregation
leaves the church in a colorful procession, led by the mayor holding his silver
staff of office.
A Pisac boy staring at the camera lens outside of his house.
By
the same evening the village returns to its normal somnolent state. The rest of
the week, the village is a place where you can spend time for relaxation.
PISAC
INCA RUINS
The
Inca ruins above the village are of great interest is less visited than the
others in the area. The footpath to the site leaves from the left-hand side of
the church. The ruins are located on a hilltop with a gorge on either side. The
western is the Kitamayo river gorge; to the right, is the Chongo river valley
where the road accends. Pizac is particularly well-known for its agricultural
terracing, which sweeps around the south and east flanks of the mountain in
vast, graceful curves, almost unbroken steps. The different levels of terracing
are joined by diagonal flights of stairs made of flagstones set into the terrace
walls.
Above
the terraces are some cliff-hanging footpaths, well defended by massive stone
doorways, steep stairs and, at one point, a tunnel carved out of the rock.
Walking around these paths, the views are wonderful and maybe a pair of caracara
hawks often accompanies you.
This highly defensible site guards
not only the Urubamba Valley below but also a pass into the jungle to the
northeast. The Kitamayo Gorge from the back of the ruins has hundreds of holes
honeycombing the cliff wall. These are Inca tombs that unfortunately were robbed
before being examined by archaeologists.
CALCA-YUCAY
Calca is the valley's most
important town, located 18 km beyond Pisac and 18 km further is the pretty
little village of Yucay. In Yucay we are going to stay in the valley's fanciest
hotel, the Alhambra. The hotel's main building is a beautiful 300 year-old
hacienda with 17 rather creaky and dark rooms - one of which is haunted. There
more modern rooms around attractive gardens in the back. There is also a small
but high-quality gift shop and an interesting little private museum.
URUBAMBA
Urubamba is a pleasant town
located at the junction of valley road and Chinchero road, 4 km beyond the
village of Yucay. The town of Urubamba is a convenient base from which to
explore the Inca's Sacred Valley. while in town, we will visit Pablo Seminario,
a local potter. He has a workshop on the corner of Zavala and Mariscal Castilla.
Pablo does attractive work with pre-Hispanic influence, as well as his own
original work, which is different from anything else you see in Cuzco.
SALINAS
Now
we are going to cross the foot-bridge of Rio Urubamba and from there we will be
ready to climb roughly southward up a valley to the salt pans of Salinas, a 3 km
up-hill hike. Hundreds of salt pans have been used for salt extraction since
Inca times. A hot spring at the top of the valley discharges a small stream of
heavily salt-ladden water, which is diverted into salt pans and evaporated to
produce a salt that is used for cattle licks.
Leaving
Salinas back, we are heading southeast towards the main road to Chinchero with
destination to Maras and Moray. The site of Moray is challenging to reach and
the road is extremely rough and takes about 13 km from the turn-off point of the
paved Urubamba-Chinchero highway passing through the village of Maras, 3 km
further up. The experimental agricultural terraces of Moray are fascinating.
Different levels of terraces are curved into a huge bowl, part of which occurred
naturally and part of which was further excavated by the Incas. The terraces
supposedly have varied microclimates depending on how deep into the bowl they
are, and so they were thought to have been used by the Incas to discover in
which conditions their crops would grow most succesfully. There two large bowls
and one small bowl each ringed by terraces. Some restoration work began in 1994
and a small on-site museum is planned.
CHINCHERO
Chinchero
is a combination of Inca ruins, an Andean Indian village, a colonial country
church, wonderful mountain views and a colorful Sunday market.
The Inca ruins, consisting mainly of terracing, are not as spectacular as
those at Pisac. The main village square features a massive Inca wall with 10
huge, trapezoidal niches. The colonial church just above the main square is
built on Inca foundations. The church is in regular use but lack of funds has
prevented restoration, and it's interesting to compare its interior to those of
the highly restored churches in Cuzco. It is a place where local people and
especially the women are still dressed in traditional clothing during the
midweek. Away from the village through the terraces on the right-hand
side of the valley, we found various rocks that have been carved into seat and
staircases.
OLLANTAYTAMBO
Ollantaytambo
is the last place and the end of the road as far as the Sacred Valley is
concerned. Like Pisac, Ollantaytambo is a major Inca attraction in the area. The
site, a massive fortress, is one of the few places where the Spanish lost a
major battle during the conquest. The village of Ollantaytambo is located below
the ruins and is built on traditional Inca foundations and the best surviving
example of Inca city planning. Ollantaytambo is the fortress to which Manco Inca
retreated after his defeat at Sacsayhuaman. In 1536, Hernando Pizarro led a
force of 70 cavalry here, supported by large numbers of native and Spanish foot
soldiers, in an attempt to capture the Inca. The steep terracing was highly
defensible and Pizarro's men found themselves continuously showered with arrows,
spears, stones and boulders. They were unable to climb the terraces and were
further hampered when the Inca, in a brilliant move, flooded the plain below the
fortress through previously prepared channels resulting in Pizarro's hasty
retreat.
Manco
Inca's victory, however, was short lived as soon afterward, the Spanish forces
in Cuzco were believed by the return of a large Chilean expedition and
Ollataytambo was again attacked, this time with a cavalry force over four times
the size of that used in the first attack. This time Manco Inca retreated to his
jungle stronghold in Vilcabamba and Ollataytambo became part of the Spanish
Empire.
It
is probable that the Incas themselves saw Ollataytambo as a temple rather than
as a fortress, but the Spanish called it a fortress and it has usually been
referred to as such ever since.
The
temple area is at the top of the terracing. Some extremely well-built walls were
under construction at the time of the conquest and have never been completed.
The stone used for these buildings was quarried from the mountainside 6 km away,
high above the opposite bank of the Rio Urubamba. Transporting the huge stone
blocks from the quarry to the site was a stupendous feat and involved the effort
of thousands of Indian workers. To move the massive blocks across the river, the
workers used a mind-boggling technique. They left the blocks by the side of the
river, then diverted the entire river channel around the blocks rather than
trying to haul the stones through the river itself.
CHILCA - AGUAS CALIENTES
Our route continues northwest to
the village of Chilca and a little further to Aguas Calientes, a tiny village
located 2 km before the Puente Ruinas train station, coming from Cuzco. Its
train station is confusingly named Machu Picchu, anyway is the closest village
to Machu Picchu and is therefore a frequent destination for travelers. The
scenery here is pretty, and it's a good place to meet other travelers and
relaxing. At the northern part one can pay a visit to the natural thermal
springs from which the village of Aguas Calientes derives its name.
Unfortunately, a landslide in April 1995 destroyed the entire hot springs
complex such as pools, changing rooms, showers, etc and the present place is a
mess.
THE INCA TRAIL
It seems that we will continue our
routing for the Inca Trail to the village of Chilca, from where a relatively
flat five-hours hike along the south side of the Rio Urubamba will bring us to
the Inca Trail at the Llactapata ruins area. After Chilca the trails passes the
interesting remains of a Spanish estancia where we note the ruined church and
the beautiful courtyard; both buildings are still used, but no attempt has been
made to restore them to their former elegance. From Chilca it will take us 3 to
4 hours to reach Llactapata. The trail is always easy to follow until the last
section where it climbs to the rim of a spectacular canyon full of tropical
vegetation. The descend and ascend up the other side are very steep but we can
camp in the gorge, half an hour away from Llactapata.
At
this point, we have to walk westwards again to the foot-bridge at 88 km which is
at the altitude of 2200 meters where we suppose to start the Trail routing.
Our first contact with the trail ruins is the little site of Qente or
Hummingbird located one kilometer
west of the trail path. On the left turn, we begin our Inca Trail routing
climbing gently through the eucalyptus grove for about one kilometer
In front of us now is the minor ruin of Llactapata or as its English translation
is 'town on Hillside’, to the right side now as we continue our trail, we
cross the Rio Cusichaca on the 'joyful foot-bridge' heading southwards along the
east bank of the river.
Returning to the trail's junction, we continue to
the village of Huayllabamba, the grassy plain, which is located about 6 km along
the river climbing gently all the way and re-crossing the river after about 4
km. At this point, we enjoy the wonderful views of the snowcapped Veronica, some
5750 meters above sea level.
Huayllabamba, at an elevation of about 2750 meters,
is a village near the fork of Llullucha and Cusichaca Rivers. Llullucha is a
Qechuan word for a type of herb. We are going to cross Rio Llullucha on a log
bridge. Huayllabamba has a reputation for thievery and that is the reason that
we must be more careful about our equipment.
Camping
around here should be avoided anyway, so we will continue to the next ruins and
away from the Inca Trail for overnight.
The ruins of Paucarcancha located 3 km southwards
away from the Inca Trail along the Cusichaca towards Salcantay, is our next
visit and the place where we obviously spend our night. Camping around
Paucarcancha we need to carry water up from the river.
The Inca Trail itself climbs steeply up along the
south bank of the Rio Llullucha; it is an hour's walk where the river forks and
then we continued up to the left fork for a few hundred meters. We cross the
river using a log bridge. This area is known as the 'three white stones'.
Beyond the log bridge, the rail turns right and
sweeps back to Llullucha. It is a long, very steep climb to the Warmiwanusca
pass (The dead woman's pass) at the elevation of 4,198 meters above sea level.
This pass is the highest point of the trek. The trail passes through cloud
forest for about 1 1/2 hours, then emerging on the high, bare mountain. At some
points, the trail and stream bed became one so our feet are wet. Although the
trail climbs steeply, we can still see flat areas in the forest for resting or
camping.
After emerging from the forest, we have reached
Llulluchupampa, a flat be very cold at night. Actually we plan to spend our
second night right here. area above forest where water is available and camping
is good. I guess it must
Early in the next morning we follow the left-hand
side of the valley for a two to three hour climb to Warmiwanusca Pass. At this
point, we can easily distinguish that the altitude slowing us down and it
doesn't help at all to an easy climbing. From Warmi-wanusca we can see the Rio
Pacamayo or 'sunrise river' far below and the ruin of Runturacay halfway up the
hill, above the river and the trail seems to be descending to the river. We have
heard that guards from the Instituto Nacional de Cultura staying here. The
downward climb from here is long, taking over an hour and seems to be a strain
on the knees. Being at the altitude of about 3600 meters, the trail crosses a
river over a small footbridge.
Now our climbing to the right
towards Runturacay or 'egg hut' begins. Runturacay is oval-shaped ruin
with suberb views and is about an hour's walk above the river.
Above
Runturacay, the trail climbs to a false summit and passes two small lakes those
are on the top of the second pass at the altitude of 3998 meters, about an hour
above Runturacay. We are lucky to have a clear day so we also have spectacular
views of the snowcapped Cordillera Vilcabamba.
The clear trail descends passing another lake
towards the ruin of Sayacmarca or dominant town, which is visible from the trail
one kilometer before you reach it.
The
site, a tightly constructed town on a small mountain spur, is the most
impressive of those seen along the trail so far and offers suberb views. A long
steep staircase to the left of the trail leads to the site. The trail itself
continues downward and crosses the headwaters of the Rio Aobamba or wavy plain
at 3600 meters above sea level. Here is a good place for camping and maybe we
will spend the rest of the night if it won't be raining as we were told that the
ground after the rain is always boggy.
As the trail goes through some beautiful cloud
forest on the gentle climb to the third pass, we have found a causeway across a
swampy, dried-out lake and farther on, a tunnel, both Inca constructions. The
highest point of the pass, at almost 3700 meter, it doesn't seem to be very
obvious. The are great views of the Urubamba Valley from here. As our routing
continues, we have hope that soon we will reach the beautiful ruin of
Phuyupatamarca, or 'town above the clouds' at the altitude of 3650 meters above
sea level and approximately two to three hours beyond Sayacmarca.
Puyupatamarca has been well restored and contains a beautiful series
As we are following the electric pylons, we are
able to see in front of us the red-
Huinay Huayna is normally translated as 'forever young' but there is one
much more attractive translation explained to us, as Huinay is the Qechua
infinitive for 'to plant the earth' or a much more accurate translation may be '
to plant the earth, young' perhaps a reference to the young, spring time earth
of planting time. From planting comes growing; thus one has 'growing young', as
opposed to 'growing old', and hence the popular catch-all translation 'forever
young'.
Another
explanation by Peter Frost says that the name is Qechua for an orchid that
blooms here.
About a kilometer northwest of the hotel and Huinay
Huayna is Conchamarca, a recently discovered terraced ruin excavated in 1993.
From Huinay Huayna the trail contours around through the cliff-hanging cloud
forest and it looks very thin in places so we must be very careful and watch our
steps.
Intipunku or 'gate of the sun' the penultimate site
and the last point on the Inca trail is about two hours to be reached from here
and maybe the last place for camping before we reach Machu Picchu. It is laso
the place where we can get our first view of the Incas Lost City. The descent
from Intipunku to Machu Picchu will take almost an hour.
MACHU PICCHU
Alpacas and Llamas welcome the Machu Picchu visitors.
Over
50 burial sites were discovered containing over a hundred skeletal remains,
about 80% female. An early theory that it was the city of chosen women who
catered to the Incas needs has lost support, and it is now thought that Machu
Picchu was already an un-inhabitant, forgotten city at the time of the conquest.
This would explain why it wasn't mentioned to the Spaniards. It is obvious from
the exceptionally high quality of the stonework and the abundance of ornamental
rather than practical sites that Machu Picchu must once have been an important
ceremonial center. There have been reports of new finds in the area. One, in the
early 1980s, was of some burial sites on Huayna Picchu mountain. Another, in
late 1986, involved the exciting discovery of a city about twice the size of
Machu Picchu and 5 km north of it, according to a Peruvian government
spokesperson. Local and US archaeologists have named the city Maranpampa or
Mandorpampa.
INSIDE
RUINS
Many pathways ascending/descending the hanged from the clouds city of Machu Picchu.
As soon as we enter the Machu Picchu main entrance we
started climbing up a long staircase on the southeast spur to the 'Hut of the
Caretaker of the Funerary Rock' . This vantage point affords the most complete
overview of the site for classic photographs. The hut is one of the few
buildings that has been restored with a thatched roof. making also a good
shelter in case of rain. The Inca Trail enters the city just below this hut. The
carved rock behind the hut may have been used to mummify the nobility and
explains the hut's name.
As you approach the ruins, on both your right and
left-hand side, you come near to a beautiful series of 16 connected ceremonial
baths that cascade across the ruins accompanied by a flight of stairs.
Just above and to the left of the baths is the
Temple of the Sun, Machu Picchu only round building. This curved, tapering tower
is said to contain Machu Picchu finest stonework. Inside is an altar and a
curiously drilled trapezoidal window that looks out on the site. This window is
popularly named 'Serpent Window' but no snakes lived around the area anyway.
Below the towering temple, an almost hidden,
natural rock cave has been carefully carved with a steplike altar and sacred
niches by the Inca's stonemasons. The mummies discovered at this site inspired
its name , the Royal Tomb. Climbing the stairs above the ceremonial baths, we
have reached a flat area of jumbled rocks, once used as a quarry. Turning up at
the top of the stairs and walk across the quarry on a short path leading to the
four-sided Sacred Plaza. The far side contains a small lookout platform with a
carved wall and a beautiful view of
the snowcapped Cordillera Vilcabamba in the far distance. Below, now we can see
the Rio Urubamba and the modern buildings of a hydroelectric project.
The Temple of the Three Windows commands an
impressive view of the plaza below through the huge, trapezoidal windows that
give the building its name. Another temple to visit is the Principal Temple
located to the right side as we have the Three Windows temple at our back. Its
name derives from the massive solidity and perfection of its construction.
Opposite the Principal Temple is the house of the
High Priest, though
A staircase behind the Sacristy climbs a small hill
to the major shrine in Machu Picchu, the Intihuatana, translated in the Qechua
language as the 'hitching post of the sun' and refers to the carved rock pillar,
often mistakenly called a sun dial, which stands at the top of the Intihuatana
hill. This rock was not used in telling the time of the day but, rather, the
time of the year. The Inca's astronomers were able to predict the solstices
using the angles of the pillar. Thus the Inca, who was the son of the sun, was
able to claim control over the return of the lengthening summer days. Exactly
how the pillar was used for these astronomical purposes remains unclear, but its
elegant simplicity is remarked upon by menay modern observers.
It is recorded that there were several of these Intihuatanas in various
important Inca sites, but all with the known exception of this one were smashed
by the Spaniards in an attempt to wipe out what they considered to be the
blasphemy of sun worship.
At the back of the Intihuatana is another staircase
that descends to the central plaza which separates the important sites of
Intihuatana, Sacred Plaza and the Temple of the Sun from the more mundane areas
opposite. At the lower end of this opposite area is the Prison Group, a
labytinthian complex of cells, niches and passage-ways both under and above
ground. The centerpiece of the group is a carving of the head of a condor, the
natural rocks behind it resembling the bird's outstretched wings. Behind the
condor is a well-like hole and, at the bottom of this, the door to a tiny
underground cell that can only be entered by bending double.This was being
excavated in 1995.
Above the Prison Group is the largest section of
the ruins, the Industrial &
HUAYNA PICCHU
The
Huayna Picchu peak offers a splendid view of the area,including the Machu Picchu
train station.
Now,
its about time to climb to the peak of Huayna Picchu. As a matter of fact, there
is a well-maintained trail and although the ascend is steep, it doesn't seem to
be technically difficult at all. There is a registration booth just before we
start to climb up the hill where we have to sign in. The climbing takes about
one hour to reach the top and we go through a short section of Inca tunnel. All
I can say is that the view from top is spectacular and similar to the one from
the Hut of the Caretaker of the Funerary Rock.
The
small temple of the moon is located at the back of Huayna Picchu along a
recently cleared trail; we can reach that area starting about 10 minutes from
the lowest point of the trail, following a thin path which plunges down on our
left. The trail is easy to follow but involves steep up and down sections, a
ladder, and an overhanging cave where we have to bend over to get by. The
descend is going to take us about an hour and the ascend back to the main Huayna
Picchu trail probably longer. The
spectacular trail drops and climbs steeply as it hugs the sides of Huayna Picchu
before plunging into the cloud forest for a while and then reaches a cleared
area where the small, very well made ruins are found. Unfortunately, they are
marred by graffiti. From the temple of the moon, a newly
cleared path leads up behind the ruin and steeply on up the back side of
Huayna Picchu.
INCA DRAWBRIDGE
The
Inca drawbridge located on the other side of the ruins is a much less steep and
very scenic walk from the Hut of the Caretaker of the Funerary Rock leading you
past the top of the terraces and out along a narrow, cliff-clinging trail to the
Inca drawbridge.
The
20-minute walk gives us a good look at the vegetation of the high cloud forest
and a different view of Machu Picchu.
MACHU PICCHU HILL
The ascend of the hill of Machu
Picchu is the most difficult and rarely done cleared hike near the ruins. The
Machu Picchu hill can be reached if you take back the Inca Trail for a few
minutes and look for a trail to your right passing through a gap in the walls of
the terraces. It is not obvious and there is no sign.
SANTA TERESA
Leaving
Machu Pichu ruins back, we are now heading west towards the village of Santa
Teresa located about 20 km beyond Aguas Calientes on the way to Quillabamba.
Santa Teresa is a fruit growing center, particularly for granadillas (passion
fruit). We also paid a visit to the hot springs of Calcomayo located less than
an hour's walk away.
QUILLABAMBA
Quillabamba lies at 1050 meters
above sea level, on the Urubamba river at the end of the railway line from Cuzco
and Machu Picchu. Two parallel bridges link the train station with the town. The
pedestrian bridge leaks to a steep flight of stairs that takes you to the bottom
of town through 172 steps. It is
hot and humid and can properly be called a jungle town, the only one in Peru
reached by train. The town has about 15.000 inhabitants and is quiet and
pleasant, if not particularly interesting, and can be used as a base fro trips
deeper into the jungle. It is an important agricultural area, with cocoa,
coffee, achiote (a dye), peppers, peanuts, tropical fruits and coca being grown
for the Cuzco market. The coca farmers in this region have strong unions and
work to prevent their crops becoming involved in narco-traffic. Coca chewed
rather than destined for the production of cocaine, plays an important part if
the socioeconomic structure of the highland inhabitants. Because the plant can
be harvested every three or four months, it is an economically attractive
alternative to annual plants. Journey from Cuzco to Quillabamba takes roughly 11
hours. This rough route, high over the spectacular pass of Abra de Malaga, which
is a favorite road for ornithologists, who see many different species of birds
as the ecological zones change from subtropical to subglacial, The Abra de
Malaga area is also one of Peru's most important tea-producing regions.