On August 3rd we decided to do a tour through Cusco’s Sacred Valley. This area included first stopping at a town called Pisac to see its infamous market as well as an Incan citadel called Inca Pisac. These ruins consisted of numerous military (defense), religious, and agricultural stone structures as well as agricultural terraces. The ruins of Pisac had numerous entrances, but as the place was extensive we only explored one side of the mountain. Another group’s guide (our guide was very poor for this trip and wasn’t even around) explained that the numerous small holes we could see in the side of the mountain were from grave robbers, looking for jewelry and valuables buried with Incan mummies. We climbed to the top of the ruins and got a great view over the ancient city.
After Pisac our group enjoyed a buffet lunch in Urubamba before heading off to another Incan complex called Ollantaytambo. Ollantaytambo was one of the most impressive ruins we saw while in Cusco, though we didn’t get much time to explore them. Most of the group day tours, while pretty affordable, are not great quality – it is very hit and miss with the guides and most of the tours are quite rushed. Colin and I managed to go off on our own and see a bit more of the agricultural terraces and home of the Emperor Pachacui. There were structures all over the area, including grain storage. Our guide pointed out some of the carvings on the walls, including the image of the Incan calendar.
Our final stop was in Chinchiro to see weaving (with natural plant dyes) and a beautifully painted church. There were numerous guinea pigs which we got to see before the girls gave us a weaving demonstration. They first showed us natural colorful dyes which were made with from plants, including a red one called cochineal made from insects bred on a cactus. This red dye changes color when you apply lemon or lime juice to a bright orange. They showed us natural “Incan shampoo” made from a root which turned into nice-smelling soap once rubbed with water.
We made a quick stop in the Chinchiro church at the main plaza which was beautifully decorated inside with colorful paint and had numerous old paintings inside one of the small side rooms.
On August 5th I decided to do a daytrip to the Salinas de Maras and the agricultural terraces of Moray. The Salinas de Maras is an ancient salt mining operation which has been operated since pre-Incan times – for thousands of years. The salt mine is still currently in operation and it is possible to buy the salt from the mine in the surrounding market stalls.
There are hundreds of “salt pools” filled with salty water (coming from underground saltwater streams) which eventually evaporates and leaves salt to be scooped up by workers. The salt water comes up from the underground source through a spring, then flows through many little constructed channels into the hundreds of man-made ponds below. I got to walk along the ponds themselves (carefully, as not to fall in) and put my hand into a couple of the running streams. Turns out the water was pretty warm! Workers were gathering the salt from pools where the water had already mostly evaporated and the water source had been blocked.
Once the guide caught up with me (as I had wandered off on my own) he explained that the salt mining business was a community operation run by the local farmers and each family was assigned a salt pond to farm and manage according to need. They ended up with different piles of ‘colored’ salt including white, pink, and a beige-color. After visiting the salt mine (and trying loads of snacks flavored with salt from the mine) we headed on to see the agricultural center of Moray.
Our group arrived at Moray, an Incan series of circular terraces. These terraces had an irrigation system. It is believed that the site was possibly used for testing how crops, primarily maize, at different microclimate conditions. Supposedly the temperature between the top and bottom circular rings could be up to 15°C, and by growing the same crop on each level, the Incans could see what happened to the crop in various climate conditions. The Incans discovered that maize grows better and larger at higher altitudes – that is the reason why the corn kernels are so large in the high areas near the Andes. Our tour guide told us we wouldn’t have enough time to walk down into the structure because the bus (which left late to begin with in the morning) had to return for another tour. Not wanting to get cheated out of our time to explore this amazing site, our group ignored his company’s problem and fully enjoyed our once in a lifetime experience by climbing down into the giant circular structure.
Wednesday, August 6th, was a museum day. We visited the Museo de Sitio del Qoricancha, the Museo de Arte Popular, the Museo Municipal de Arte Contemporaneo, and the best of them all, the Museo Inka.
The Qoricancha Museum (Temple of the Sun Museum) is a small museum near the site we previously visited, which contained a few items (such as a golden corn, a small version of some the pieces formerly at the temple) which survived the Spanish conquest of the Temple of the Sun.
We also popped into the Museo de Arte Popular, which was a small museum of puppets and strange, often distorted artwork. Some of the pieces had Christian themes, as well as Incan or indigenous Peruvian themes, and many of the pieces combined the two. Strange stuff!
We managed to find the Museo Municipal de Arte Contemporaneo, which I don’t have any pictures of because it was pretty much a joke – there was nothing in the “museum” which wasn’t for sale. We left pretty quick and headed to a museum that was far more worth it: Museo Inka.
Museo Inka was a pretty big museum – with truly fantastic pieces in their collection. The museum went through the history of indigenous cultures in Peru starting with the early occupation of the Cusco Valley with groups such as the Chanapata, Qotakalli, Killki, Wari, and the Araway and their pre-Incan artifacts. The museum discussed the mythological origin of the Incans which was a story about Manco Capac and Mama Ocllo who emerged from Lake Titicaca to found Cusco. The museum also described the more historical origins of the Inca Pachakuti, and had many different Incan artifacts in it. One of the best rooms was one containing a bunch of mummies on display in an afterlife “House of the Ancestors.” The last rooms contained numerous portraits from Spanish colonial times of all the former Incan leaders and some of their wives. This great museum ended with more examples of colorful, bright weavings by Maximo Laura.
On August 9th (a Saturday) Colin and I went on another daytrip to some spots around Cusco. Because there was a wedding later in the day, our group started by heading to the colonial church of San Pedro de Andahuaylillas first, so we could get in to view it before the ceremony. We had to pay to enter the church, which was elaborately decorated inside, but we did get an included CD with information and photos of the church – though we weren’t allowed to take our own photos.
While the church was built in the 16th-17th centuries, it wasn’t decorated until the 18th century. The cedarwood church had numerous murals inside (painted by Luis Riano) two which represented heaven and hell. The heaven side of course showed people lounging about, eating, and spending time with their friends. The hell side showed horrific tortures preformed on the misbehaviors.
Many of the murals had fun objects on them, such as mermaids depictions, cornucopias of fruit and animals, as well as scary monsters. Some murals were geometric, almost Arabic-like patterns on the walls (influenced by the Moors of Spain) and ceiling were very colorful and covered in gold leaf, so everything sparkled. Our guide took us through a few of the side rooms which contained ancient remains of the Incan building which the church was built above. As we headed towards some of these side rooms, we saw some verses written on the doorways in different languages – Latin, Spanish, and Quechua – so the natives could understand Biblical verse and instruction.
After a quick stop into a rather strange, “aliens are real museum” (see the photo above which “might be an alien mummy”) we headed to the ruins of Piquillacta, the epicenter of the Wari culture. In the Museo Inka we had visited previously, we had seen some fantastic small blue statues created by the Wari culture, active from 550 to 1100 AD. These statues were found at this site. Our guide led us towards the ruins, sitting us down in the plaza in front of them to tell us more information. The Wari people lived in a place called known for its numerous fleas – that is what the name Piquillacta actually means. There was one main street in the ancient town, which we later walked down to explore the area. Most of the buildings were built in two floors and there were some examples of stones used in the construction of the floor of the buildings. This stone was bright white and very light - looked like it would have shined from the sunlight. Only a small amount of the site has been excavated so far. Who knows how many more little blue statues might appear?
After visiting Piquillacta, our group made a short stop in a little town called Oropesa, which is famous for its huge (50cm) breads. We got to try a little sample of the bread when we stopped at a bakery, before moving on to another set of ruins – called Tipon.
We arrived at Tipon, a set of ruins and irrigation system near one of the Inca Trails. We got to see this beautiful set of ruins, which had numerous flowing fountains within the largest irrigation system of the archeological sites. First we walked through the “party area,” an open area were feasts were held and drinking occurred. We saw a tambo, or messenger’s rest house, up on one of the hills. There was also a royal house and gardens, which was supposedly by the Incan leader Wiracocha for his father. The rest of Tipon, the agricultural terraces, were possibly used in a method similar to the Moray circular terraces. Terraces built in this way create various microclimates, and thus the site could have possibly been used for agricultural experimentation.
Once we came back from the tour, we decided to try a delicious dish called chicharron. I had read that there were a lot of these restaurants on the street Pampa del Castillo. Chicharron is fried pork, including fried pork fat, and it is delicious the way the Peruvians cook it. We also tried a very vinegary pork stew, which was interesting, but an acquired taste. At least the stew came with some more Oropesa bread!
On Sunday, August 10th, we went to the Museo Historico Regional. This museum was located inside the Casa del Inca, and included on the full Cusco tourist ticket, so it was worth it to check it out. There wasn’t too much in this little museum, but it did have some interesting artifacts from the Wari, Pukara, and Inca peoples. Here were some of our favorites:
That evening Colin and I attended a Peruvian folk dancing show at the Centro Qosqo de Arte Nativo on Avenida El Sol. This dance show is included in the tourist ticket so there were loads of people attending the evening we went. Watch a couple of the videos to see an example!
The next couple of weeks we spent getting some work done and relaxing at our apartment in Cusco. While there, Colin and I were able to enjoy many great meals at the apartment we rented in Cusco. Here are examples of the yummy dishes we cooked up – you can’t always eat out when you are on a budget traveling!
Next up: cooking classes! Let us learn even more about how to cook up delicious dishes.
Francesca
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