Travel with us!
Beyond Voyage
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Destinations
  • Gallery
  • Pack
  • Tunes
  • About

Day 10: Lightning Horse & The Sacred Valley

5/19/2013

5 Comments

 
Our train to Machu Picchu  left at 4:30pm train from a small town called Ollantaytambo which is about a 2 hour bus ride from Cusco.  We decided to take advantage of the day tour the Sacred Valley on the way there. 

Friends on the bus
We embarked on our journey to the Sacred Valley in a small bus mostly full of Peruvians save another American, a couple from South Africa, and a few folks from France.  We sat right behind the American girl who is originally from Iran but has lived in the US since she was 12.  She was young - maybe 20 -and had graduated college early and was about to start medical school this summer. She  was in Peru with a medical volunteer program in Cusco for about a month where she worked at a local clinic.  She said the most common ailments in the area were water-borne parasites like tapeworm (especially in children) and, sadly, injuries from domestic violence, which is apparently common and largely ignored.  She was recently engaged and picked out a ring for her fiance at the sliver shop we visited en route!  She told us that Peru was very similar to Iran - both in terms of its landscape and people.  She said that while people in Iran are more conservative, they are very friendly and willing to help visitors, like the Peruvians. She also drew similarities between the significant religious presence in each country - Catholicism in Peru and Islam in Iran.  It was very interesting to hear the perspective of a young dual citizen of the USA and Iran. 

Bus Music: Oxygen Radio 
The bus driver tuned into Radio Oxigeno (GREAT name for a radio station in the Andes) which played the most random mix of music of all time. Every time I travel to Latin America, the radio stations manage to find the most obscure tunes from the last 30 years and play them alongside classics, local hits and global pop songs.  Puerto Rico is particularly excels in this area. At one point Radio Oxigeno played Take That's Back For Good right after a pan flute song from a Peruvian band Alborada call Relampago Caballo, or Lightning Horse in English. If you watch the music video, fast forward to 1:30 but be careful - Relampago Caballo is a catchy tune.  Chris and I find ourselves singing  Re-lam-pa-go Ca-ba-llo - la-la-la-la-la-la-la all the time. 

Sacred Valley Stops: Pisac & Ollantaytambo 
Our first stop was Pisac, one of the most important Inca cities. In Pisac, we saw familiar Inca design - terraced hills, Inca crosses and stone structures. The landscape was stunning! 
Picture
Pisac
Picture
Pisac
Picture
Pisac
We  learned a little more about their spiritual beliefs and why they built terraced lands.  According to our guide, the Incas believed that reincarnation applied to important members of their society. They beleived that these people cycled between the difference worlds (Heavens, Earth, Underworld as outlined in my sun route post). After earth, the next stop would be heaven, then the underworld and then back to earth. When important members of society died, they prepared them for heaven by mummifying the bodies. They would remove all the organs and fill the bodies with scented leaves & herbs. Then they would put the mummies in the fetal position because they believed they would be born again in the next world. Before burying the mummies they would have many ceremonies with the mummies present. Then they would place the mummies in their final resting place - a hole in the side of the cliff facing east. Why bury them in the cliffs? Because they must go back into the earth where they came from. Why facing east? Because that is the direction where the sun rises, bringing forth a new day.  They would bury clothes, food, and other items with the mummies to prepare them for the next world (sounds very familiar, doesn't it?). 
Picture
Those holes in the cliff are Inca graves.
Our guide also gave us some more insight into the terraced system the Incas used to farm. Not only did terraces give them more area to farm on these large mountains, but they also allowed them to cultivate a large variety of crops.  First of all, the climate at the top of the mountain was much cooler and drier than at the bottom which was warmer and more humid. They also changed the soil on each level to control drainage, so the top levels were drier making it good land for grains like quinoa, while the bottom levels were more moist allowing them to grow things like coca, and the middle was larger and perfect for their 2 most important crops - potatoes and maize.  
Picture
Terraces at Pisac
In Pisac, the nobles, priests and scholars lived at the highest points of the village - mainly for protection and to be closer to the heavens (in the case of the priest). They had quite the view!
Picture
Picture
Peruvian cowboy enjoying the view at Pisac
After Pisac, we stopped for lunch (which included a ridiculously good dessert selection).  Then we went to Ollantaytambo to see the ruins before catching our train. Ollaytatambo is a really amazing little town. Most of the buildings in use in town are original Incan structures. The only things on the exterior that have changed are the tops of the walls and the roofs. It's supposedly the village that most closely represents what a tradtional Incan town would have looked like. 
Picture
Ollantaytambo
In order to catch our train to Aguas Calientes, we had to cut our tour short. However the train ride was fantastic! I'll write more about that and Machu Picchu in the next post. 
5 Comments
Leah
5/19/2013 10:13:53 pm

I love how the dessert got a call out. Your writing is fantastic. I feel like I am there with your guys getting to experience your journey. Miss you!

Reply
Eva
5/20/2013 12:27:38 am

Ha! This dessert selection was worthy of a call out - two types of flan, chocolate cake, some kind of fruit tart, and coffee cake. It was good...but not as good as the coconut macaroon in Spain:) I miss you and wish you were here!!!

Reply
Class 2A
5/20/2013 03:23:07 am

We have lots of things to comment on.

1. More than half of us would try frog juice. Not Mrs. Barbier!!!
2. We thought that Lake Titicaca was a silly name. It looks like a cat or dog related animal. Some of us thought a cougar or lynx. We are doing more research to learn about it.
3. We thought that the floating islands could have a problem if there was a fire. Also we thought about storms and collisions or getting loose and floating away. Are there sharks in the lake? Oh wait, you said there were only 3 kinds of fish.

Questions...do little kids ever fall off the islands...Bella wants to know if Eva tried the guinea pig...Alex wants to know if any animals live on the floating islands...Mia wonders if there are any birds?

We will read more soon. Thanks for sending us questions. P.S. we are all hoping that Eva feels better after her altitude sickness :)

Reply
Eva & Chris
5/20/2013 03:53:28 am

Hi Class 2A:

Wow, we are impressed that more than half of you wold try the frog juice. You are very brave!

You guys are really close - Lake Titicaca means "Puma Stone" and they say the lake is shaped like a Puma chasing a rabbit.

You are right about the floating islands! Fire is the biggest risk they face and one of the islands had a fire a few days before we arrived. Luckily nobody was hurt but they lost their home:( They didn't talk about what happens in a bad storm but they do anchor the islands to each other and to the bottom of the lake so they don't float away.

There are no sharks in the lake but they do have very large lake frogs. These are different from the ones they use in the frog juice which are much smaller. We didn't see the large frog but here is a picture we found online: http://www.arkive.org/titicaca-water-frog/telmatobius-culeus/

We suppose little kids fall off the islands sometimes, but they learn how to swim at a very young age. Also, the water is very calm so it's very easy to swim.

Bella - I did not try the guinea pig. They are too cute to eat!

Alex & Mia - We didn't see any animals on the floating islands but there are lots of birds flying around. Here are some examples of the birds you can see there:

http://www.go2peru.com/peru_guide/puno/photo_andean_birds_lake_titicaca_5.htm

It's great hearing from you guys! We'll write again soon!

Reply
Eva
5/20/2013 07:03:07 am

Also, thank you for the note about altitude sickness! I felt better after two days in high altitude. My body just needed a little time to adjust!

-Eva




Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Author

    Eva has been traveling for 15+ years, including an 8 month journey around the world.  

    Archives

    October 2016
    May 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013

    Picture

    Categories

    All
    Amalfi Coast
    Amazon Rainforest
    Amsterdam
    Argentina
    Art
    Aruba
    Asia
    Austin
    Australia
    Austria
    Award
    Baby
    Bali
    Barcelona
    Beijing
    Belize
    Berlin
    Bogota
    Boston
    Brazil
    BVI
    California
    Cambodia
    Cambridge
    Canada
    Cape Town
    Caribbean
    Cartagena
    Central America
    China
    Colombia
    Connecticut
    Costa Rica
    Cuba
    Culinary Delights
    Cusco
    Europe
    Family
    Family Travel
    Flights
    Florence
    Florida
    Food
    France
    Germany
    Hawaii
    Hong Kong
    Hotels/resorts
    Iceland
    Indonesia
    Ireland
    Italy
    Itineraries
    Lake Titicaca
    Live Like A Local
    Luxury
    Machu Picchu
    Maine
    Malaysia
    Massachusetts
    Mexico
    Nantucket
    New England
    New York
    New Zealand
    North Carolina
    Pacific Northwest
    Pack
    Paris
    Peru
    Pisa
    Planning
    Prague
    Provence
    Puerto Rico
    Puno
    Rhode Island
    Rincon
    Rome
    Rtw Trip
    Safar
    Safari
    Shanghai
    Sharks
    South Africa
    South America
    Spain
    Switzerland
    Thailand
    Travel Education
    Travel Tips
    Tunes
    Turkey
    Usa
    Vermont
    Washington
    Where To Stay

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.