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!
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!
Pisac
Pisac
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?).
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.
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!
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.
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.
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