Machu Picchu: Inca Bridge and Intipunku

Posted on August 28, 2020August 30, 2020 by Lark

Machu Picchu day!!! After three days of visiting ruins all over the region, everyone in the group was excited for a day of… visiting ruins! It may seem like you’d eventually get to the point where you’re like, “Ugh, MORE???” but at least for me, I’ve seen a LOT of Inca ruins and am still not tired of them. It’s not just me, either! My parents, Benjamin, and Jocelyn all said that they were surprised by how different all of the sites we visited were and happy that we saw as many as we did.

Anyway, like I said, we were all excited! When my alarm went off at 4:30AM, I practically leaped out of bed I was so pumped! Okay, that’s not true. Is it even physically possible to leap out of bed at 4:30 in the morning? Instead, I grumbled, forced my eyes open, and prayed that my alarm was set to the wrong time. No such luck.

By 5AM, we were walking from our hotel to the bus stop to ride up the mountain to the ruins. The bus line was already shockingly long, even though the first bus didn’t leave until 5:30. Luckily, it’s probably the most efficient operation in all of Peru, and even though we were on maybe the fourth bus, we still were at the site by 6:05, only five minutes after our ticket time. Impressive!

Once we entered the site, my parents and I parted ways with Jocelyn and Benjamin so that we could all go at our own speed. They were also hiking up Machu Picchu Mountain, something we were definitely NOT doing (I did it last time I visited Machu Picchu… it’s literally ALL stairs. Endless. Stairs). We were, however, planning to do the two non-ticketed hikes to the Inka Bridge and the Sun Gate. As we walked up the mountain to the start of the first hike, we stopped at some viewpoints overlooking the site. The weather was a little iffy, but I was hoping the sun would clear out the clouds as the day progressed.

The fog sure gives the site an eerie quality, doesn’t it?

Machu Picchu is one of those places where they tell you to dress in layers and be prepared for a year’s worth of seasons in one day. We were a little worried when we walked in and felt like we were inside of a cloud, but the fog was moving fairly quickly, and we had some moments of good visibility. The key word is “moments”. At one point, while enjoying a clear view of the citadel (what they call the “town” part of the site), I started getting overheated and decided I needed to ditch some layers/apply sunscreen. By the time I finished my wardrobe change, a thick fog had rolled in, completely blocking the view again… and the sun. I put my jacket back on. Dad was laughing at Mom and me because we did two outfit changes without even moving.

Kind of a clear view, but don’t let yourself be fooled.

This was after my layer-shedding stop… as you can see, I’m still looking quite bundled, and the mountain is looking a little cloudy.

Our first hike was to the Inca Bridge. In my memory, it was completely flat and not hard at all. With my new parent-oriented eyes, I saw that my memory wasn’t quite reliable. On the way to the trailhead, there are these terrible stone steps of all different heights. Some are mid-thigh high, and you wonder what kind of giants the Incas were… even though you know they were probably shorter than you, so the stairs DON’T MAKE SENSE. They were definitely in prime physical condition, probably thanks to running up and down those ridiculous stairs all the time.

After the trail starts, there’s a little up and down, but it’s not too bad. The good news is that the view is majestic, so at least there’s something to distract from the walking.

It’s a pretty nice path, and there’s lots of plant cover! It feels a little rainforest-y.

Dad on the way to the Inca Bridge. See? Nice and flat-ish.

In contrast, here’s a preview of what we hiked up later in the day on the way to the Sun Gate. Some portions of the trail have stairs, like these, and others are just inclined. But no matter what, you’re going up.

The Inca Bridge itself seems kind of underwhelming, but conceptually, it’s pretty darn cool. A narrow path was built onto the side of the mountain, potentially a secret army entrance to the site, with one 20-foot gap in the path bridged by a long piece of wood. If invaders were coming, the wood could be removed, like a drawbridge, to cut off access from that path.

The Inca Bridge from a distance. How on earth did they build that path?? You can’t even see the bottom because of the plants, but my goodness what insanity.

These are some super cool-looking mountains!

I’m not afraid of heights, but I don’t know how I’d feel about 1. walking with only that narrow stone path keeping me from falling to my death, or 2. walking across those wobbly-looking boards. Err. Maybe not.

From there, we set off on our more ambitious hike of the day to Intipunku, or the Sun Gate. For Incas coming from Cusco along the original Inca road (or for people hiking the Inca Trail today), Intipunku is the first point from which you can see the site. It’s quite the view. It’s also crazy to think that you’re walking on a road built over 500 years ago! Back in Inca times, the roads were only open to people traveling on state business, so it was an elite few who had the opportunity to travel the breathtaking path from Cusco.

Mom and Dad, post-Inca Bridge and pre-Sun Gate. That’s why they still look happy…

The hike to Intipunku from the ruins is all uphill with an elevation gain of nearly 1,000 feet (240 meters). I wanted Mom and Dad to get the perspective of the site from above, and this hike is way easier than going up Machu Picchu Mountain (the other option). I told them that we could go at whatever speed necessary, and if they didn’t want to go all the way there, that was fine. Hiking at nearly 8,000 feet (2,400 meters) of elevation is rough! And that’s the elevation at the trailhead, not the top! High-elevation hiking really redefines the word “breathtaking”. We did a LOT of breath-taking and not a lot of oxygen-getting. Honestly, that’s the hardest part of the hike. The uphill isn’t fun, but it’s doable. The added challenge of limited oxygen just really doesn’t help.

Looking down at the site through some ruins along the way.

I don’t know what this is, but it’s along the path to the Sun Gate and isn’t it pretty?

We kept chugging away, one step at a time. We stopped whenever anyone needed a break. I wasn’t in a rush. The people coming down as we were going up were very encouraging, saying things like, “You’re almost there! Only another 30 minutes.” Mom said that they had a different definition of the word “almost”. Hehe. We passed a woman who gave up maybe 10 minutes from the top. Her ‘encouragement’ was, “The worst part is ahead.” Gee, lady. Thanks a lot. Mom wasn’t fazed. She said, “I’m not giving up this close to the end.” Yeah, Mom!!!

We made it. And Mom and Dad both said that it was worth it, so that was a relief. It was only about 10:30AM when we finally arrived, and it felt like we’d already lived an entire day! We took a break at the top, enjoyed the view, and ate some snacks before heading back down the mountain. That had its own challenges because the rocks can get a little slippery, but there were zero falls which means it was a double success. By the time we made it down, we had already been at the site for 6 hours. Ha. We definitely got our money’s worth!

The Sun Gate. And some random guy’s backpack.

View of Machu Picchu from the Sun Gate. You can also see the switchbacks of the road that the buses have to drive up to reach the site.

Everyone had a teeny bit of energy left, so we headed into the citadel to check out the ruins before calling it a day. Next time, get ready for a tour!

Inka Pachakuteq and the History of Machu Picchu

Posted on August 25, 2020 by Lark

Before I talk about our visit to Machu Picchu, I think it’s important to understand some of the backstory to fully appreciate its awesomeness. Visually, it’s incredible no matter how little you know, but the story is a good one! Remember, though, that the Incas had no written language, so the earliest written accounts of their history come from oral histories recorded by the Spanish. That information is far from comprehensive, so in combination with archaeological evidence, a certain amount has been extrapolated (by experts, not by me). In some cases, there are disagreements about the specifics, so just read along with a big “MAYBE” disclaimer in the back of your mind. Okay! As I was saying…

Our story begins in the 15^th century with an attack on Cusco by the Chanca people, a group with military strength comparable to the Incas. The Inka (king) at the time, Viracocha, abandoned his people. He fled the city in fear and took his heir with him. Some king! Another son, Cusi Yupanqui, decided to stay and defend the city, leading the Inca army with one of his brothers and a few other Inca chiefs. They won decisively, crushing the Chanca army and humiliating Viracocha. Having gained the support of the people during the battle, Cusi Yupanqui later declared himself the new Inka, forced his father to abdicate, and changed his name to Pachakuteq which means “earth-shaker” or “he who turns the world upside down”.

If that seems like a bold name statement, well, it is. But Pachakuteq knew that he was destined for greatness. First, as the battle against the Chanca proved, he had an aptitude for military strategy and leadership. Second, as a child, he had a vision where the sun god, Inti, called him “son” and told him that he would conquer many nations, and when he did, to honor and remember him. Pachakuteq took this to heart, elevating Inti throughout the empire as the supreme Inca god and constructing grand tributes in his honor, including Qorikancha in Cusco and other opulent temples in important cities.

Pachakuteq quickly defined himself as an Inka of great ambition. During his ~30 years as Inka, he reorganized the government structure and set out to expand the small Inca kingdom into an empire. He led with diplomacy, giving neighboring tribes the opportunity to surrender peacefully to avoid bloodshed. Those who refused were quickly overpowered by the Incas’ powerful military. To integrate the new tribes, their leaders were killed, and royal children were sent to Cusco to be indoctrinated. Sons later returned to their native lands to rule under the Inka, and daughters were married off to other leaders within the empire to build unity. Pachakuteq started an age of expansion that continued until the Spanish invasion.

In addition to growing the empire through his conquests, Pachakuteq undertook grand construction projects that showcased the Incas’ superior engineering and craftsmanship abilities. He was very involved in the design decisions and was likely shown clay models of proposed projects, approving each of them himself. The famous “imperial style” stonework, where stones are perfectly cut and fit together without mortar, was his preferred style as it highlighted the skill of the craftsmen and demonstrated the power and dominance of the empire. Besides completely overhauling Cusco, he also built several royal estates, assumed to be monuments to his victories.

Some quality “imperial style” stonework. I love it.

We’ve already visited one of these estates, Ollantaytambo. Another is at Pisac, and finally, the most impressive, Machu Picchu. The estates celebrated Pachakuteq’s successes and were luxurious retreats for him and his family. Machu Picchu was the last one built and is thought to commemorate his conquest of the Vilcabamba Valley.

So, how did this city in the clouds come into being? The first step was to choose a site, and while the reasons for the specific site selection aren’t known for certain, there are some clear advantages to this one. A major benefit is its access to clean water via a spring located on the mountain of Machu Picchu. It also has views of the Incas’ most sacred mountain peaks, and its challenging location offered the opportunity to show off what the Inca builders were capable of.

I totally support the Incas’ location choice.

You can see the Urubamba River in the bottom left corner… it actually wraps around Huayna Picchu (that peak in the middle), so it’s nearly surrounding the site.

Here’s the Urubamba River again! See how it wraps right around Huayna Picchu?
Also, can you spot the city? If you saw this landscape before it was built, would you have thought, “Now THAT’S the perfect place for a city!”?

While the site looks conveniently flat today, that’s not how it started out. The “city” is located between two mountain peaks, or “picchus” – Machu Picchu (old peak) and Huayna Picchu (young peak) (Huayna Picchu is the one that you see in the background of the classic Machu Picchu photos). Before it was even possible to build the structures, the dip between the two peaks had to be filled in and leveled off to create a flat area for building. To stabilize the ground and decrease the risk of collapse from the weight of the new city, terraces were constructed, deep foundation and retaining walls installed, and drainage systems designed. Estimates are that 60% of the construction at Machu Picchu is actually underground.

Leave it to the Incas to create flat ground on top of a mountain. Well, I guess it’s not on TOP… so leave it to the Incas to create flat ground between two mountain peaks. Yeah, that’s no less insane.

The tallest peak in the background is Machu Picchu.

The 700+ terraces at Machu Picchu create about 12-14 acres of farmable land. This likely wasn’t sufficient to support the estimated 750-1000 people who were on site when the Inka was there, and additional food was brought in to supplement the harvest. Even so, for farming on a mountaintop, it sounds pretty good to me! When the Inka wasn’t in town, a skeleton staff was left to maintain it. The remains of over 170 people were found at the site, and bone analyses indicate that people came from all over the empire to serve there.

Llamas and alpacas aren’t native to the area but were brought by the Incas

Back to the terraces… I’ve previously talked about the integrated irrigation systems that the Incas included in some of their terraces. At Machu Picchu, it was determined that irrigation was unnecessary due to the wet and humid climate. Instead, extra attention had to be paid to water management. Analysis of the terraces revealed that they were constructed in layers to facilitate drainage with large stones at the bottom, a mix of packed sand and gravel in the middle, and topsoil on the surface, probably carried up from the more fertile valley to better support crops.

Morning mist rising up from the Urubamba River. Even when it doesn’t rain, the mornings are still nice and damp!

This is a good angle to appreciate the stabilizing terracing that was included to help level off and protect the city from collapse/erosion.

I’ll never get tired of this stonework. Please, admire.

Huayna Picchu. You can see some terraces on the top… these were likely for erosion protection rather than for farming. Can you imagine having to hike up there to take care of your potatoes? Yeah, right!

With the foundations completed, work could finally begin on the buildings. I’ll talk more about the specifics next time, but assuming the site was, in fact, a royal estate, it included royal residences, housing for nobles, ceremonial and religious spaces, and support spaces like servant housing and storage. There are about 200 buildings in total.

The city. Now imagine those buildings covered with thatch roofs!

Did you know that Machu Picchu is actually built at the intersection of two fault lines? That means lots of earthquakes, but the good news is that the Incas knew what they were doing. Here are a few construction techniques that helped their structures to survive for so long:
See how the walls are slightly inclined inward? You can see it best if you look at the corner. This slight incline at the inside corners, plus the use of L-shaped stones on the outside corners, helped to stabilize the walls.

We’ve already talked about this, but the mortar-less construction was great for earthquakes, too. Stones can wiggle around during the earthquake, and after it’s over, they settle right back into their perfectly-cut places.

See how the doorways and windows are actually trapezoidal, rather than rectangular? This helps to make stronger, more stable openings!

Beyond the construction work on the mountain, there was also a massive road-building project to link this new estate with other significant parts of the Empire. The road from Cusco winds 27 miles through the mountains, passing Ollantaytambo and continuing its way up, down, and around the peaks until reaching Machu Picchu. A much easier option would have been to construct a road along the Urubamba River, but that’s no fun! It’s possible that Machu Picchu was also a pilgrimage site for the worship of Inti, and the long, difficult journey to get there was meant to test and prepare the pilgrims.

One of the reasons Machu Picchu is so archaeologically significant is because the Spanish never visited. That means that religious structures were never defaced in their campaign to Christianize the pagan civilizations, giving valuable insight to researchers. Why did the Spanish never make it there? The site was completed in the 1450s or 60s and was abandoned less than 100 years later. What happened? No one is really sure. Perhaps the site was deserted after Pachakuteq’s death. Perhaps there was an epidemic or an attack by the jungle tribes that wiped it out. Perhaps it was simply forgotten. Likely, most people in the empire had no idea it even existed.

Part of the original Inca road. How. Cool.

The buildings transition seamlessly into the mountain!

Machu Picchu sat abandoned for hundreds of years and was only brought to the world’s attention when it was “rediscovered” in 1911 by an American historian, Hiram Bingham, as he was searching for the “lost city” of the Incas, Vilcabamba (where Manco Inka set up his remnant Neo-Inca state). Bingham gets the credit for finding it, but in reality, it was no secret. He traveled along the Urubamba River, asking if anyone knew of ruins in the area, and was shown to Machu Picchu by a farmer. There were multiple local families living there and farming on the old terraces. Also, as the site was excavated, the absence of precious artifacts suggested that treasure hunters had already plundered it.

Hiram Bingham and crew walked up the mountain. It’s an exhausting uphill trek! But nowadays, you can take a bus up these crazy switchbacks. Not recommended for sensitive stomachs, but definitely preferred to walking!

I can’t imagine walking around this place for the first time as an explorer!

Bingham and his crew excavated the site for five years and sent artifacts back to Yale, where he worked, for further research. Peru is still trying to get these items returned today. In 1981, Peru created a national sanctuary protecting Machu Picchu and its surroundings. In 1983, it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site as “a masterpiece of art, urbanism, architecture and engineering” and “a unique testimony of the Inca Civilization”.

Next time, we’ll take a closer look at the details of the site!

Ollantaytambo

Posted on August 18, 2020August 26, 2020 by Lark

When we left off last time, our good friend Amerigo had just dropped us off in the Ollantaytambo Plaza de Armas after an eventful morning of driving all over the Sacred Valley. We had a few hours until our train was leaving for Aguas Calientes (the gateway town to Machu Picchu), so we stopped for a quick lunch before heading to the Ollantaytambo ruins.

If you look straight ahead, you can see some of the agricultural terraces rising up over the city.

Ollantaytambo was a royal estate, including a town for Incan nobles and religious areas. Its name comes from a combination of “Ollantay”, a character in a classical Quechua play, and “tambo” which, as we learned at Tambomachay, means a resting place for travelers, offering lodging and food. It was a fortified town, surrounded by protective walls and watchtowers. The streets are designed in a grid, and the Incas engineered a system to channel clean water through the streets to be used by the inhabitants. The modern town is built on the same foundations, and sometimes even within the same buildings, as the Inca town and has some of the oldest continuously inhabited houses in South America.

The town, as seen from some of the terraces.

Agricultural terraces extend both down from the town to the Urubamba River and up the nearby mountains. The geography, especially around the terraces to the river, creates microclimates on the different terrace levels. These terraces have average temperatures a few degrees warmer than those at the town level, and this allowed crops to be grown that normally wouldn’t survive at such an altitude.

One set of terraces dominates the town, and these lead up to “Temple Hill” where the main temples were located. They look very steep and intimidating. Mom took one look at the seemingly endless stairs to the top and told me to go ahead with Benjamin and Jocelyn so that she and Dad could take their time. It wasn’t just an illusion… the terraces in Ollantaytambo actually are steeper than others in the Empire. They were built to a higher standard than most, and this follows the same pattern that we’ve talked about before where more important buildings/sites can be identified by the construction quality. These terraces match what was built at other royal estates, with higher walls between levels and the use of cut, rather than rough, stones.

Approaching the religious sector through a plaza that was surrounded by the most important buildings during Inca times

Do you see the diagonal of the stairs, kind of like a white line running along the left edge of the terraces (from bottom left to upper right)? Above that diagonal is Temple Hill, with the Sun Temple just about in the middle of the picture.

You can also see two levels of stonework quality in the terraces in this picture. The ones rising up to the right are the “regular” terraces (though still nicer than most), and the ones straight ahead are on Temple Hill. Can you see how much less noticeable the joints between the stones are for the Temple Hill terraces? And even in the straight-ahead terraces, they get nicer from bottom to top.

Does this angle make the terraces look steep? Eek!

Temple Hill is topped by the Sun Temple because, as you may remember from our discussion of Qorikancha, the sun deity was the major Incan god. As it appears now, the temple seems to be incomplete, though whether it was truly unfinished or was destroyed by the Spanish is another question.

This is actually a pretty good picture to see the contrast in the stonework. The terrace on the left of the picture is on Temple Hill. Those on the right are not.

Temple Hill is on the right. These terraces were probably more for protecting against erosion than for farming.

Another view of the Temple Hill terraces with their pretty stonework. In the top middle, you can see the Temple of the Ten Niches. It used to have another wall that no longer stands, and they’re not sure exactly what it was for… but my professional guess is that that’s where they kept their golden corn.

The major feature of the Sun Temple is a towering wall formed by six pink granite boulders. These were brought from a quarry about 5km away, probably via log rollers, and then were somehow hauled up the mountain to their final resting place. The route from the quarry also includes a river crossing, and it is believed that the Incas diverted the river in order to move the stones across the riverbed. Insanity. Between the quarry and Temple Hill, other giant pieces of pink granite lie abandoned. These are called “tired stones” which I think is absolutely hilarious because whether it’s true or not, it makes me laugh to imagine a bunch of people struggling to move a giant stone, then looking at each other like, “This is exhausting. Why are we doing this??” and just leaving it there.

Pink granite monstrosities. You can still see some of the symbols… There’s one in the middle that looks like steps and is a symbol representing heaven, earth, and underground.

Taking a deep breath and enjoying the altitude

Above the terraces, there are ruins of structures that were likely military barracks, storage rooms, and such.

Hm… not really sure how you’re supposed to get up there…

Or this view that makes me feel like I’m looking off the edge of a cliff…

Taking another of my million pictures of the town

Mom did eventually make it up the stairs!

Away from the groups of buildings, there are others in more isolated positions on the mountainside. These were most likely storehouses for the food grown on the terraces. Their high-altitude locations, with lower temperatures and more wind, helped to guard against decay. They have openings for ventilation and for the entrance and exit of grain. We were confused by the first storehouse we came across because it seemed like it used to be a two-story building. It’s hard to explain, so check out the picture below. Jocelyn and I are in doorways that enter from higher up on the mountain. Benjamin is down the mountain. Why are there doors leading to a 12-foot drop? There’s no indication that there used to be a floor that no longer exists. Well, the storehouse explanation solves that mystery. The “second-floor” openings were for pouring the grain into the storehouse, and the “first-floor” openings were for removing it. Pretty smart, right?

Looking out at the town from the inside of the storehouse

Flowers growing on the storehouse’s thatch roof.

This was the path that we had to take to the storehouse, accompanied by this very encouraging sign about the possible danger of a landslide.

Thank goodness they have that rope to keep you from falling off the edge… very effective, I’m sure

That barely-visible roof peak in the middle of the picture is the storehouse we were standing in

More storehouses on the mountain across town. You can see the path to get there, zig-zagging up the mountain

At ground level, there’s a series of ceremonial fountains that were used to worship the water god. They’re still flowing today, fed from the nearby Patakancha River, the same one that brought water to the town’s streets. The river is also used for irrigation in some of the terraces, and there are terraces that still function and are in use today! Kind of amazing for hundreds of years later. Unfortunately, as many of the Incas’ aqueduct systems fell into disrepair under the Spanish, this isn’t the case for most across the former Empire. I guess the Spanish were more focused on extracting gold and silver rather than on agricultural development.

This is the top view of the fountain from the picture above. Does this remind you of the water channels at Maras Salt Mines?

It amazes me that these fountains still function after so much time

Looking towards Temple Hill from the waterworks

The ruins in town are often called “Ollantaytambo Fortress”, despite not actually being designed to serve a protective purpose. This is similar to the confusion with Saqsayhuaman and may stem from the fact that both were ultimately used for a defensive advantage in battles against the Spanish invaders. Ollantaytambo was the site of a particularly exciting battle as it was one of the few that ended in an Inca victory. Led by Manco Inka, the Incan forces made a stand there in 1537 after fortifying the eastern defenses, in the direction of Cusco (which the Spanish had already conquered). Besides using the steep farming terraces to their advantage, the Incas redirected the Urubamba River to flood the plain and slow down the Spanish cavalry.

Despite this victory, Manco Inka then fled deep into the jungle, reasoning that Ollantaytambo was too close to Cusco to be held for long. There, he established a small Neo-Inca state that managed to survive until 1572.

If you have to engage in a battle, this seems like a decent position to be in.

Not a bad spot for keeping an eye on the town

Personally, I think Ollantaytambo is underrated. Everyone just uses it as a pass-through town, and while I can’t really say much because that’s what we did too, I would love to go back and spend more time there. If you like to hike, there are some super cool hikes in the area… like you can hike to the quarry where they got the stones for Temple Hill, or there’s an abandoned Inca town called Pumamarka nearby. Well, I guess this just means I’ll have to go back to Peru again. Darn!

When we finished exploring the site to everyone’s satisfaction, we had more than enough time to get to the train station. Talk about a well-planned day! (I’m patting myself on the back.) The train ride to Machu Picchu is one of my favorite things. You’re riding beside the Urubamba River for most of the way, and the mountain views are spectacular. I took some pictures, but they’re terrible because of the moving train and the dirty train windows (and also because I have a gift for taking pictures a split second too late… so instead of a view, I get a giant tree trunk in the way)… but just try to imagine.

Everyone enjoying some social time while waiting for the train

But you can kind of see how awesome the scenery is

Don’t look at the blurry trees in front… they’ll make your eyes cross. But look at those crazy peaks in the background!

In Aguas Calientes, we bought our bus tickets for the next morning (from the town center up to the archaeological site), checked into our hotel, ate dinner, and went to bed. We had to rest up for our 5AM departure time the next day for our visit to Machu Picchu!

The restaurant we went to was fancy (by my standards, at least). This appetizer came on a giant piece of salt on a rock… they don’t do things like that at my usual haunts.

Aji de gallina is one of my favorite Peruvian dishes, though this version is a little bit flashier than what I’m used to. But it’s basically chicken and potatoes in a cream sauce and is eaten with rice.

[Check out my old post about Ollantaytambo HERE.]

Moray and Maras Salt Mines

Posted on August 14, 2020 by Lark

Like any “travel day”, the morning of our day-long transit to Aguas Calientes, the town at the base of Machu Picchu Mountain, was a bit hectic. Our friend Amerigo the taxi man (who we met on the way back from Saqsayhuaman) had trouble finding our hotel, but it was okay because he was running EARLY. A Peruvian. Running early. I’d never heard of such a thing.

While Amerigo’s punctuality was surprising, his confusion certainly wasn’t. Our hotel was accessed by walking THROUGH a school. If this sounds like the strangest thing, yes. He called us to say that we gave him the wrong address, that it was a school and he couldn’t find parking because of the morning drop-offs. We told him we’d be right there, grabbed our bags, and weaved our way out to the street, through the crowds of students gathered in the school’s courtyards. Can you imagine something like that in the States? A school with a bunch of strangers walking through at every hour of the day? Yeah, not a chance.

The plan for the day was simple. We left Cusco at 8AM, right on schedule thanks to Amerigo’s early arrival. We had a 3PM train to Aguas Calientes from Ollantaytambo, a town about an hour and a half from Cusco. Along the way, I wanted to stop at two other sites, Moray (an Inca ruin) and the Maras Salt Mines. That gave us seven hours for the drive and sightseeing which seemed like plenty.

Sacred Valley view. The drive from Cusco to Ollantaytambo is very pretty!

As we headed out from Cusco, Amerigo started asking about our plans and if we were staying overnight in Ollantaytambo. I told him no, we were taking the train. He asked if it was the 6:00PM train… nope, the 3:00. He freaked out. He said that we didn’t have enough time, that we should have left hours earlier if we wanted to make the 3PM train. I said that I was pretty sure we were going to be fine. He was adamant, and I started to worry. Was there some road condition or change from my last visit that I didn’t know about? Jocelyn put it into google maps, and the total driving time came back as 2.5ish hours. I didn’t want to insult Amerigo with a “well, google maps says…”, but I was SO confused. And terrified that I had made a huge mistake.

To this point, his driving had been as un-Peruvian as his early arrival… safe and rational. From then, though, it was like he flipped a switch. He morphed into a maniac racecar driver, testing his car’s limits and passing people left and right. A bus tried to run us off the road as we passed it (seriously, what is the deal with these drivers?!?), and we breathed a collective sigh of relief when we didn’t die. I thought Mom was going to hurl. Even though Jocelyn and I were used to Peruvian driving, which is of a similar style even when you’re not in a rush, this was a little scary. I appreciated his determination to get us to our train on time, but it really wasn’t necessary.

Thanks to Amerigo’s breakneck speeds, we got to Moray earlier than expected. I tried to talk to him again after we got out of the car, thinking it would be easier to sort out our misunderstanding face-to-face instead of with Jocelyn and me yelling in Spanish from the back seat. Maybe I was missing something? Or maybe he was planning for more stops than I wanted? Nope. Our conversation resulted in no further clarity. He insisted that we didn’t have enough time and would miss our train. I said I didn’t understand and walked away baffled.

He asked us how long we needed at Moray, and I guessed maybe 20 minutes? 30 minutes? Not too long. He didn’t look like he believed me. There are a few different routes for exploring the ruins: a 2-hour loop that goes around the entire site, a 1.5-hour loop around the main area, or a 1-hour loop to see the highlights. The highlights are sufficient, and looking at the path in real life, I had no idea how it could possibly take an hour. Is that the crawling time? The tortoise time? I don’t know. I usually trust my judgment, but again, I thought I must be missing something since Amerigo didn’t believe me and the sign said it took an hour. We took our time because while I didn’t want to stress him out more, I also didn’t want us to rush through the site for no reason.

The not-very-accurate map of the site, showing the different loop options (also, who made this sign? It’s very confusing because there’s a photo of the site in the background, but it doesn’t correspond to the diagram and is just super misleading. Ignore the background image. Look at the line diagram). We took the yellow loop which goes around the big circle thing in the middle.

Does this look like a 1-hour walk to you?? We went down the path that comes in from the left and up the path on the right.

Moray is an Inca site unlike any other. The Incas modified the natural topography to create a series of terraced depressions. The leading theory is that this was essentially an agricultural lab where the Incas tested various plants to determine which were best suited to grow in the different parts of the empire. How did this happen all in one site? WELL, this is crazy. Thanks to the depths of the depressions and the orientation in relation to the sun and wind, different climate conditions are created on different terrace levels. The largest depression, for example, is about 100 feet deep, and amazingly, there’s a massive annual temperature difference between the top terrace and the bottom – nearly 27°F (15°C)! Also, soil testing has revealed that different soils were transported from near and far to Moray. With this, the Incas were able to use this one research lab to test the performance of their crops across their diverse empire, from the sea-level desert around Lima to the high-altitude Andes and the tropical Amazon. They determined which crops grew best where and modified them to thrive in various conditions.

If that isn’t impressive enough already, the terraces themselves were engineered to include an irrigation and drainage system. Even today, hundreds of years after they were built, the terraces never flood, no matter how heavily it rains.

Headed down the path… seriously, so cool!!!

Can you see the stairs sticking out of the terrace walls?

It’s kind of like an optical illusion. I can’t imagine building this place!

Hundreds of years do tend to take a toll… looks like we have a bit of a landslide on our hands.

This is the largest of the “labs”. Isn’t it a masterpiece?

We took our time walking the 1-hour loop and were back at Amerigo’s car in 35 minutes… He seemed no less stressed as we headed to our next stop, Maras Salt Mines (the site of my multiple mountain biking wipeouts last time I was in Peru. This visit was slightly more relaxed and involved far less bleeding), but thankfully, there wasn’t much opportunity for maniac driving on the winding back roads we took to get there.

This is one of the smaller labs next to the one we walked around. I don’t know what the deal is with the piles of stones, but I assume they were gathered together as the site was being excavated/restored? Maybe?

The lab with the worst view. Kiddingggg check out those mountains!

The Maras Salt Mines, unlike the Wieliczka Salt Mines that I visited in Poland, are not underground mines like you’re probably imagining. More accurately, they’re evaporation pools. An underground, salty stream brings water to the site naturally, and it’s distributed among the thousands of man-made, terraced pools by a series of channels. This kind of mastery of water has “Inca” written all over it, but unlike most Inca masterpieces that lie in ruin today, Maras is still being used for its original purpose! Actually, salt production at Maras dates back to the Wari people, a pre-Incan civilization, but the Incas improved and expanded the production area. The setup looks intricate, but the process itself is fairly simple. Salty water fills the shallow pools. The water evaporates. Salt is left behind. This fill/evaporate process is repeated a few times, more salt accumulates, and then, the salt is harvested.

Pools stretching as far as the eye can see… and my gosh, what a beautiful view! (I mean the mountains… but also the pools are kind of awesome.)

I know the mountain slope helped with the construction of the pools, but still, what an undertaking!

Just think… every single one of these pools had to be constructed. The channels between them were formed. The walls built out of stones and mud. The ground compacted down by hand to make it easier to harvest the salt. Repeated thousands and thousands of times.

Some of the channels that distribute water to the pools.

As you might expect, this works better in the dry season when the water evaporates more quickly. This results in higher quality salt, either pink or white in color. In the rainy season, the salt is more likely to have a brown tint to it. The best salt is exported, and the rest is sold in Peru. Even the lowest quality salt can be sold, and while it may not make it to someone’s kitchen table, it is used in industrial processes, agriculture, and raising livestock.

We were there in December which is the beginning of the rainy season. I’ve never visited in the dry season, but apparently the pools are much whiter thanks to the more rapid evaporation.

It’s kind of hard to grasp the scale of the site, even when seeing it like this.

Like, that last picture didn’t even show all of the pools. They’re endless!

When we’d seen enough, we headed back to the car for the final leg of our journey with Amerigo, from Maras to Ollantaytambo. We met him at the car, and this was the point when he realized that we were not actually going to miss our train. We had more than enough time, in fact, and he resumed driving like a rational human. I breathed a sigh of relief, happy that I wasn’t crazy.

We said our goodbyes to our friend Amerigo as he dropped us off in the main plaza in Ollantaytambo. It was 11:30AM, earlier than expected, thanks to the maniacal speeding. We had more than enough time to eat some lunch and explore the Ollantaytambo ruins before our train left at 3. To be continued…