Heading for the Hills (Mountains?).

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Today we began our final leg of the South American Odyssey with a 5 am departure for Santiago Airport and a four and a half hour flight to Lima.  There we connected with  a one hour flight to the city of Cusco, high in the Peruvian Andes - 11,000 feet (3353 metres) to be exact.  I started taking my tablets to prevent altitude sickness yesterday.  Flying into Cusco was rather scary as it seemed that there were only jagged mountain tops to land on.  At the last minute we came upon Cusco Valley and dropped into the airport.  The city of half a million people extends up the brown slopes from the valley floor.
We had spotted a couple of snow-capped peaks from the plane but they were not visible from Cusco Valley. First impressions of Cusco - derelict buildings, many just shells and more flimsy looking structures extending up the steep slopes.   The city has a very brown look as most of the houses are made from adobe brick which is dug from the surrounding hills - also very brown.  The rainy season is over and the sun shone brightly.

Looking down on Cusco -late afternoon

Snow capped peaks behind Cusco

After meeting our guide, Luiz, we drove straight to a nice restaurant called Valentina, on the edge of downtown for lunch.   Luiz recommended the chicken soup and sure enough it was delicious.  Stupidly I managed to leave my jacket on the back of my chair but Luiz said not to worry we will get it on our return to Cusco  - he phoned the restaurant and made arrangements.  The plan today was to visit the ruins of a significant Inca temple, Saksayhuaman, which is on a hill overlooking the city at 12,000 ft (3701 metres) above sea level.  The pronunciation sounds like "Sexy Woman" and caused lots of hilarity amongst our group.  Luiz is obviously used to this and as very patient with our pathetic jokes.  He is a real treasure - of mixed blood with a pure Incan grandmother.  His English is excellent and his sense of humour is the best.

View over Cusco from Saksayhuaman 

Saksayhuaman is a mind-boggling place and it is thought to be one of the most significant Inca temples.  There is a huge grassy courtyard or open area surrounded by massive walls built of huge stone boulders.  These are fitted tightly together without any mortar and there are absolutely no gaps between the stones.  Most of the rock is thought to have come from a quarry about 3 km away.  The largest stone in the structure weighs 120 tons and stands 8.5 metres tall.  Although it is known that Saksayhuaman was completed by the Incas in 1508 and that they supposedly spent 77 years with up to 30,000 workers building the structure, there is some doubt about this.  The Spanish Conquistadors who arrived soon after the completion could find no-one who knew how the massive stones were moved into place, nor was there any trace of the huge workforce.  One theory is that the structure pre dates Inca civilisation and that the Incas only finished the building work using smaller stones that made up the top ten feet (2 metres) of the walls.  These stones were plundered by the Spanish who used them to build the cathedral and other buildings in Cusco.  Evidence of Inca masonry can be seen throughout the centre of Cusco.  It is generally agreed that Saksayhuaman was a temple to the sun god and not, as the Spanish thought, a fortress.   Whatever its history it certainly is imposing and the late afternoon sun showed it off perfectly.   The view over the city of Cusco and the Cusco Valley, with high mountains beyond is pretty stunning too.

Part of the amazing stone work at Saksayhuaman

Our little Globus family beside the largest stone at Saksayhuaman

After an hour or so we boarded the bus for a two hour ride to our hotel in the Sacred Valley of the Incas.  This involved taking a road which climbed up through the outer suburbs of Cusco to even greater heights.  The houses are very ramshackle but there seem to be thriving communities perched precariously on these steep slopes.  Most people have the look of having mixed Inca/Spanish heritage.  Luiz told us that there are not many people left who can claim pure Inca heritage.  Some of the buildings have been abandoned because of mudslides or earthquake damage and some are simply unfinished.  People don't take out mortgages but instead just complete their houses in stages as and when they save enough money.  Also once completed property taxes are levied on buildings - it seems that it is prudent to have an unfinished dwelling! I remember this being the case in Turkey as well.

Typical street in one of the hillside areas of Cusco

As darkness fell we seemed to be climbing more and then finally we descended to the valley - an alarming ride as I could see directly out of the bus window to sheer drops of hundreds of meters without a guard rail in sight.  Just as well it was soon dark.  Ahead, in the failing light we could see some huge mountains - around 20,000 ft (6000 metres) high.  After travelling along one valley for a while we made another hair-raising descent towards the lights of what appeared to be quite a large town.  Indeed this was Urubamba, main centre for the Sacred Valley and the point where we crossed the fabled Urubamba River.  After a few more kilometres heading along the valley, by now in complete darkness we turned off the main road and took a very bumpy but short ride towards the mountains and to our hotel, Casa Andina Private Collection.  The hotel was a collection of two story buildings in a lovely garden setting - it only opened 4 years ago according to Luiz.  We all headed straight for the dining room and we were very tired and hungry.  Dinner was a bit of a disappointment but most of us just wanted to sleep after such an early start this morning and the prospect of yet another very early departure for Machu Picchu.

Approaching Urubamba at nightfall.