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Dec 24, 2007
Cusco (also spelled Cuzco, and in the local Quechua language as Qusqu IPA: ['qos.qo]) is a city in southeastern Peru, near the Urubamba Valley (Sacred Valley) of the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cusco Region as well as the Cusco Province. The city has a population of about 300,000, triple the figure of 20 years ago. Located on the eastern end of the Knot of Cusco, its altitude is around 3,300 m (10,800 feet). The historic capital of the sun-worshiping Inca empire, Cusco was found in 2006 to be the spot on Earth with the highest ultraviolet light level.
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It truly is a breath taking experience.....the question that goes over and over in your mind is...how...why... and the only answer is WOW.
The city itself only housed between 500 and 700 people depending on which tour guide you caught reeling off the facts and figures, however like the Vatican, Angkor Waht and the Potala Palace its shear magnificence makes it a true wonder of the world. For me its brilliance was made greater tenfold, after having completed the Inca Trail from the Inca's last great battle site and astronomical centre of Ollantaytambo. Due to there being limited places available for the trail, Adrian and I began the trek a day before our Kumuka group, which was perfect as being on the Kumuka Truck was way too similar to being in the Big Brother house.
Day 1 - trailhead to first camp Huayllabamaba (2700 m), distance 13 km, an average hiking time 7 hours with stops.
Rising at 4am Christmas day we were met and transferred a few times till we ended up at what seemed like Everest Base camp, there were buses, back packs, porters and ready to trek tourists all over the place not to mention the plethora of ornately clad women trying to sell everything from inca cola to camera memory cards.
Day 2 - hardest day, ascending to 4200m, distance 15KM, average hiking time 8 hours with breaks.
Day 3 - very scenic day with many Ruins en route, distance 14 KM, camp at Winaywayna 2700m. 7-8 hours hiking.
Day 4 - start in the dark to get to Machu Picchu at sunrise, 3 hours hike and free morning to explore Machu Picchu, return to Aguas Calientes and train back to Ollantaytambo.
Machu Picchu (Quechua: Machu Picchu, "Old Peak") is a pre-Columbian Inca site located 2,400 meters (7,875 ft) above sea level. It is situated on a mountain ridge above the Urubamba Valley in Peru, which is 80 km (50 mi) northwest of Cuzco. Often referred to as "The Lost City of the Incas", Machu Picchu is probably the most familiar symbol of the Inca Empire. It was built around the year 1450, but abandoned a hundred years later, at the time of the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire. Forgotten for centuries, the site was brought to worldwide attention in 1911 by Hiram Bingham, an American historian. Since then, Machu Picchu has become an important tourist attraction. It was declared a Peruvian Historical Sanctuary in 1981 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983. It is also one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. Machu Picchu was built in the classical Inca style, with polished dry-stone walls. Its primary buildings are the Intihuatana, the Temple of the Sun, and the Room of the Three Windows. These are located in what is known by archaeologists as the Sacred District of Machu Picchu. In September of 2007, Peru and Yale University reached an agreement regarding the return of artifacts which Hiram Bingham had removed from Machu Picchu in the early 20th century. Currently, there are concerns about the impact of tourism on the site as it reached 400,000 visitors in 2003.
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Dec 29, 2007
The Sacred Valley of the Incas was undoubtedly a key area of settlement to the Incas. Its agreeable climate and fertile plains make a rare and fruitful combination for the high Andes. It was also the route to the jungle and therefore an area with access to the fruits and plants of the tropical lowlands. The Sacred Valley served as a buffer zone, protecting Cusco from incursions of the Antis, the fierce jungle tribes who from time to time raided the highlands.
Today the Sacred Valley remains a lush agricultural region supplying the city of Cusco with much of its produce such as maize, fruit and vegetables.
A vital Inca road once snaked its way up the canyon that enters the Urubamba Valley at Pisac. The citadel, at the entrance to this gorge, now in ruins, controlled a route which connected the Inca Empire with Paucartambo, on the border of the eastern jungles. Set high above a valley floor patchworked by patterned fields and rimmed by vast terracing, the stonework and panoramas at Pisac's Inca citadel are magnificent. Terraces, water ducts and steps have been cut out of solid rock, and in the upper sector of the ruins, the main Sun Temple is equal of anything at Machu Picchu. Above the temple lie still more ruins, mostly unexcavated, and among the higher crevices and rocky overhangs several ancient burial sites are hidden .