SACRED VALLEY CUSCO

Dengan Nama Allah yang Maha Pemurah lagi Maha Pengasihani

Assalamualaikum,

Diawal pagi ini ZBA akan mula merayap Sacred Valley walau pun masih belum menyesuaikan diri dengan altitud 3800MSNM.  Bernafas dalam udara tipis amat meletihkan khususnya semasa mendaki.  

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. 

Most people visit Pisac to see the market on Sunday, 

but there are smaller markets  on both Tuesday and Thursday. However Pisac is a pretty village and has plenty of small handicraft shops and is worth a visit on any day of the week. There are local buses departing from Cusco every 15 minutes for the one hour ride to Pisac village. Local buses cost about US$2 each way.  

Pisaq Village

 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 patch-worked 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.

Ulubamba Valley at Pasic

Ollantaytambo is an attractive little town located at the western end of the Sacred Valley.  The town has been built on top of original Inca foundations and is the best surviving example of Inca town planning. The town is

divided in canchas (blocks)   which   arealmost entirely intact. Each cancha has only one entrance (usually a huge stone doorway) which leads into a central courtyard. The houses surround the courtyard. Good

examples of this construction can be found behind the main plaza. Stone used for these buildings was brought from a quarry high up on the opposite side of the Urubamba river - an incredible feat involving  the  efforts
of thousands of workers. The complex was still under construction at the time of the conquest and was never cocompleted.  The   town    is   located    at  the foot of some   

spectacular Inca ruins (entrance with the Tourist Ticket 'Boleto Turistico') which protected the strategic entrance to the lower Urubamba Valley. The temple area is at the top of steep terracing which helped to provide excellent defences.

Chinchero is a small Andean Indian village located high up on the windswept plains of Anta at 3762m about 30km from Cusco. There are beautiful views overlooking the Sacred Valley of the Incas, with the

Cordillera Vilcabamba and the snow-capped peak of Salkantay dominating the western horizon. Chinchero is believed to be the mythical birthplace of the rainbow. Its major claim to tourism is its colourful Sunday market which is much less tourist-orientated than the market at Pisac. 

The village mainly comprises mud brick (adobe) houses, and locals still go about their business in traditional dress.

The village may have been an important town in Inca times. The most striking

remnant of this period is the massive stone wall in the main plaza which has ten trapezoidal niches.  The construction of the wall and many other ruins and agricultural terraces (which are still in use) are attributed to Inca Tupac Yupanqui who possibly used Chinchero as a kind of country resort. Entrance to the main plaza and ruins requires a 'boleto turistico'.

In the main plaza an adobe colonial church, dating from the early seventeenth century, has been built upon the foundations of an Inca temple or palace. The ceiling and walls are covered in beautiful floral and religious designs. The church is open on Sundays for mass.

Half an hour's walk from the village brings you to Lake Piuri which once fed Cusco with water. It takes about 3 hours to walk around the lake passing through small picturesque villages.

MY POINT OF VIEW