On visiting Isla del Sol on Lake Titicaca, we had become familiar with the origin myths of the Incas. In one of these myths (there are several
versions) Manco
Capac and his sister Mama Occlo, children of the sun god Inti, were
sent to earth to ground the Incan Empire and emerged from the
waters of Lake Titicaca. From there they traveled to Cuzco where the
Golden Staff their father gave them sank into the earth and the Temple
of the Sun was built. We were now following in their footsteps leaving
the bright blue waters of Titicaca behind, to cross the burnt yellow
plains of the Altiplano before descending through green fertile valleys
to Cusco, the bellybutton of the world according to Manco. Moving
beyond fiction the Incas started out small in this valley around the
twelfth century before eventually extending their empire - the Tawantin
suyo - into the largest in South America, covering the territory (or
parts) of the six present day countries of Argentina, Chile, Bolivia,
Peru, Ecuador and Colombia. It was hard to keep focused as we navigated our way through the cobblestoned heart of Cusco. You can really appreciate the majesty of the Incan reign as well as the tragedy of their downfall wandering the city streets where beautiful unmistakeably Incan stonework is capped by Spanish white washed gabled fortresses. What a sight this city must have been at
the height of
Incan power. We headed up the hill to Saqsay Huaman (or sexy women as
it is
fondly known) in search of our campsite. We passed the huge (apparently
some blocks weigh over 3 tons) polygonal blocks that make up the
ramparts. The immensity of it all had obviously addled Axel's brain as
we had driven straight past the entrance to the camping. Luckily we
eventually found it and settled in to the homey, friendly Dutch run
Quinta Lala with its lawn, pesky hens, aggressive geese and a cosy
travellers hut for late night tall tales and beer swigging.Cusco is an amazing city but the most expensive in Peru and a tourist trap with its pricey museums, so we mostly admired everything from the outside, which was impressive enough. We saved our Soles for
entrances to some of the numerous ruins in the nearby
Urubamba
valley or as it is more commonly known 'The Sacred Valley'. Sacred, for
the Inca valued its fertility and climate, unique at that
altitude, and its importance as a trade route to the jungle. Sacred
too, for archaeologists and tourists as it is a treasure chest of
stunning Incan sites. Heading for the Sacred Valley we passed those
fantastic building blocks of Saqsay Huaman again and the road wound
through a valley that was practically cluttered with the big blue INC
(Peru’s National Culture Institute) signs heralding yet another Inca
ruin. It would have been impossible to take them all in so we selected
three out of the many possibilities: Moray, Ollantaytambo and of course
the most expensive and sought after Macchu Picchu.