The Sacred Valley -- May 2

After a day of recovery from the Inka Trail, Forrest was ready to see more of Cuzco.  He and I had talked to Peggy (the owner of the hotel we are staying in) and also some other guests and they insisted we should go see more of the Sacred Valley.  Both of us had seen parts of it on our separate journeys to Machu Pichu.  The most popular way to see the valley was by tour bus.  Anyone who knows us will tell you that we are not fond of tours, especially tours by bus.  They usually are a whirlwind of sites with little or no substance at each stop.  But we set our prejudices aside and decided that we would give it a try.  The Inka bug had bitten us after seeing Machu Pichu.  We wanted  to see more sites.   

We stopped in Pucapucara, Tambomachay, Sacsahuaman and Qenko and it was a whirlwind of a trip a total of 10 hours.  The buses in Peru are VERY comfortable and top of the line.  And the ruins were definately worth seeing.  One site after another gave you a good idea of the scale, stretch, organization and shear skill of the Inka (or Quechua).  Forrest and I have had several conversations after seeing the forts, citadels, towns, etc and most are built into mountains and completely self-sufficient.   A siege just would not work to conquer them.  From the history books, the stories of the locals and the guides all have led us to believe that had the Inka not suffered a very bloody civil war weakening their hold on the other city states in the empire the Spanish would never have had a chance.  But it was history that happened and not idyl speculation.  Still one sure is sure, the ruins of the sacred valley only reinforced what we already thought, the Inka were amazing administrators, "scientists" and architects.

We were exhausted after the trip but both of us would say it was worth it.  But it also reinforced our dislike of tours. But we saw terrain and biomes neither of us had yet encountered.  Of the many conclusions, impressions and feelings you gain from a trip to the highlands of the Peru at the very heart of the Quechua Empire (Inka) it is that there were just so many resources of water, and arable land without the technologies of terracing.  The natural valleys between mountain peaks alone could feed a modern nation, much less an ancient one.  I think most of us would be very surprised to see the degree of arable land and extensive agriculture two, three miles above sea level and not only that but year round.  

The architecture in the Sacred Valley was no less impressive or any less well constructed.  It all reinforced the perceptions one gains on the way to Machu Pichu by train or by foot.  It was a long day but a good one.  As our pics will show when we finally post them.