Going to Peru without seeing Machu Picchu is like going to India without seeing the Taj Mahal or going to Egypt without seeing the pyramids. I had visited Machu Picchu on my first trip to Peru, but my girlfriend hadn’t seen it, and she couldn’t be less interested. Different strokes. Anyway, divesting a Peruvian trip of a Machu Picchu visit opens up new possibilities for spending both time and money. We devote these resources to a more thorough exploration of the Sacred Valley of the Incas-an area that encompasses roughly sixty kilometers of highlands north of Cuzco.
I made a perfunctory visit to the Sacred Valley during my first go-round in Peru; but this one would be different and more in-depth. Since we also want to see Rainbow Mountain as well as the Sacred Valley, we decide to split our expeditions into two day-trips-the first of which we dedicate to the mountain.
Rainbow Mountain
It takes about 3-4 hours to reach the Rainbow Mountain range (even getting up at an ungodly hour in the morning), so our guide breaks up the journey by stopping at the small berg of Checacupe. Here, we mostly waste time crossing a renovated rope bridge and gazing at colorful native statues perched on the hillside. The juxtaposition of three bridges over the Vilcanota River from three different time periods is supposed to be unique in Peru. Okay.
As we approach the low Andes, we (or at least the driver) have to take care not to run over cows or fall into a streambed.
The Rainbow Mountain is locally known as “Vinicuna” and lays a few hours to the southeast of Cuzco. It reaches about 16,500 feet high and actually forms part of a chain of mountains that are similarly colored or striped.
The colors of these mountains are due to their mineral composition: pink owing to red clay, white to quartz, red to iron, green to magnesium, and yellow to sulfur. There is some mining of these minerals in the area; but tourism ultimately trumps that activity.
There are several “miradors”, or overlooks, along the hiking paths. These diverge depending on how anxious one is to get to the top of the escarpment-where the best views are supposedly available.
Almost all of our tour group chooses the steep hiking path to the escarpment, which my girlfriend and I elect not to follow. Instead, on the advice of other tourists, we take a more level and gentle (but longer) hiking path leading to one of the ends of the escarpment. So, essentially, we do an end-around.
I assume we get pretty much the same views from the edge of the escarpment as on the top of it. We can definitely see the snow-covered Salcantay Mountain from where we stand.
We can also see a hat lying on the ground in the distance. It must be windy up there.
Only the long walk back to the parking lot and the drive back to Cuzco remain on our Rainbow Mountain tour.
The Sacred Valley
We get up equally early for our Sacred Valley tour; but this is understandable since we have a lot of stops to make. Included in these is Chincero, Moray, Salinas de Maras, Urubamba, Ollantaytambo, and Pisac.
First up was Chincero, which is the handicraft and weaving center of the Cuzco region-as evidenced by the open-air marketplace and the streets leading up to it.
Chincero used to be the home and headquarters of Tupac Yupanqui-a notable Incan leader who, according to our guide, built an Incan navy which supposedly explored Easter Island and Micronesia. Your call whether all that is true.
What is true is that the palace of Tupac Yupanqui was converted into a church (the Church of Our Lady of Mont Serrat) in the 17th century complete with a bell tower to call the reluctant indigenous people to worship services.
Some of the Incan stone walls and agricultural terraces still exist in Chincero, although no crops are planted there now. Chincero once played an important role as a storage facility for provisions and food for Cuzco.
Next, we pop by the agricultural terraces of Moray. The Sacred Valley was the breadbasket for the Incans and their capitol, Cuzco. To demonstrate how important this was to them, these circular terraces were built by the Incas at different heights-thus invoking microclimate changes that would have been invaluable in experimental terrace agriculture.
The terraces, although they have nothing planted in them now, were irrigated, reinforced by stone walls, and even had steps leading down into them.
They must have been pretty impressive back in the day.
We make a brief stop at a chocolate shop in the village of Maras, where we buy-salt. For salt is the main product made in the Maras area, and specifically at the salt pans of Maras (Salineras de Maras), which is our next destination.
First, we have to get around a horse parade traveling in the opposite direction.
There are over 3,000 of these natural salt wells at the Salineras de Maras. They form a valley of whitish-brown pools that look a little bit like snow. They are worked by local families who send the resulting salt to Maras or Cuzco.
The pools are fed by a salty underground spring that originates in the nearby mountains. As usual, the locals also have a legendary story behind these salt pans. According to this legend, Ayer Cachi was tricked and sealed into a cave by his jealous brothers, and Ayer’s angry tears drop into and fill the salt pools. Sounds about right to me.
With or without the salt pools, the Maras Valley is stunningly beautiful.
We stop for a buffet lunch in Urubamba. The river of that name is a common denominator for most of the places we visit in the Sacred Valley.
Originally conquered by the Inca emperor Pachacuti and made into his luxurious personal estate, Ollantaytambo was where the Incas last defeated the Spanish. Manco Inca fortified the town and flooded the plain to deter the conquistadors, and, from their steep terraces, gave them a whupping. These terraces served for agriculture during times of peace.
Storehouses for grains and quarries for stone were built out of the surrounding mountains and have remained undisturbed.
There are over 300 large steps at the terraces of Ollantaytambo. We only climb a few of these and content ourselves with exploring the rest of the site-which includes temples, streams, and (of course) llamas.
As for the town of Ollantaytambo, it in no way resembles an Incan settlement, as it has been altered over and over again since the Spanish conquest. It does, however, have some of the oldest continuously occupied dwellings on the continent.
There are more agricultural terraces and food storehouses at Pisac. Our guide calls this the “McDonald’s” of Incan Peru.
There are llamas here, too; although they may have once served for wool and meat, they are now used primarily as lawn mowers.
An Incan village was also situated at Pisac. The walls are almost labyrinth in nature.
A honeycomb of old Incan tombs are visible on the mountainside opposite the Incan site. Both sides were once connected by a hanging rope bridge, but no more.
Our final stop on our Sacred Valley tour is in the “new” village of Pisac-which is especially known for its handicrafts. In this case, we are given a worthless soft-sell at a local jewelry and gold shop. No thank you (no, gracias) become my favorite words in Spanish.
That was it for the Sacred Valley tour. We arrive back in Cuzco after dark trying to process it all. Obviously, the Sacred Valley had been inhabited long before the Incas; but it was the Incan civilization which best employed and improved the agricultural potential of the valley. Add to that the dramatic mountainous backdrop, and the day was a memorable experience.
Lima Again
As we flew back to Lima, I was feeling like crap again and moving very slowly. The only things I remember doing on our last full day in Peru was riding to Parque El Olivar-a long, narrow park that is one of the hidden gems of Lima, and walking from there to the Huaca Pucllana pre-Incan ruins. Huaca Pucllana was used as a temple by the ancient Lima people and then by the Wari people until the Incans took over. I clearly ran out of interest and gas here as I can recall no more than piles of dusty mud bricks.
When I got back home, I fell (twice), learned that I had pneumonia, and was hospitalized. I’m alright now; but I was in a fog for a long time after I was released. The first time I visited Peru in 1998, I came down with the runs after drinking bad water. This time, I developed pneumonia. I like Peru; but, apparently, it doesn’t like me back.
Still, the memories are vibrant: seeing the Miraflores coastline and the historical center of Lima with fresh eyes; traveling to the seaside town of Paracas and its impressive attractions, both at sea and in the desert; viewing the Nazca lines up close and visiting the many museums and convents in Arequipa; the condors, wildlife, and dramatic scenery of our Colca Canyon tour; our island hop on Lake Titicaca and wonderful dinners in Puno; the churches and old Incan feel of Cuzco; and the terraces, mountains, and streams of the Sacred Valley. It all seems like a dream-but maybe that’s the fog kicking in once again.
Musical Finale: “Agonia”-Isabela Merced