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Machupicchu, is the best option to contact with the nature, and the culture of one of the most importtant culture of the world like a Andean Culture. Machupicchu is waiting for you everu day of the year.

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The Incas adopted Cusco as its sacred capital in AD 1438, giving it the name Qosqo, meaning ‘bellybutton’ or ‘navel of the world’.   Its rise in popularity as an important centre coincided with the emperor Pachacuti coming to power, at a time when the Incas were really making themselves known throughout South America.

Even though the Incas were around for over 300 years, the mark they made on the history books was only really during the last 100 years of these.  Prior to the Inca Empire, it was different cultures that dominated society – the Moche, Nazca and Tiahuanuc.  Each culture was characterised by their architecture, ceramics, jewellery or textiles, which are marked with their specific symbols and patterns.  These cultures coexisted simultaneously for hundreds of years, usually peacefully, but in later years the Tiahuanuco culture became particularly dominant throughout most of Peru.  Various tribes developed within these cultures and internal war faring soon caused the Tiahuanuco culture to slowly disappear.  It was replaced by a number of small empires along the coast, the most notable being the Chimu who constructed the Chan Chan complex near Trujillo.  Inland, three tribes developed, including the Incas who, under the rule of Manco Capac established themselves at Cusco around AD1200.  It took the Incas over 200 years to develop from a large tribal unit into an Empire.

Once established, the Inca Empire quickly became the largest and most powerful ever witnessed in South America.  The name Inca originally applied only to the Emperor, but nowadays refers to the whole nation of some 20 million Indians.  At their peak, the Incas ruled over territory stretching 5500km from southern Colombia to the Maule River in central Chile, and eastwards as far as the fringes of the Amazon Basin.

Many aspects of the organisation and structure of Inca society were inherited from previous cultures. Using the existing cultures and tribes, utilising buildings and towns, the Incans developed on what was already there.  That’s not to say the Inca’s relied totally on what had been before them and they set about constructing huge fortresses, urban and agricultural centres and temples.

The Incas have become world famous for their impressive architecture.  They developed a system of carving massive, multi-angled stone blocks with remarkable precision.  The stone used was often very hard igneous rock, like granite, which is particularly difficult to cut.  Although these blocks are all irregularly shaped, they interlock perfectly.  The walls were designed to withstand the considerable seismic activity common in the Andes.

Wandering around the city centre we caught glimpses of this famous Inca legacy – cobbled streets lined with the remains of the exquisite Inca architecture.  In many cases more modern buildings had been constructed right on top, and next to the Incan stonewalls.

When the Spanish arrived in Peru in 1526, under the command of Francisco Pizzaro, it heralded the demise of the Incan Empire.  Impressed by the extensive mineral deposits of the Inca Empire, Pizzaro sailed back to Spain to recruit an army of fortune hunters.  The Inca were warriors, with a strong and powerful army but they were no match for the 160 Spanish guns Pizzaro had enlisted and they quickly crushed a 40,000 strong Inca force.

In 1532, the Inca leader, Atahualpa was ambushed and held for ransom, but even 20 tons of silver and gold failed to buy the release of the captured Inca leader.  In 1533 Atahualpa was ‘tried’ and executed. By 1535, the Inca society was completely overthrown.  In the same year Pizzaro founded the city of Lima, which quickly replaced Cusco as the major economic centre for the Andean nations.  The new Inca ruler Manco Inca managed to escape from Cusco with an army of 50,000 and held out until 1572 when the resistance ended with his capture and beheading after a failed rebellion. 

In the process of defeating the Incas, the Spanish managed to dismantle most of the Incan temples, fortresses and fine buildings.  The introduction of their own architectural ideas involved knocking down structures and using the stones for their new buildings, often just placing their new buildings on top of existing foundations.

This is no more apparent than at the church of Santo Domingo.  Also known as Coricancha, it is a fine example of the Spanish culture imposing on Incan history.  The church comprises of a wonderful courtyard, in the centre of which is an octagonal grey-stone coffer.  Known as the Cusco Car Urumi (the Uncovered Naval Stone), it supposedly represented the centre of a field planted by the Incans with corn fashioned out of pure gold.  The stone was particularly symbolic and had been surrounded by numerous Incan temples.  The Spanish proceeded to build the church around it, plundering the 55kg of gold that once covered the stone.  The Inca site was forgotten until an earthquake in 1951 that demolished the church, exposing the earthquake resistant Inca block foundations beneath it.

Article taken from Inca Hoots by Caius Simmons & Vicky Brewis.

Technorati Tags: Cusco, Inca, Incas, Peru, Peru Vacations

The city of Cusco sits in a beautiful setting in the Peruvian Andes, at an altitude of 3400m asl, a height that left many fellow passengers breathless as they stepped of the plane.  As we were waiting for our bags we were serenaded by a bunch of poncho clad pan pipers, hands fully extended while they played.  Touts quickly descended on us like a swarm of bees.  Even after saying “no”, we still managed to find ourselves sitting next to a tout in our taxi who pointed out sights of interest as we headed towards the centre of town.  We engaged ourselves in a long and boring conversation about the weather, not giving him a chance to get a word in edgeways.  Desperate for an opportunity to give us his sales pitch, he hovered around as we were booking into our hotel.  Eventually collaring us, he tried to flog us a tour on the Inca trail to Machu Picchu, a bus trip through the Sacred Valley and a visit to the jungle.  We were trying to enjoy our first cup of coca tea (a pile of leaves in a cup filled with boiling water – it smelt rank but did not taste too bad), and the last thing we wanted to do was think about what trips we wanted to go on.  Eventually our tout got bored, storming off in a huff and back to the airport to await the next flight arrival.

We arrived in Cusco at the worst possible time of year (July), when the streets, hotels and museums were full of Americans and Europeans, mostly on large guided tours. 

A British pub – The Cross Keys – sold European and American beers, but we didn’t think the Guinness would have travelled well and kept to the local beer, Cusquenan, instead.   Mounted on the walls were photos from the UK, Premiership football scarves and a large wide screen TV showing sport highlights.  They even had pool tables and served roast dinners.  We could see why it was so popular.

It is impossible to walk 10 metres through the streets of Cusco without being hassled by someone.  It is a real shame as it ruins the ambiance of the place.  We were constantly harassed by street vendors to buy postcards, chocolates or fags, have a shoeshine, or take a taxi ride – the touts would not take “no” or something harsher for an answer.  We wanted to shout at them all, but most of them were just kids who were trying to earn a meagre living.  The most frustrating ones were those would hang around while we ate, loitering at the end of the table, with their hands limply extended and a pathetic look upon their faces.

As time went on, our boots got dustier and dustier, and we were attracting the attention of more and more shoe shiners.  Young boys seemed to appear from every side street, shouting a very bored, “Shoeshine” as they spotted even the smallest speck of dirt on your shoes.  We would reply, “no gracias” and they would reply, “only one sol, shoeshine” again.  This dialogue would go on a few more times, round and round in circles, until they got bored and left.  They appeared to work in teams and as soon as one walked away another quickly replaced them, “Shoeshine mister?”

 “No gracias”.

“Only one sol, shoeshine?”

 “No gracias”.

“OK, shoeshine?”

Aaargh.  After a while we ended up giving in and at one stage we had one boy cleaning a shoe each, surrounded by a dozen more of them who were desperate to clean his shoes again when the other two had finished polishing.

We experienced a new pest that we had encountered before, but not to such a great extent – restaurant touts.  They were ten times worse than those that you find in Europe hanging outside the doors, thrusting menus into your hands.  Nothing would deter this new strain of super pest, and they would even chase you down the streets.  It was no great surprise that the busiest restaurants, as well as having the best reputation for good food, did not have touts hanging outside the entrance.  One evening, after having looked at the menu in peace, we decided to go into the restaurant and we’re bombarded from all directions by a bunch of touts from other restaurants, who literally tried pulling us away from the door.  They really started getting on our nerves and we felt like punching them.

Cusco was quite stressful and after one afternoon of being there we were desperate to escape.  The only thing that made our visit bearable was that it is such beautiful city.

Article taken from Inca Hoots by Caius Simmons & Vicky Brewis.

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(Lonely Planet CUSTOM Guide)

 

Sorry the button is so big!

The trekking in Peru is world-class you can camp below tropical mountains, reach Machu Picchu via the Inca Trail or lesser-known routes, and descend into one of the planets deepest canyons in Arequipa. If you’re looking for one guide to help plan your trip and your trekking in Peru, this book is for you. It combines in-depth trekking information from our 2003 Trekking in the Central Andes guide, with detailed travel information from our 2007 Peru guide.

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From Urubamba we caught a collectivo to Ollantaytambo, a few miles up the road.  Famed for its extensive Inca terraces and ruined temple-fortress, Ollantaytambo marks the lowest end of the SacredValley.  Whilst in use, its function is thought to have been an administrative centre, but following the Spanish “invasion” it was also used as an Inca stronghold after the fall of Cusco in 1536.

The village itself could be referred to as ‘quaint’.  A high proportion of the buildings are built on huge granite Inca foundations, with the distinctive, closely-knit, stonework that we became accustomed to seeing.  The layout of the village still retains characteristics inherited from the Incas, including the notion that if you look at it from the air it supposedly resembles a piece of maize.  Although Ollantaytambo is quite small it is really geared up for the tourists and is full of extortionately priced cafés, restaurants and shops.  It is the nearest village to the start of the Inca trail and it is also a popular place to catch the train from to go to Machu Picchu.  The number of hostels far exceeded those in Urubamba, as did their costs.

A couple of minutes walk from the central plaza we were wowed by an incredible set of grand terraces.  The tall stone terraces probably acted as protection from possible invasions, but their primary function was most likely to have been agricultural.  Like huge steps, they led to a temple/fortress construction on the top.  One of the amazing things about these ruins were the massive red granite megaliths that were located way up the hillside, about 80 metres from the level of the village.  It looked like the Incas had grand ideas for Ollantaytambo and were in the process of building a temple before the Spanish scuppered their plans.  The smoothly cut stone faces imply that the temple would have had a significant religious status – the rule of thumb being, the better the stonework, the more important the building was.  The huge slabs, weighing at least 100 tonnes each, originated from a quarry about three miles from the village.  It would have taken some manpower to move them, but the Incans weren’t stupid and supposedly diverted the river to help them get the slabs across the valley.  How they got them up the hillside to the top of the site was probably not so easy.

On reaching the top of the terraces we sat and enjoyed commanding views of the whole village and up the Sacred Valley.  It was easy to distinguish the smaller terraces along the valley and hillsides, many of which are in very good condition and still in use.  We didn’t get a chance to visit the salt terraces, which are still used today, or the nearby experimental agricultural terraces that form an amphitheatre, but the terraces were enough to show us that this valley was important agriculturally.  The Incans developed complex irrigation schemes, setting up drainage systems and canals to help expand their crop resources.  The highland areas today produce little more than potatoes, wheat and maize, but the Incans added to this list tomatoes, cotton, peanuts and coca among the many crops they grew.

Perched high on the hillside opposite the fortress are even more ruins.  Bearing in mind that prisons during the Incan rule were of no use because their punishment usually consisted of death, the theory that they were used as granaries rather than prisons is more feasible.  In fact the Incas had a particularly violent punishment system.  If someone stole, murdered, or had sex with a Sapa (high priest) wife or a Sun Virgin, they were either thrown off a cliff, hands cut off, eyes cut out, or hung up to starve to death.  “Ama Sua, Ama Quella, Ama Lulla”, “Don’t lie, don’t steal, don’t be lazy” was the philosophy of the Inca Empire, where laziness was a capital offence punishable by death.  Funnily enough, this excluded priests and royalty.  This philosophy is still apparent and despite being very poor, begging on the streets was not a common a sight as we had expected.  It seemed to be restricted to very old, wailing women, all of whom were totally ungrateful of any gifts of food or money.

Unemployment was non-existent during the Inca rule, everyone taking part in building roads, fortresses, temples, drainage and agricultural systems.  Rather than paying taxes, each Inca citizen was required to spend 7 weeks in the service of their Lord.

We clambered up the mountainside to try and reach the other ruins, but the main route was mostly impassable as most of it had slumped down the hillside many years ago.

Huge amounts of grain would have been collected from the along the valley and stored in these buildings.  Kept well away from the river would prevent it from getting wet and being so far up the mountainside meant there was little chance of it being stolen either.  From this point we could see back across the village and to the ruins, which looked even more imposing.  Our guidebook suggested that the terracing formed the image of a mother llama, with one of its young.  If we squinted hard enough we could make out some agricultural terraces with a fortress/temple on the top and came to the conclusion that the author may have been under the influence at the time.  This theory was more than possible and our reasoning was not unfounded.

Article taken from Inca Hoots by Caius Simmons & Vicky Brewis.

Technorati Tags: Cusco, Inca, Inca Trail Peru, Machu Picchu Tour, Ollantaytambo, Peru, Peru Travel, Urubamba