Peru 2017
Machu Picchu and beyond Peru
I visited Peru in December of 2017 with a tour group - Peru for Less. The trip included plane, bus, and train travel to Machu Picchu, the Sacred Valley, Puno, and Lake Titicaca.
The first stop was Cuzco or Cusco, the city was the capital of the Inca Empire from the 13th century until the 16th-century Spanish conquest. In 1983, Cusco was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO with the title "City of Cuzco".
I took several local driving tours and visited Sacsayhuamán, which is a citadel on the northern outskirts of the historic capital of the Inca Empire.
The complex was built by the Inca in the 15th century and built with dry stone walls constructed of huge stones. The workers carefully cut the boulders to fit them together tightly without mortar. The site is at an altitude of 3,701 m (12,142 ft).
My daughter and I at Sacsayhuamán
The historic capital features The Dominican Priory and Church of Santo Domingo which were both built on top of the impressive Qurikancha or Temple of the Sun.
After Cuzco, my tour was by minivan and passed thru the Sacred Valley. Stretching from Pisac to Ollantaytambo, this fertile valley is irrigated by the Urubamba River. The Chanapata civilization first settled this area around 800 BC due to the rich soil used in agriculture. The Qotacalla peoples lived in the Sacred Valley from 500 to 900 BC and the Killke peoples then lived in the Sacred Valley from 900 BC until the Incan Empire took over the region in 1420. The Incan Empire then ruled this area until the arrival of the Spanish.
The terraced slopes allowed for a variety of “climates”, thus multiple crops within one agricultural area.
Ollantaytambo, my next stop was a small village and the hotel a self sustaining converted rail station. The raised their own animals, vegetables, spices and even had an on-site brewery!
A train ride took me to Aqua Caliente at the base of Machu Picchu where I was able to hire a guide and tour the ruins. The weather is rainy in the mornings and afternoons and I was fortunate to be at the peak around noon.
The village of Aqua Caliente, Peru
My view of Machu Picchu - rain clearing.
After visiting this ancient landmark, I returned to Cuzco and prepared to ride a bus, 10 hours to Puno and Lake Titicaca.