Saqsaywaman was the site of one of the most famous battles between the Incas and the Spanish. Two and a half years after the Spanish took Cusco, the Incan leader Manco Inca recaptured Saqsaywaman to be used as a base for his efforts to recapture the Cusco itself.

Manco Inca was nearly successful in defeating the Spaniards but a desperate attack by fifty Spanish cavalry, led by Juan Pizarro, recaptured Saqsaywaman crushing the Incan uprising. The Incans were decimated however Manco survived and retreated to the fortress of Ollanytambo. Saqsaywaman is built on a plateau of land in the foothills that overlook Cusco. The main ruins also overlook a large parade ground which is bordered on the opposite side by the terraced Rodadero Hill, which houses the parade ground used for a colorful celebration of Inti Raymi, held every June 24. The site is being excavated following the recent discovery of seven mummies behind the Rodadero Hill.

We left Cusco for the Sacred Valley (Urubamba Valley), following the path of the Urubamba river. We spent the day visiting some Incan sites, getting ready (so we thought) for the trek into the mountains to Machu Picchu. This first ruin still has water running in the Incan ducts - water that flows to a ceremonial pool where it is rumored to be beneficial to dunk your head. So many of us did just that.

That same day took us to Ollanytambo, a small town built on the ruins of an Inca fortress and town designed to protected the strategic entrance to the lower Urubamba Valley. Many of the houses in the main residential area of Ollanytambo are built on Incan foundations which are still visible.

The main section of the fortress has a commanding view of the surrounding country side and is built on the side of one hill. On the opposite side of the town, storage areas are built into the surrounding hills that could house enough grain to allow the Incans to survive for a number of years.

The fortress of Ollanytambo is famous in Peruvian history as it is the place where Manco Inca, the ruling Inca at the time of the Spanish invasion, retreated after his defeat at Saqsaywaman, above Cusco, in 1536. After his retreat, supporters of Francisco Pizarro attempted to recapture him. They were lead by Francisco's brother, Hernando. The Inca's forces, joined by neighboring jungle tribes, rained down showers of arrows, spears and rocks upon the unfortunate Spanish troops. In an intelligent move the Inca's flooded the plains below their stronghold making it difficult for the horses to maneuver. Hernando, uncharacteristically, ordered a hasty retreat. Ollanytambo became the only place ever to have resisted attacks from the Spanish.

However, their victory was short-lived when the Spanish returned with four times their previous force. Manco Inca retreated to his jungle stronghold in Vilcabamba and Ollanytambo fell into the hands of the Spanish.

We hiked to the top of the still impressive ruins amidst the stray dogs and children touting walking sticks for sale.

After the fort we explored the market in Ollanytambo.

The next morning we started out - Day one of four days and three nights on the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. The Inca Trail follows one of the paths that the Inca's built to join Cusco with Machu Picchu. In most parts, the trail follows the Rio Urubamba river up through the Andean mountain range. Sections of the trail are quite steep - at times soaring high into the clouds before crashing back to the river bed.

The trail itself is only 33km long but there are a number of high passes (4000M+) to cross making it quite hard going. The Inca Trail is reached by taking a train or a bus from Cusco and getting off at either of the two train stations nearest the starting point, known simply as Kilometer 88 and Kilometer 82 respectively. Both of these stops are very small and badly marked and could easily be mistaken as the wrong stations.

It takes three full days to hike the Inca Trail to a camp ground at a hostel in the hills near the small town of Aguas Callientes. Along the way there are a number of smaller ruins and villages where locals grow crops on tiered terraces. The dynamic scenery is striking. To be hiking in desert scrub in shorts and look up to see snow-capped mountains ahead and to know that we are going to hike all the way to the snow line in one day and be down in the rain forest and the end of the next day was very impressive.

After clearing the official "passport" checkpoint, we crossed the Rio Urubamba and started hiking along the valley between the mountains parallel to both the river and train tracks. It was raining early in the morning but by mid morning the intense summer sun had come out. We hiked from Kilometer 82, passing Kilometer 88 during the morning of the first day.

The first day of hiking seemed incredibly steep and hard work (to us) at the time but in retrospect it may have been the easiest of the three days. We covered sixteen or seventeen kilometers the first day and only six or seven kilometers the following days due to the steep climbs. During the first day we stopped at the overlook for a ruin known as Llactapata.

			Llactapata
Camp on day one. At the snow line, in a llama grazing field at approx 4000m altitude.

The second day started with a final push to 4300m and "Dead Woman's Pass". From there we descended a few thousand meters and then went right back up again. After our second day of hiking we arrived at the ruins of Chachabamba, near the Kilometer 104 train station, and set up camp. Our guides had arrived before us and had pitched tents in a clearing just before the ruins overlooking the river. The Chacahbamaba ruins were discovered in 1940 and are located on the old Inca path that runs along the southern bank of the Urubamba river. The style of buildings and stonework suggest that this was an important religious site, as well as having the secondary function as a gate house guarding the entrance to Machu Picchu. The Chachabamba ruins are located on the Rio Urubamba river, eight or nine kilometers north of Machu Picchu. From the ruins, further Incan building can be seen at the far end of the valley enabling communication between the two. In fact, Incan buildings appear to have been constructed in line-sight of each other all of the way from Cusco and Machu Picchu to enable advance warning of any approaching enemy.

We came up this way	and went down this way	the far side of this is what we went down all morning. Lunch was at the bottom. We then went right back up another mountain - were this picture was taken	Two walking sticks were a big help	At this point the climate was arid, high altitude.
The porters carried huge loads			We took time at other ruins. The climate was shifting to rain forest.
		Camp up in the clouds

Day three was a much more humid experience - hiking down mostly, into rain forest and much more lush landscape. At the end of Day three we arrived at the hostel near Machu Picchu - time for a hot shower and a plate of French fries.

		This is what it looks like when you are the last to arrive and the group is relaxing while they wait (Sean's perspective).

Day three ended with Wiñay Wayna - a small but impressive Inca ruin which is only relatively short walk to the entrance to Machu Picchu. It is located high on the side of the mountain range overlooking the Rio Urubamba river. The site is also known as Huiñay Huayna in Quechuan and is often translated as 'forever young'. The actual word Huiñay in Quechuan means 'to plant the earth' and from the action of planting or growing the name should be translated as 'growing young'. This translation over time has evolved to the popular 'forever young'. Wiñay Wayna may have been used by the Incans as a military outlook. Its impressive view of the surrounding valley and distant mountains would have allowed the Incans to detect and prepare for advancing enemies well before their arrival. The Wiñay Wayna ruins are surrounded by steep, terraced hills. The terraces were not necessarily used for agriculture but were more likely to used to prevent landslides that are common in the area due to the heavy rain experienced in the wet season. As such, drainage channels traverse the terraces to minimize the risk of land slides by removing the water.

That night the porters sang and danced for us (and with our wives and girlfriends).

The next morning we were off to Machu Picchu - 4am wake-up call so that we arrived at the Sun Gate ruins on the ridge overlooking Machu Picchu by sun rise.

Intipunku, or the Sun Gate, is the last ruin before Machu Picchu. From here, the ruins are visible and a path leads down the side of the hill to the ruins themselves - entering them beside the Caretakers Hut of the Funerary Rock. Intipunku is known as the Sun Gate as it is positioned so that on the Summer Solstice (22nd June) the sun shine exactly through the center of the gate when viewed from Machu Picchu. We were there in mid-July - it appeared to be reasonable close to the center, even at that time.

	Sun Gate

It was absolutely spectacular looking down from the Sun gate onto the ridge as the clouds parted and we could see the Machu Picchu site for the first time.

Machu Picchu was discovered by accident on July 24, 1911 by the American historian Hiram Bingham during an expedition to find the lost city of Vilcabamba. Mistaking Machu Picchu for Vilcabamba, Birmingham ended his expedition and did not discover the almost inaccessible ruins at Espiritu Pampa. These ruins were in fact the lost city of Vilcabamba. After discovering Machu Picchu in 1922, Bingham mapped the site and made plans to return to clear the heavy vegetation that had overgrown the site. He returned in 1912 and later in 1915 to clear all of the vegetation and discovered some of the nearby ruins on the Inca Trail.

It was thought that the conquering Spaniards were not aware of the existence of Machu Picchu as it was not recorded in their detailed journals. Recently, the Peruvian government claim to have uncovered evidence that indicate the Spanish were aware of its existence but they were not interested as the city had been abandoned and forgotten before their arrival.

Like most Incan villages, the layout of Machu Picchu contains a number of very distinct sections. These include a residential section containing a number of similarly shaped houses, an industrial section and a religious section containing temples and altars. These sections are arranged around a large central plaza that would have been used for meetings and religious ceremonies.

To the south of the village, large agricultural terraces have been cut into the hillside. These terraces include an elaborate drainage and subsoil system that allowed the Incas to grow a variety of different plants and harvest two or three crops a year. Overlooking the agricultural terraces is a hut known as the 'Hut of the Caretaker of the Funerary Rock'. The hut is reached by a long set of stairs that start at the same level as the entrance gate and ascend through the center of the terraces. Halfway up the terraces, the stairs cross the Inca Trail that leads down from Intipinku. The Funerary rock is located on the flat plateau behind the hut. It is guessed that the carved rock may have been used in the process of mummifying the nobility.

The peak of Huayna Picchu and the surrounding mountains provides Machu Picchu with some shelter from the elements. Machu Picchu is too low to normally receive snow but the surrounding Cordilla Vilcabamba mountain range is capped with snow all year round. Visitors can climb Huayna Picchu and it offers an interesting view of Machu Picchu and the surrounding valley. The climb is very steep and the path often disappears to be replaced by narrow ledges or ropes to help pull oneself up. Both the ascent and descent take forty to fifty minutes - testament to the steep incline.

The entrance to Machu Picchu for day visitors is via the ticket gate south of the agricultural terraces. Tourists can purchase a train ticket from Cusco to the nearby town of Aguas Calientes and take a short bus trip over the Rio Urubamba river and up to Machu Picchu. After passing through the ticket gates, the first structures seen of Machu Picchu are these magnificent storage rooms complete with thatched roofs. After passing through these, the entire village of Machu Picchu is visible. Hikers can enter Machu Picchu via Intipunku (or Sun Gate) without passing through the ticket gate.

After three days of trekking through mist, heat, cold, thin air and intense sun our group finally came over the peak of the mountain at Intipunku (the Sun Gate) and descended into Machu Picchu. 

				What an amazing place. It is an absolute wonder.

After Machu Picchu we hit the local restaurants and pay phones, and then down into the nearby town of Aguas Calientes for a dip in the hot springs.

Aguas Calientes is the closest town to the ruins of Machu Picchu and is the stopping point for tourists arriving via train. The town itself is nestled in the valley of a number of large mountains and is built beside the Rio Urubamba river.

High above Aguas Calientes is a series of hot springs from which Aguas Calientes gets its name. A long path crosses a smaller river and heads up into the mountain where a series of baths have been constructed for swimming. A landslide in 1995 destroyed this complex but it has been rebuilt due to the demand from tired hikers looking for some relaxation.

Then back to Cusco, back to Lima and home. The trip ended so quickly it was hard to adjust - but we had a great time, met some great people and would go again (next time not so much walking, we'll take the train.)

This page was last updated on 02/09/05