The Urubamba valley outside Cusco is called the Sacred Valley. It is the breadbasket of Cusco now as it was in Inkan times. We took a day trip by bus to explore two of the bigger ruins there: Písac and Ollantaytambo.
The scenery is exceptionally dramatic, with the river winding between two sets of impossibly sheer, verdant mountains.
Along the way, we encountered many little villages. Nearly every house and business has a roof decoration featuring two bulls.
The story goes that after the Spanish conquest, the locals were awed by European livestock, especially draft animals like bulls, which were strong enough to pull a plow through the rocky soil. That's something a llama can't do. Bulls became a symbol of good luck, and that tradition endures.
The ruins of Písac are quite extensive.
And the view from the top is truly spectacular.
The cliffs opposite the ruins are riddled with small caves that are actually tombs. Some feature walled enclosures.
And some are literally holes in the wall. Over two thousands tombs have been identified. All long since looted, alas.
Ollantaytambo is even more impressive. It's a remarkable work of engineering, with terraced fields running up a steep hillside to an elaborate sun temple and the houses of the elite built into the cliffside.
Looking across the valley, you can see a series of trails connecting a network of granaries built on the slopes of the mountain overlooking the modern town of Ollantaytambo. The placement of all these building was precise, requiring long-term knowledge of the path of the sun and local weather patterns to ensure that spoilage was kept to a minimum.
On the tour, we met two cousins from Texas traveling together, Kyle and Laura. Kyle is 17 and just graduated from high school. He plans to major in history and we had a grand time exchanging titles of favorite history books. Laura is a pre-med student and was very interested in the medical system in Peru. She follows her father's footsteps into medicine.
That evening we went with them to a performance featuring traditional dances from the local area. We were surprised and pleased they wanted to spend so much time with us.
The weeks preceding the winter solstice have been important ceremonial opportunities since Inkan times. Pilgrims from all the surrounding villages start a journey, marching into the Andes for a day and a night until they they reach the foot of the sacred Mount Sinakara--also known as Colquepunku, the ice god--at about 16,000 feet.
The rituals they perform represent an organic syncretism between two Catholicism and indigenous beliefs. At the small church of Qoyllur Rit'i, they lay small models (if they are rich) or drawings (if they are poor) of their aspirations for the future: cars, trucks, houses and so on at the feet of the saints.
The pilgrims stay at the church overnight, dancing and singing. Then, at daybreak, the ukukus appear, members of a secret religious society drawn from local tribes, who serve as intermediaries between the worlds of the living and the dead. Their faces hidden by wool balaclavas embroidered with crosses, their bodies draped in llama hides, they flay the air with whips to chase away the tortured souls that haunt the mountain. Then, while the pilgrims remain near the church, they make the precarious climb to Colquepunku's summit, where they loosen the huge blocks of ice that make up the 'heart' of the ice god. Every year, a few lose their lives, the equivalent of the human sacrifices of the distant past.
The survivors bring the blocks of ice - several tons altogether - back down to the church and the pilgrims, some of whom will then carry them all the way back to their villages. Each block can weigh anything up to 100 lbs. When melted, the ice is believed to cure all ills. Some sell their blocks in the villages of the valley; others attach the blocks to their backs as a form of penance. Either way, the ice may travel many miles before it melts, after which it becomes holy water: the heart of an Inka god transubstantiated until it can be used in a Christian service.
As part of this ceremonial time, Cusco is filled with processions honoring various saints.
We're acclimated about as much as we're going to be at this point, both eager and anxious about what we understand will be a challenging trek on the fabled Inkan Trail to Machu Picchu.
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