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The Sacred Valley of the Incas eternally entrancing
CUSCO, Peru: While everyone has seen pictures of Machu Picchu, nothing can prepare visitors for their first glimpse of this ancient Inca site. As you approach, all you can see are Andean mountains, but then you top a path and, suddenly, all of Machu Picchu is laid out before you. The site is described as lying in a "saddle" of the Andes, and you indeed feel as if you are astride a mountainous beast that gives you nearly 360-degree views, not only of Machu Picchu, but also of its surrounding rugged forest and snow-capped peaks. At this point, rain does not even mar the experience. In fact, you might consider yourself lucky if it is raining because precipitation brings clouds and mists that swirl around this sacred place, adding to its mystique. While Machu Picchu is the most famous of the sites created by the empire that stretched from Colombia to Chile for a century before the 1533 Spanish conquest, it is far from the only one. Ruins in Cusco The centre of the Incan empire was its capital, Cusco, a city high in the Andes that is a good base from which to travel through the Incan heartland. The beauty and sophistication of the city astounded the Spanish conquistadors when they arrived nearly 500 years ago. However, they later dismantled much of Cusco as well as other Inca cities to use the stones to build their own homes and cathedrals. Today, the spires of Catholic churches form the skyline of Cusco, but below, on the stone streets where modern-day, yet traditionally dressed Incas mix with backpackers from around the world, you can still see the Inca foundations that built the city. Nowhere is this more apparent than at the Koricancha, the site of the most important and splendid of the Inca temples. The Spanish built the Santo Domingo church directly over it, so visitors enter the massive wooden doors of a Catholic sanctuary only to find Inca shrines inside. There, visitors can see the genius of the Inca craftsmen, who fitted enormous stones together with such precision that no mortar was needed and their walls withstood centuries of earthquakes. Some of the most monumental stonework can be seen just outside Cusco at Sacsayhuaman, the ruins of a fortress and temple built above the city on stones as high as 3.5 metres. The stones form three tiers of zigzag walls where the Spanish, heavily outnumbered but superiorly armed, defeated the rebellious Inca emperor in 1536 in the bloodiest battle of the conquest. A good way to see Sacsayhuaman, pronounced like the English words "sexy woman," is to end a day there after seeing other ruins higher above the city. A bus or taxi can take you to a ritual bathing site called Tambo Machay, where the Inca irrigation system still works. A walk through farms and villages where friendly locals smile and greet you brings you to a site believed to have been a hunting lodge, then to a temple and amphitheatre just outside Sacsayhuaman itself. The walk between the sites is easy and allows you to enjoy the Andes' intense, piercing sunlight, the mountain air that makes your lungs crackle and the bright colours worn by the locals. Also important to note is that it is all downhill and much less strenuous than the steep climb from Cusco, especially if you are still adjusting to the city's altitude of 3,400 metres above sea level. Once you are up to climbing numerous flights of Inca stairs, it is time to set off to the Sacred Valley, which is littered with ruins. The major sites in the valley share space with bustling towns. One is Chinchero, where residents wear traditional dress as they farm Inca terraces or sell handicrafts at the market on their ancient plaza. On the way to Machu Picchu lies Ollantaytambo on the Urubamba River. Hiking and river-rafting excursions can be organized from the town, which has some of the most striking scenery in the region. But most visitors come from the ruins, which, on first sight, appear to rise up from the city much like a massive dam. The walls are actually steep terraces. While walking along them, visitors might be treated to a song from a native woman from the high Andes as they explore buildings that include an unfinished Temple of the Sun and stare at a massive head carved into the opposite mountain face, said to be the messenger of the creator god of Peru. The town of Pisac boasts ruins to rival Machu Picchu. The largest fortress complex built by the Incas is more spread out than Machu Picchu and requires hiking along Inca trails that will make you feel like a mountain goat. But every step of the way offers views of mouth-dropping terracing and mountains. The citadel also has a religious complex that includes a Temple of the Sun that equals Machu Picchu's with its so-called hitching post of the sun, which Incan priests were believed to use for astronomical observations. In the modern town below, an artisan market sells Peru's well-known handicrafts, such as weavings, blankets, sweaters and jewellery. Best left to last is the granddaddy of all the sites, Machu Picchu. Some visitors hike to the site via the Inca Trail, but most take the train. Last site Many arrive by rail in the morning for a quick lap around the site before returning to Cusco that same day, but at least one night in the nearby town, Aquas Calientes, named for its hot springs, is recommended, especially since it will allow you to enter Machu Picchu before and after the tourist hordes swarm the site. But no matter the number of people accompanying you on your trip to the Machu Picchu, it is certain to take your breath away. It seems to hang in midair, hovering next to mound-like mountains and sheer cliff faces covered with cacti with snow-topped peaks behind them. Because it lies where the Andes meets the Amazon rain forest, the weather can range from humid and sunny to so misty that you can see only a metre ahead of you and just have to stop to let the clouds roll in and envelope you like an affectionate ghost. After they pass, you can scramble over terraces littered with grazing llamas and negotiate the endless staircases and passageways of Machu Picchu that lead you to wonder after wonder of the remarkably preserved city that remained undiscovered and, therefore, untouched by the ransacking Spanish. While glorious, the sight of Machu Picchu also brings some sadness because it gives a glimpse of the historical treasures that have been lost forever. But at the same time, everywhere you look in the Sacred Valley, you see traces of the Incas. On the train back to Cusco, the ruins of a village hover on a slope above the tracks. Then around the next bend are a series of terraces carved into a mountainside. Sometimes, there is just a thin trail leading up into the mountains. But most importantly, the Incas' language, Quechua, is still spoken across Peru, another sign that their culture remains very much alive, long after the Spanish conquest.
(China Daily 07/09/2005 page10)
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