 |
T R E K K I N G P E R U
|
|
|
CHAPTER 10 
Fame is nothing new to Cuzco. Once the
navel of the Inca universe, later a jewel
in the Spanish colonial crown, Cuzco’s
current incarnation as a top international
tourist destination does not seem out of
place. More surprising, perhaps, is that
despite the inevitable Disneyfication that
comes with over a million visitors a year,
the department of Cuzco continues to
offer trekkers a wealth of authentic experiences
beyond the grasp of mass tourism.
The restored Inca citadels and Inca roads
of the area are legion, but Cuzco is also
home to three massive glaciated cordilleras,
turquoise mountain lakes, plummeting
canyons, countless remote villages,
and a living ancestral way of life. We were
delighted to find that we could still get
lost here.
The city of Cuzco has all services, many
geared specifically to the tastes of international
visitors. There are over thirty
flights a day to Lima, Arequipa, and
Puno, as well as extensive road connections
and long-distance bus routes. You
can purchase anything from food supplies
to topographic maps (see Chapter 3) and
specialized trekking gear in Cuzco, and
of course tour agencies and operators are
too numerous to count. The guides’ association,
AGOTUR, can provide a list of guides,
porters, and muleteers (see Appendix A).
At the very least, Cuzco is a hub from
which to stock up, organize, and set out
into surrounding trekking venues. If you
don’t mind the crowds, Cuzco also offers
unlimited opportunities to immerse yourself
in the multifaceted glories of the city,
past and present, at a vast array of museums,
churches, and monuments
...
Trek 17 CACHICCATA QUARRY OF THE TIRED STONES 
OLLANTAYTAMBO LIES AT THE heart of the Sacred Valley of the Incas. Many
visitors arrive by road from Cuzco to see the imposing archaeological site here and continue
on by train to Machu Picchu. The living Inca architecture in town is every bit as
impressive as the monumental ruins. Homes and shops north of the main plaza are housed
in original Inca structures. The massive stones used to build Ollantaytambo were quarried
in an area called Cachiccata on the hillside south of town, on the opposite side of the Río
Vilcanota. The quarry may seem close, but consider that the immense blocks had to be
transported entirely by manual means, without the use of wheels. Little wonder that a few
remained behind. They have been nicknamed las piedras cansadas, "the tired stones."
...
Trek 18 HUCHUY CUZCO THE INCA’S COUNTRY ESTATE 
FACED WITH A BEWILDERING array of excellent trekking opportunities, many
visitors to Cuzco might ask where to begin. It is hard to think of a better brief introduction
to the landscape, archaeology, and people of the area than this trek. The trailhead
is just outside the city of Cuzco, and you can end in Lamay, Chichero, or Calca, all of
which have frequent transport links back to the city.
The trek runs from two impressive archaeological sites in the hills around the city of Cuzco, north to the Vilcanota valley, and then west to the vast plateau around Lago Piuray and the town of Chinchero. Chinchero is a popular tourist destination known for its weaving, church, and Inca ruins. The most impressive archaeology, however, is found halfway along the trek at the site of Huchuy Cuzco, perched high above the Río Vilcanota. Huchuy Cuzco means “little Cuzco,” and it is easy to think of it as the Incas' country estate, a luxurious secluded villa to escape the bustle of the imperial capital. Shall we join the emperor along the way to his rural retreat? ... Trek 19 Q’ESWACHACA THE LAST BRIDGE 
THE DEEP CHASMS AND rushing rivers so characteristic of Andean geography were
a formidable challenge to the construction of Inca roads, and rope bridges were the
answer. The most famous of these crossed the canyon of the Río Apurímac not far from
the current road between Cuzco and Abancay. It was 45 m long, suspended 36 m above
the water, and was maintained over six hundred years, long enough to be seen by and
sketched by several 19th-century explorers.
In an environment of intense solar radiation and heavy rains during part of the year, straw fiber degrades rapidly and rope bridges had to be rebuilt at regular intervals. Today that tradition is carried on in only one place, at Q’eswachaca, also on the Apurímac, about 200 km upstream from the bridge mentioned above. Every year in early June, two weeks before Inti Raymi (confirm dates locally), some four hundred families from four communities join forces for four days to reconstruct their Inca bridge using ancestral techniques and materials. In 2014 the bridge at Q’eswachaka was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Last Bridge Master (see Appendix A) is a documentary film about the bridge and its builders. ... Trek 20 QOYLLUR RIT’I THE GREAT PILGRIMAGE 
QOYLLUR RIT’I IS AT once a time, a place, an event, and a spectacularly complex
object of devotion. The time is the full moon prior to Inti Raymi (the June solstice),
which coincides with the appearance of the Pleiades in the Andean sky and with Trinity
Sunday, eight weeks after Easter Sunday. The place is a broad valley floor at 4700 m,
beneath the glaciers of Nevado Sinakara (Cinajara, 5471 m) and in the shadow of the
Cordillera Vilcanota crowned by Ausangate (6384 m). The object of devotion is at once
an image of Christ painted on a rock, around which a sanctuary has been built, and the
apus (mountain gods) that surround this spectacular venue
...
Trek 21 VILCANOTA TO CARABAYA ODYSSEY AMONG THE APUS 
THIS TREK IS ALL about transitions. Geographic transition: from the glaciated summits,
turquoise lakes, and deeply incised green valleys of the Cordillera Vilcanota, to the
high flat puna and extensive rock formations of the Cordillera Carabaya; ethnic transition:
from the Quechua heartland of Cuzco, where mortar-board montero hats are part
of every woman’s attire, to the department of Puno, where Aymara influence begins to
be felt and bowlers have found their way into local head dress; and transition between
dominions: from the realm of Apu Ausangate (6384 m) to that of Allin Capac (5780 m),
both of which lord over their underling summits and vast surroundings.
...
Trek 2 CHOQUEQUIRAO TO HUANCACALLE A WORLD BUILT IN THE AIR 
OF THE MYRIAD ARCHAEOLOGICAL sites in the department of Cuzco, two
currently combine lavishly restored ruins with amazing trekking. Most famous is
Machu Picchu, which receives twenty-five hundred to three thousand visitors a day,
including five hundred trekkers along the Classic Inca Trail. Less known, with at
most fifty trekkers a day in 2014 and fewer outside high season, Choquequirao
is for now every bit as spectacular as its celebrity neighbor, without the crowds.
If controversial plans to build a cable car to Choquequirao go ahead, however,
then it will become another mass tourism destination. Until then, the difficulty
of the trek from Cachora down to the bottom of the Apurímac canyon and almost
1400 m back up to Choquequirao are the site’s best protection and greatly enhance
the experience for those who wish to make the effort
...
Trek 23 HUANCACALLE TO MACHU PICCHU THE MANCO INCA TRAIL 
AT FIRST GLANCE, THE sleepy little village of Huancacalle may not seem like
the trekking hub of the department of Cuzco. Through this area, however, have
passed some of the most illustrious expeditions of Inca history and of contemporary
Inca research. Around the year 1440 the Inca Pachacutec led his victorious troops
up the Río Vilcabamba, where Huancacalle is today, to conquer the first new provinces
of what would become the vast empire. Less than a century later, Manco, the
Inca heir who survived the initial Spanish conquest, led his loyal followers along the
same route. He held court for a time at Vitcos, near Huancacalle, before retreating
deeper into the hinterlands of Vilcabamba, the final stronghold of the disintegrating
empire. Vilcabamba held out against the conquistadores for some forty years before
being crushed, razed, and forgotten. Centuries later, it would become a Holy Grail for
explorers like Antonio Raimondi, Hiram Bingham, Victor von Hagen, Gene Savoy,
and Vincent Lee (see Chapter 1). The latter two mounted their expeditions with the
assistance of the Cobos family, who remain an invaluable resource for trekkers in
Huancacalle
...
|
| English • Español | www.trekkingperu.org | © Robert & Daisy Kunstaetter |