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Sacred Valley:  Urumbamba

5/30/2015

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You can see Urumbamba on the map above, about halfway down the Sacred Valley.  On the other side of the river you will see Maras and Moray which are considerably higher in elevation as the valley ascends very steeply up both sides of the river.  The only Inca ruin of note around Urumbamba is Moray that, in and of itself, wouldn't be worth spending the night to see.  However, our horseback outing in Arequipa was so successful that the boys wanted to go again and we had found an outfit out of Urumbamba that seemed worth the time.  We weren't disappointed.  Photos of the horseback adventure are minimal since I found, at least for me, it's difficult to take photos while mounted on a horse. 

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Talk about Big Sky Country!
I was initially disappointed since we were originally scheduled to ride up to some Inca ruins but when the horse operator realized the boys were 7 and 9 he decided a flat trip through an agricultural area would be better.  Since it was mainly for the boys I acquiesced.  Turned out to be the most improbably beautiful agricultural area I've ever seen.  The foreground reminded me of the rolling hills of western Pennsylvania but with a backdrop of 18,000+ foot, cloud-shrouded peaks.  And, if you haven't been on a horse lately, flat is far preferable to uphill and down.

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The boys couldn't have been happier.  Not only did they get to control their own horses for most of the ride, they got to trot them quite a bit.
I grew up in an agriculture area and am always interested in local crops when traveling.  Never would I have imagined wheat and hops growing higher than 10,000 feet.  Turns out that the light  coupled with being in the tropics where it doesn't snow or freeze at that elevation create a great environment for farming.  The area is famous for potatoes and supposedly over 300 varieties are grown here.  It's also famous for hops that supply Peru's largest brewery and also wheat and quinoa, a big cash crop as its popularity in the US has grown.

Slideshow of Journey to Moray on Horse

Moray

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Moray is a unique archaeological site in Peru.  The site is terraced in a natural depression with an extensive irrigation system.  The orientation with respect to wind and sun creates a temperature difference of 27 degrees between the top and bottom terraces.  The Inca empire ranged from the Andes to the Amazon basin and it is commonly thought that the Inca used this site to study the effects of different climatic conditions on crops and to study domestication, acclimatization and hybridization of wild vegetable species that were modified for human use.  Not bad science for 600 years ago.
Slideshow
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The Sacred Valley:  Pisac Ruins

5/27/2015

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Looking southeast over the Rio Chongo River Valley.
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Beautifully symmetrical terraces on the southern exposure.
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     Pisac, (or P'isac in Quechua, still the first language of most of the people living around here) is referred to as an Inca ruin but in fact predates the Inca by 800 years.  The Wari (or Huari) settled in for the long haul around 1500 years ago and expanded the site over the next 800 years until the Inca arrived and subjugated them.  The Inca made numerous additions over the next 200 years until the Spanish arrived in the 1500's to loot everything precious and destroy all things religious to the native people.
     The strategic mountaintop location commands the southern entrance to the Sacred Valley.  This was the largest inhabited area in the valley with over 20,000 acres terraced and under cultivation.  The terraces literally wrap around the mountain from top to bottom.
     Much of what I learned here turned everything I previously thought on its head.  I thought the valley was settled first and then subsequent terraces were built farther up.  Turns out the Wari preferred to start at the top and build down for reasons of safety from both natural disasters and human invasion.  Water wasn't the problem I thought since there are two lakes higher up the mountain and the Wari had an extensive irrigation system, some of which is still functioning.  Something else I found interesting is that the stone retaining walls of the terraces act as heat reservoirs that increase the temperature of the air on the terraces and continue to radiate heat into the evening thereby increasing crop productivity.
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Entrance to the religious center of Pisac
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Stone work here rivals Machu Picchu, especially noted for smaller size of stone
It's hard to get a good picture of the full layout of the site since much is gone and it spreads out around and down the mountain.  But what's left is pretty amazing. The following slideshow gives some examples of things to see.  I hope the photos give some feeling of the scale, verticality and beauty of the site.

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The Sacred Valley:  Pisac Market

5/21/2015

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The Sacred Valley was the heartland of the Inca.  It's southern end is just over the hill from Cusco and its northern end is Machu Picchu.  The valley was cut by the Willkanute River.  Because it lies in the tropics you can find crops like wheat growing at 11,000 feet and it was the fertility of the land and climate of the area that made it so important.
Pisac is the town at the southern entrance to the valley.  It was first settled by the Wari (Huari) 800 years before the arrival of the Inca but that's the subject of the next blog.  Modern Pisac is the subject of this blog.
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Farming community of Pisac
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Modern Pisac is a farming community lying in the valley bottom of the Willkanute River.  Farmers grow corn, quinoa and various vegetables.  Its Sunday market has become a major producer of income as it draws tourists both directly from Cusco and also those on the way to Machu Picchu.

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Marnie, Dozie and the boys looking to add to the local economy

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One of the best things about markets like this one for tourists in Pisac is that there is a parallel market for the locals.  The following slideshow demonstrates color from the local market.
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