Category Archives: cusco destination

INCA TRAIL TO MACHU PICCHU

The Incas covered much of the South American continent. To maintain communication in such a vast territory, it was necessary to build a network of roads. Thus, the Inca ordered to build a network of roads called Qhapac Ñan (Inca Trail).

The Qhapac Ñan managed to cover up to 30 thousand kilometers from the current countries of Peru, Ecuador and part of Bolivia, Chile, Argentina and Colombia. The trekking route from the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu is only a small part of the extensive network of roads of the Qhapac Ñan.

The Inca Trail to Machu Picchu

The Inca Trail was revealed to the world in 1915 when it was being excavated in the Inca City. Three decades later, the route was traced by the Viking expedition in 1942. Today, thousands of visitors decide to travel the 43 kilometers to the ‘Puerta del Sol’ in Machu Picchu.

However, Machu Picchu is not the only archaeological site that you will see on the Inca Trail. On the tour you will also appreciate the ruins of Llactapata, the archaeological site of Runkurakay, Saycamarca, Phuyupatamarca and Wiñaywayna.

There are trains and buses that can take you directly to Machu Picchu. However, the experience of arriving as the Incas did for centuries is unmatched.

Versions of the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu

Not all people have the days necessary to travel the Inca Trail (4 days and 3 nights). That is why there are 3 versions depending on the time you have:

  1. Classic Inca Trail: 4 days and 3 nights (43 kilometers of walking).
  2. Imperial Inca Trail: 5 days and 4 nights (43 kilometers of walking).
  3. Short Inca Trail: 2 days and 1 night (12 kilometer walk).

About tickets to enter the Inca Trail

Due to the high demand for tickets, you must get the entrance tickets to the Inca Trail well in advance (6 months). The purchase is made only online through the website of an authorized tourism agency.

In total 500 people enter the trails of the Inca Trail every day. Of these, only 200 are tourists. The rest are support staff such as cooks, porters, guides. The ticket to enter the Inca Trail includes support staff.

Did not find availability to do the Inca Trail? 

The only way to enter the Wonder of the World is by train through the Sacred Valley of the Incas or by the alternative route from Santa María to Machu Picchu. Entrance tickets to Machu Picchu must also be reserved in advance.

Do you want to enter the Huayna Picchu after the Inca Trail? Request entry into the agency paying an extra price. You can also request a more luxurious train service.

INFORMATION OF INCA TRAIL TO MACHU PICCHU

 

INFORMATION OF THE INCA QUARRY OF CACHICATA – OLLANTAYTAMBO – CUSCO

While in Ollantaytambo the first objective is to reach the Cachicata quarry located six km from Ollantaytambo and at an altitude of approximately 4,100 m. There, not only did the Incas extract the enormous stones, but they also partially carved them to be later lowered to the Vilcanota valley and from there, climbed them up a steep slope to the Ollantaytambo fortress. CACHICATA TREK INFORMATION

We know from the tools that the Incas abandoned in the quarry that they used the same stone for extraction: granite and basalt hammers, obtained in the Vilcanota river.
As for the transfer of the immense rocks, we do not stop questioning the time, the way and the enormous amount of people contributing their strength and ingenuity. There is no doubt that the Inca people were a construction expert. His numerous works that still endure in the Sacred Valley bear witness to this: the Coricancha, Sacsayhuamán, Ollantaytambo, Machupicchu, etc.
Next to the quarry there are small constructions known as “CHULLPAS”. The ones that we could see here are small towers with a circular base, built with stones joined with mortar of red clay and straw. These are funeral constructions that abound in the Altiplano of Peru and Bolivia. Those of Cachicata, due to their small size, served as a grave for a person, in which they generally placed the deceased in a fetal form along with some belongings. As we can see the illustrations present, they have a rectangular opening or entrance. And covered at the top.

From this place, the view is recreated with the scenic picture in front of it. At our feet the wide plain crossed by the Vilcanota river, with its various green tones characteristic of these rainy months; to the front, the imposing peaks of the Andes, among which Veronica stands out fighting against the clouds to show her white hair.
Our descent into the valley is made by the same ramp that the Incas used to slide the pink stone blocks. Along this journey, you can see how some of these stones did not reach their destination; they are known by the name of “Piedras Cansadas”.
Already entered in the municipality of Ollantaytambo, we had two important archaeological-logical centers to visit: the city and its Inca fortress.

MORE INFORMATION OF INCA QUARRY TREK

 

Choquequirao Archaeological Site and its twelve sectors

Sectors of Choquequirao

In sector I, the sector of the plaza and temple, hanan area, located to the north and which is the highest part, there are five floor buildings, located on terraces of different levels. It is possible that they served as the residence of the priests. Higher up, there is another smaller plaza where two warehouse buildings (qolqas) and three other long residential buildings are located.

(kallankas). A wall with a main channel of water collected from the Ch’unchumayo stream also enters here, supplying the archaeological site and descending, like a spinal column, organizing the arrangement of the buildings.

In sector II, hanan zone, there are the deposits or qolqampatas divided into warehouses with internal subdivisions with quincha partitions; in another space, within this subsector, there are small ceremonial platforms (16 platforms), crossed by an alternate channel that takes advantage of the waters of the main channel.

CHOQUEQUIRAO TREK INFORMATION.

Sector III, which appears to be the main square or Hauqaypata, is located between the upper (hanan) and lower (hurin) sectors, on the filling of a platform. On the extreme sides of this square there are buildings with one and two levels. In the north there is a kallanka (building) for ceremonial use — Sunturwasi — with low niches (kind of chapels); To the east are two-story buildings with walls that support gabled roofs. They have two facades, one for entering the main plaza and the other that leads to a patio with side accesses. Access to these buildings is through double jamb covers (a double frame). These buildings are separated by a corridor, which highlights the largest building (kallanka) in the city that goes to the side of the backyard and that leaves through a wall to the south side, which is where the platforms in the north sector are located. of the city or llacta.

Sector IV, located in the Hurin or south zone, is a main construction made up of five covers called by Sartiges “triumphal wall” and by Samanez and Zapata “wall of offerings to the ancestors”. The other four, probably, were for ceremonial use and would correspond to an open temple. Behind these covers is a field, where you enter a second level, which is above the covers.

Sector V is the ushnu: a hill cut at its top that forms a ceremonial oval platform and surrounded by a small wall as a fence, which is entered by an entrance that first rises by steps and from where you can see the main square and hanan site. From this place the snow-capped mountains and the Apurímac river are visible.

Sector VI is the Wasi Cancha, located south of the ushnu in the lower part; It is also known as a temple and home of priests. A space of four platforms with zigzag walls is observed, which was used as a ceremonial space. In the first wall it is finished off with a source for water, and the other platforms are accessed with stairs. Below this area of ​​worship you can see a field or space with two enclosures of one and a half floors enclosed by a perimeter wall; from here you can see a good part of the Apurímac river canyon.

Sector VII belongs to the cultivation platforms on the east side. It stands out from the rest, for being wide and wide platforms. It can be entered through walkways from the main square.

The discovery was made in September 2004 within the framework of the «Cadastre and Delimitation (…)
Sector VIII is an area of ​​cultivation platforms, located on the west side, with eighty platforms, divided into plots and water channels that descend from the main square. Here were the famous “Llamas del Sol”

The ceramic remains show a multi-ethnic presence of the llacta (even though there has been int (…)
Sector IX is made up of popular houses, also called Pikiwasi, and is where one of the water channels ends. The houses seem to have been for collective and family use, built on artificial platforms, rectangular, square and circular in design, communicating by means of stairs and narrow passageways.

Sector X is made up of the cultivation platforms, the Paraqtepata, made up of 18 platforms and irrigation channels parallel to the stairs.
Sector XI also has cultivation platforms, the Phaqchayoq, made up of 80 wide platforms, the largest of the entire complex and located on the right bank of the Ch’unchumayo stream. There are also small quadrilateral enclosures in the middle of the plots with two-level enclosures, both for ceremonial use and for housing, with three sources for water and irrigation channels.
Sector XII presents cultivation platforms three hours away from Hanan Square, and is made up of 57 platforms with permanent irrigation. In the upper part there are buildings for ceremonial use that occupy the entire width of the platform, a spring pool, a semicircular enclosure where ceramic remains, stone tools and bone remains were found.

MORE INFORMATION OF CHOQUEQUIRAO TREK

 

The different colors of the Rainbow Mountain in Cusco

Many people ask the question of why the Colors of the Rainbow Mountain, in this article we will answer all your questions and you will find some other things.
The Vinincunca mountain of colors has come to fame very quickly, becoming one of the most visited tourist places in Peru by tourists from all over the world, for the great attraction of its colors and its beautiful landscape view of its snow-capped mountains that has captivated More than one visitor, if we look up at the horizon we will be able to see the rocky mountains, the red valley, that if they could speak for sure they would tell us a lot of stories from past times and tourists who visit it day by day. RAINBOW MOUNTAIN INFORMATION:

The concern to know the reason for its colors leads us to ask ourselves many questions and to obtain the answers we go back to approximately 24 million years ago.

Rainbow Mountain Formation Processes

The formation of the 7-color mountain according to studies dates from the Campanian era, which is part of the geological era belonging to the Cretaceous; where the continents were already separated and many of them covered with seas, so the seven-colored mountain was also covered with shallow sea.

Geological era of the Cretaceous and Paleocene

After many millions of years the Cretaceous geological era goes down in history with the extinction of the dinosaurs, as a result of the fall of a meteorite, so the climatic conditions begin to change and some seas dry up, that is where the geological era of the paleócene many mountains covered with sea are discovered and among them the mountain of seven colors appears, the mountains that appeared in the light were massive rocks that with the climatic conditions of many millions of years these have been eroding and becoming different colors according to its composition elements.

If we visit the Vinincuca mountain and approach the safety rope that protects the mountain, we will be able to observe that it is not really fine colored sand as we might think, but rather it is particles of rocks in the process of erosion.

If we do not have the opportunity to get closer to the mountain, we can be very observant along the way, we will surely find some eroded colored rocks, there we can better observe and feel them.

Among its colors we can find the following composition:

  • Pink color: Composition of red clay, mud and sand.
  • Off-white color: White quartz sandstones
  • Brown, brown and purple color: Composed of limonites and marls, rich in calcium carbonate.
  • Red color: Composed of clays and clays rich in iron
  • Green color: Composed of phyllites and clays rich in magnesium iron.
  • Brown color: They are earthy is a product of rock fanglomerate with magnesium.
  • Mustard yellow color: Composed of calcareous sandstones rich in sulfur minerals.

ALL INFORMATION OF RAINBOW MOUNTAIN AND AUSANGATE