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Cusco: So Much More Than A Gateway To Machu Picchu

After our trips through the Amazon Jungle, and hiking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu we finally got around to exploring Cusco and the area around it. We heard that Cusco is a really nice town and that there were a lot of things to see. But we really had no idea just how packed it was with interesting and amazing sights.

The Old Town of Cusco

Colonial architecture in the old town of Cusco. All through Cusco you have beautiful stone churches and colonial houses with wooden balconies looking out over the streets.
Colonial architecture in the old town of Cusco. All through Cusco you have beautiful stone churches and colonial houses with wooden balconies overlooking the streets.

The colonial architecture in Cusco from the Spanish is well preserved and gives the town a really nice vibe as you wander around. You still get annoying people trying to sell you stuff in Cusco. But the old town is so nice that it’s not that hard to tune them out. The Spanish were very busy building lots of churches all over the place, so you have these grand buildings dotted around all over the town.

The impressive Jesuit church in Cusco.
The impressive Jesuit church in Cusco.
The cathedral of Cusco dominating the Plaza de Armas.
The cathedral of Cusco dominating the Plaza de Armas.

Inca  Buildings in Cusco

But Cusco is more than just a Spanish colonial town, it was the capital of the Inca Empire. So as you walk around and look closer at the buildings you start to notice all the Inca stonework that forms the foundations for a lot of buildings. The Spanish reused a lot of these foundations because they were so strong and could resist earthquakes.

This is one of the walls from an old Inca palace. The nice, precisely cut blocks are the OLD Inca stonework, and the lumpy rocks stacked on top are the NEW modern section of the wall.
This is one of the walls from an old Inca palace. The nice, precisely cut blocks are the OLD Inca stonework, and the lumpy rocks stacked on top are the NEW modern section of the wall.

The Spanish had some good architects, but the Incas had a special method of building. This meant the stones were individually carved so that they perfectly matched their neighbours. So you see lots of odd-shaped but perfectly interlocking blocks in all the royal and religious buildings. The irregular shapes of the stones are also what makes the walls resistant to earthquakes, common in this part of the world. It’s not completely true that Inca architecture doesn’t use mortar. It’s just that the front facing part of the stones are perfectly carved. Behind this the stones are tapered, so there are gaps for mortar to hold all the stones together.

Here you can see all the stones carved so that they perfectly match their neighbours.
Here you can see all the stones carved so that they perfectly match their neighbours.

Qorikancha

One of the most important buildings in Cusco is the Qorikancha. It used to be the most sacred site in all of the Inca Empire, it was a temple to the Sun God. The name actually means “Golden Enclosure” in Quechua (the language of the Inca Empire) because every surface was covered in gold and the building filled with golden objects. Of course when the Spanish turned up they stripped every last piece of gold out of the building and then built a church on top of it.

The outside of the Qorikancha. This was a temple to the Sun God, and probably the most sacred place in the Inca Empire. The two lower levels of stonework are from Inca times, and the building on top is from Spanish colonial times.
The outside of the Qorikancha. This was a temple to the Sun God, and probably the most sacred place in the Inca Empire. The two lower levels of stonework are from Inca times, and the building on top is from Spanish colonial times.
The Inca walls of the Qorikancha on the right, and the Spanish colonial walls on the left. The Spanish took over the most sacred building in the Inca Empire and turned it into a church.
The Inca walls of the Qorikancha on the right, and the Spanish colonial walls on the left. The Spanish took over the most sacred building in the Inca Empire and turned it into a church.

Inca Ruins Outside Cusco

The ruins of Puka Pukara, an Inca fortress.
The ruins of Puka Pukara, an Inca fortress.

So far I’ve just gone through the things inside Cusco itself. But there are more ruins in walking distance from Cusco. We actually made a day of it, walking along the highway from ruin to ruin. We had planned to see four ruins, but as we walked along we kept seeing more that weren’t even on our map. Just signposts with the name of the ruin and that was it.

The purpose of this stone bench is a mystery. It could've been used as a sacrificial altar, a place for mummification, a burial site, or some other religious ceremony.
The purpose of this stone bench is a mystery. It could’ve been used as a sacrificial altar, a place for mummification, a burial site, or some other religious ceremony.

Saqsaywaman

The most impressive Inca ruin in the Cusco area is Saqsaywaman. It’s built high on a hill above Cusco and was a fort that protected the city. The reason it’s so impressive is because it’s a huge site and most of the stonework is made of huge interlocking stones. They say that the largest stone block could weigh up to 200 tonnes. Walking around these walls leaves you in awe of just how skilled the architects and stonemasons were. The best bit is that you can access and explore most of the site, not much is fenced off.

Saqsaywaman has three tiers of zig-zag walls.
Saqsaywaman has three tiers of zig-zag walls to make it easier to defend against attackers.
A close up of the massive zig-zag walls of Saqsaywaman.
A close up of the massive zig-zag walls of Saqsaywaman.
A passage leading through the zig-zag walls.
A passage leading through the zig-zag walls.
When you go to Saqsaywaman you have the option of being eaten by a monster or going on the slippery slides.
When you go to Saqsaywaman you have the option of being eaten by a monster or going on the slippery dips.
Turns out there really are slippery dips at Saqsaywaman.
Turns out there really are slippery dips at Saqsaywaman.

Moray

The main circular and semi-circular terraces, and the straight terraces of the experimental greenhouse of Moray.
The main circular and semi-circular terraces, and the straight terraces of the experimental greenhouse of Moray.

One of the most interesting Inca ruins we saw was at Moray. It’s a series of circular and semi-circular terraces. Archaeologists think that it was used as an experimental greenhouse because of the big temperature differences between the top and bottom of the terraces. It can be as much as 15°C. The different terraces represented the different climates of the Inca Empire so that they could breed new crops to plant all over the empire.

The main circular and semi-circular terraces of the experimental greenhouse of Moray.
The main circular and semi-circular terraces of Moray.
One of three circular terraces in the experimental greenhouse of Moray. These ones haven't been restored yet, but are still in pretty good condition.
One of three circular terraces in the experimental greenhouse of Moray. These ones haven’t been restored yet, but are still in pretty good condition.

Salt Pans of Maras

The salt pans of Maras have been around since Inca times. A spring of super-salty water flows out of the side of a mountain, which they capture in a series of salt pans where they can evaporate the water and harvest salt. Even now the salt is still harvested by hand, the same way they have done it for centuries.

The extensive salt pans of Maras. All of these salt pans are fed by a single super-salty hot spring.
The extensive salt pans of Maras. All of these salt pans are fed by a single super-salty water spring.
Workers harvesting the salt by hand, the same way it has been done for hundreds of years.
Workers harvesting the salt by hand, the same way they have done it for hundreds of years.
Here you can see the crystals of "salt flowers" floating on top of the the salt pan with the Maras brown salt underneath.
Here you can see the crystals of “salt flowers” floating on top of the the salt pan with the Maras brown salt underneath. (They market it as having special healing properties, of course.)

It takes nearly a month to harvest each pan. As the water evaporates they top up the pan with more salty water until it’s full of crystals of the special brown salt of Maras. Then they scoop up the crystals into sacks then take it away to fully dry in the sun. Over the centuries they’ve added more and more salt pans so that now it covers half a mountainside.

The salt pans of Maras with a pile of the famous Maras brown salt in front.
The salt pans of Maras with a pile of the famous Maras brown salt in front.
A worker heading off to lunch through the salt pans.
A worker heading off to lunch through the salt pans.

Ollantaytambo

This is the start of the Inca Trail, and also one of the last places where the Inca king held out against the Spanish invaders. It’s another set of steep terraces built into the side of the mountain with temples and residences at the top. (The Incas really loved their steep terraces.)

The terraces of Ollantaytambo.
Terraces of Ollantaytambo.
The ruined terraces of Ollantatytambo.
Terraces of Ollantatytambo.

During our visit we spotted a guide showing his group that if you said something in one of the nooks, then people in all the other nooks could hear it. But they just ended up creating a great photo opportunity for all the other tourists wondering what the hell was going on.

And people wonder why the locals think tourists are weird...
And people wonder why the locals think tourists are weird…
The town of Ollantaytambo in the valley and on the mountain opposite you can see more Inca ruins.
The town of Ollantaytambo in the valley and on the mountain opposite are more Inca ruins.

After climbing around the main ruins we thought we’d go check out the other ones we saw on the opposite mountain.

The route to the ruins is "High Risk - No Climbing". But nice to see that they include visiting hours along with the "no climbing" recommendation.
The route to the ruins is “High Risk – No Climbing”. But nice to see that they include visiting hours along with the “no climbing” recommendation.
Ruins of houses on the mountainside of Ollantaytambo.
Ruins of houses on the mountainside.

Unfortunately this is where Pedr had his heart attack. (We probably should’ve paid attention to the skull & crossbones on the warning sign.) I’ve told this story before in a previous post. He’s doing well now, but we still have a few more visits to the doctor to get the all clear.

Unfortunately this meant we had to leave Cusco in a hurry and put an end to our exploration of Peru. But even though we only stayed in the area around Cusco (and the jungle nearby), we still managed to spend a whole month here because there was so much to see.

With this post, this is the end of our travels. For a little while at least. We’re hoping that in a few months Pedr will get the all clear and then we can head off again.

We made it to the Sun Gate for sunrise.

And We're Back!
Hiking The Inca Trail: What It’s Really Like (Part 2)

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