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Machu
Picchu
and the Sacred Valley of the Incas
The
Journey:
Exploring the
Land of the Incas and their Ancestors
For
the Enlightened Traveller
7 Days / 6 Nights
Day 1:
Lima
Reception and assistance upon
arrival in Lima. Transfer to Hotel and overnight staying there.
Day 2:
Cusco, Sacsayhuaman, Puca Pucara, Quenko
and Tambomachay
Cusco
Early transfer to Lima airport, to embark on first flight
to Cusco. Arrival and reception at Cusco airport. Transfer to Hotel; you
should take a short rest to adapt to the high altitude. We then go to visit -
with our personal guide - the Inka Museum and the
Museum of Pre-Columbian Art (Museo Precolombino).
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Koricancha
The
Cosmological Temple
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"Centre of the World" for the
Incas, very much as Delphi was for the ancient Greeks, Cusco retains much of its
original indigenous character and imperial grandeur, interlaced with its
colonial past.
In ancient times, the Temple walls were sheathed with an incredible number of
silver and gold panels that glistened in the sunlight. According to the
Spaniards, it was almost impossible to withstand this sight. Inside the temple
were kept the mummified bodies of the Inca Kings - seated on golden thrones and
looking directly at the visitor - along with those of the Queens. For those who
entered inside, the scene that was waiting them must have been breathtaking. In
the Temple courtyard there was also a
Golden Garden,
an enchanted forest-garden of all sort of trees, flowers and animals of all
species, made of pure gold and silver. |
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Afternoon city tour, which
includes visiting the
Inca street, with its impressive "twelve-angle
stone" and the
cosmological Temple of Koricancha (Golden
Place), or "Temple of the Sun", by far the most important temple of the
Incas.
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Sacsayhuaman: The "Satisfied Falcon"
The House of the Sun:
The Enigma
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Sacsayhuaman ("Satisfied
Falcon" in Quechua) is an imposing structure - believed by many to
be an Inca fortress (although the true origins of this amazing
complex are far from being well explained) made up of three large
terraces overlapping in a zigzag formation and contained by enormous
stone ramparts - up to 300 m in length. The impressive size of this
structure - some of these stones weigh up to 350 tons and are up to
5 m high - have induced speculations in non-orthodox researchers like Graham Hancock,
that the true origins of this complex may be found in a lost
civilization of megalithic stone builders. The - undeniable and
later - Incas intervention would have been circumscribed to minor
adjustments and refining of the original structure.
The Inca chronicler Garcilaso de la Vega reports
the presence of a vast
labyrinth of
tunnels and underground chambers linking together the
three circular towers that were part of the original complex.
Some authors - like Baca
Tupayachi
(1)
-
have gone so far to infer that this
may represent a scale model of the lost city of Atlantis.
Graham Hancock,
following what we may call a "Gnostic approach"
to knowledge and myth - began his study with Koricancha, and then extended
his analysis to
Sacsayhuaman, Qenko, Ollantaytambo, Machu Picchu and Tihuanaco,
touching in the process the temples of the god-kings of Angkor (in
Cambodia), the pyramids and the Sphinx of Egypt, and the temples of
the Mayans, in Central America. In Koricancha, the coincidences
between the pyramidal structure of its astronomical temple-rooms,
and the practice of mummification of the Inca god-kings he compared
to Egypt, alongside a sophisticated cross-cultural examination of
their reciprocal mythological lore and belief systems which brought
him to suppose a common ancestry in these cultures - still so
different in space and time - and yet bearing amazing similarities.
This common root Hancock supposed may be found in a lost civilization
bearing the distinctive mark of the megalithic culture. A
civilization of megalithic temple builders which flourished before
10,500 BC and vanished before the
biblical Great Flood
which brought the last Ice Age to an abrupt and sudden end.
Survivors of this civilization would have spread around the world,
settling in different continents.
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We leave Cusco, and on our
way to the Sacred Valley, we go to visit Sacsayhuaman
- the "House of the Sun" - a puzzling, mysterious and
massively imponent structure, once reputed to be a
Fortress by the
Spaniards.
Qenko
Our journey continues to the
complexes of Puca Pucara, Quenko
and
Tambomachay.
Puca Pucara means the "Red Fort", as in particular light conditions its
rocks take an intense red shade. It is believed to have watched over the
road to the Sacred Valley of the Incas. Quenko is a shrine-amphitheatre
characterized by incredible rock-hewn formations, ritual channels and an
underground cave with a carved stone altar. It is possible that in Inca
times either chicha (corn beer) or llama blood were poured - as part of
sacrificial practices and offerings - into these unique zigzag channels
which possibly lend the name to this place. Qenko means in fact "Zigzag".
This ceremonial centre was dedicated to Pachamama, the mother-spirit of
the earth. Some of the stone engravings here seem to represent a Puma, a
Llama and a Condor: all animals of special ritual significance to the
Incas.
Tambomachay
In Tambomachay - which was
probably a temple consecrated to the cult of water and a sacred bathing
place for the Inca royalty - amid the Inca ruins we may still see two
beautiful springs with crystalline water still flowing out of the Incan
original stonework. To our very days, local people continue to make
offerings to these holy springs. Some historians claim that Tambomachay
may have been the place where the king Pachacutec received his prophetic
vision of the Incas destined to rule the world.
Return to Cusco. Overnight staying in Hotel in Cusco.
Day
3: The
Sacred Valley:
Pisac, Ollantaytambo and Chinchero
The Indian Market of Pisac
Excursion to the beautiful “Sacred Valley of the Incas”, known to the Incas as
Vilcamayo, set along the sacred Urubamba river, stretching between the Inca
citadels of Pisac and Ollantaytambo,
hanging high above the spectacular Rio Vilcanota-Urubamba. In Pisac -
characterized by Inca ritual baths, residential structures and towers which may
have served as astronomical observation points - we shall visit the unmissable
Indian Market, which takes place every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. Lunch in
Urubamba.
Ollantaytambo
In the afternoon, we pass through
Calca and Urubamba and arrive at Ollantaytambo, which hosts a vast temple-mound,
considered one of the most impressive archaeological ruins of Peru. Here, at the
top of a breathtaking steep stairway, we may see a complex of buildings with
niches and shrines amid which stand the impressive Temple of the Sun, flanked by
huge pink-granite monoliths smoothly carved from the rock. The religious sector
of Ollantaytambo is also marked by the presence of ritual fountains, among which
one with water still flowing through, known as "El Baño de la Ñusta" or
"The Princess' Bath".
All the streets in
Ollantaytambo have kept their original Inca names and the local people still
dress with their indigenous traditional garments. It should be noted, however,
that Ollantaytambo - as well as Pisac, Machu Picchu and other places around
Cusco and the Sacred Valley - were ceremonial centres long before the Incas
arrived and established their cults and rule.
Chinchero
Before
leaving for Cusco, we shall visit Chinchero.
Here, in this little town, we may still see how alive is still the practice -
originally taught by the Incas - of exchanging goods in the Sunday market. There
will be the opportunity to buy beautiful indigenous textiles, all rigorously
hand-made and dyed with natural colours. Return to Cusco. Overnight in Hotel.
Day
4:
The Sanctuary of Machu
Picchu
Early morning transfer to
Cusco railway station where we shall board the
train to Machu Picchu.
After arriving to Aguas Calientes, we head by coach towards the Machu Picchu
Sanctuary. Hold your breath, the scenery here is absolutely magnificent!! The
arrival to the Machu Picchu is an experience of communion with the Gods!!! Late
afternoon return to Cusco. Overnight in Hotel in Cusco.
The air, the atmosphere, the clouds
and mists enshrouding these sacred mountains and everything else around you -
the plants, the hummingbirds, the wild orchids - speak of the divine. We shall
wonder amid the splendid ruins of this immensely holy and intimately sacred
place. Few places on earth may compete with Machu Picchu for beauty, harmony and
holiness. Words cannot describe enough the experience of being here. We are left
to contemplate this all, in awe and reverence.
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Machu Picchu
The Inca Trail
Machu Picchu was
connected with the city of Cusco and the rest of the Inca empire by
an amazing network of trails, all going through the mountains, and
designed to perfection by the Inca architects, to be in perfect
harmony with the surrounding environment. The route taken by these
trails to Machu Picchu, is to our days known as the
Inca Trail.
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Day
5:
Cusco, Lima
The National Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology,
Lima
Flying back to Lima, in the
morning, and transfer to Hotel. In the early afternoon our tour continues with a
visit to the amazing Museo Nacional de Arqueologia, Antropologia e
Historia del Peru (National Museum of Archaeology,
Anthropology and History of Peru). Return to Hotel to rest. Overnight in Hotel
in Lima.
The Museum presents a magnificent
collection of manufacts and textiles, from all major civilizations of
pre-Columbian Peru, including the Chavin, Paracas, Moche, Pucara, Nasca
Tihuanaco and Huari cultures - to quote a few - up to the Incas. It hosts the
famous Tello Obelisk - depicting an important creation myth on the origin of
manioc and the Raimondi Stela, both belonging to the early phases of the Chavin
culture.
Day
6:
Lima,
Pachacamac, Lima
Pachacamac
In the late morning we go
to visit the ancient oracular complex of
Pachacamac
- "The One Who Generates the World" - the great pre-Inca Creator God of the
Ichimay culture, thought to be invisible and to whom were attribute tremors and
earthquakes.
According to your travel plan and flight times, transfer to Lima airport in the
evening, to catch your international flight or else, overnight staying in Hotel
in Lima.
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The site of Pachacamac - about 31 km from Lima, on the Pacific
coastline - hosts vast adobe structures, architectural compounds and
pyramids and was the most important costal sanctuary of the Andean
people. Its importance accrued with the centuries and extend well
beyond the boundaries of what is now Peru. The wooden Idol reflects
the cosmogonic vision of the Andean people of the 12th century.
Two-faced, possibly hinting at an androgynous nature, the oracular
powers of the god are evident in the possibility of seeing
simultaneously - spatially and temporally - in opposite directions.
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Day
7:
Lima
Transfer to airport, in the
morning, for international departure back home!
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