The Sacred Valley

Between Cusco and Machu Picchu runs the river Vilcanota, which used to be called Wilcamayu (sacred river) by the Incas. It is surrounded by the Andes and the valley is exceptionally beautiful, fertile, and full of Incan ruins. The Incans believed the river was a reflection of the Milky Way. This picture of Richard & me overlooking the valley is one of my favorites from our trip.



Across from the sanctuary of Ollantaytambo, on a neighboring mountain, the Incans carved the face of Tunupa, or the messenger of Wiracocha. (Wiracocha was the supreme creator deity.) The most obvious features are his eye and nose:

You can also see the granaries, large multistoried buildings, on the hillside on the right, which should give some perspective. The interpretive drawing is from a guidebook we picked up. What's even more amazing than carving a giant face into a mountain is that they designed/chose the site for the way the sun falls on it. Depending on the time of day, Tunupa appears to have open or closed eyes. On top of Tunupa's head there is a temple which is the only thing on the cliff bathed in sunlight during the summer soltice in the morning.

This next picture shows the entrance to the Temple of the Sun at Ollantaytambo. (Well, the doorway is not in the picture.) See the knobby things on the wall? These were placed so that on the spring equinox, the shadows from the top knobby things perfectly align with lower down knobby things. Pretty neat.

This fountain is also at Ollantaytambo. The spring that the water is from is actually miles away. The Incans were pretty smart hydraulic engineers. The three tiers of the symbol carved around the fountain stands for the underworld, the earth and the heavens. It was one of the few symbols we saw, largely because the Spanish actively destroyed Incan symbology.

Next up: Machu Picchu!