Our first night alone after the group trip, we ventured out to see the Indian Folk dances at the Central Qusqo Theater on Sol Ave. near our hotel. It was a well done hour and a half of good music and dancing. The orchestra consisted of guitars, Peruvian stringed instruments, pipes, violins, and drums. The dances were explained in English but the announcer's accent was so heavy, it was difficult for us to tell when she was speaking it. It was fun even though we had no idea what was going on.
Bob was feeling better after a good dose of Cipro, so we arranged to see the sites south of Cuzco by hiring a vehicle and driver through Reynaldo. For $35.00 a mini-van took us to Pikillacta, the "Sistine Chapel of the Americas" at Andahuaylillas, and Tipón. Pikillacta is a huge pre-Inca Huari site from about 1000 AD featuring 2 and 3 story walls with no obvious doors or windows. The quarters were laid out in a very regular, rectangular fashion. Some sections had courtyards while others were simply rows of rooms. We thought the latter might be barracks, storage, or lower social class housing. The 17th century church off the square in the lovely little village of Andahuaylillas features a gold leaf ceiling, stunning murals, and fine examples of colonial paintings. Tipón, situated high above valley floor, is thought to be an Inca agricultural experimental site. It was laid out in neat, small spring-fed terraces. The site exhibits few dwellings and what may have been a guard tower. And of course, there were the ever present ritual baths. Along the way, we also made a stop at a mud quarry where people were forming up the red clay roof tiles that were so common in Cuzco. We left at 8 AM and returned around 1:30 PM.
Our second group of friends trickled into Cuzco over the course of the next few days and we began our loop all over again. Two sites that we missed the first time around were the Coricancha and Qenco. Both were worth seeing. The Coricancha, Tempe of the Sun, was orginally lined with gold that was looted by only three of Pizarro's men. It is one of the finest examples of Inca stonework in Cuzco and is topped by a Spanish cathedral. Qenco, rather than a ruin, is an eroded limestone outcropping, riddled with fissures, artfully carved by the Inca. On the second trip, we took the train from Ollantaytambo to Km 88, which worked out well. The last car of the train was reserved for tourists getting off at Km 88, so we didn't have to watch our stuff as closely as we had expected. We had a few rainy days but luckily they were different days than on the first trip so we were able to fill out our missing photo opportunities. We arranged return train tickets in advance through Reynaldo, so we were able to get on the earlier Autovagon. Surprisingly, it was not as comfortable as the Inca Class but we saw more of the countryside in the daytime. The Rabbit and Reynaldo met us at the station and ferried us back to Hostal Pascana. Only a few of the group left town the next morning. A number of us dried out our gear that day and the following morning, left together for Lima where we explored a few of the more notable museums. The Lord of Sipán exhibit was the best we saw.
The one misgiving we had about our Inca Trail backpacks was the lack of sanitation and garbage control. Portable toilets are set up for the commercial customers but we shuddered to think about where the waste went when camp was broken down. There are no decent facilities available for either the porters or for private groups. Walk off the trail in any direction near a campsite, and you will find yourself ankle deep in doodoo. The major sites have garbage cans but they are often overflowing and again we wondered where that trash goes. We entered Sayacmarca right after a large, commercial group had finished lunching there. They left a huge trash pile overflowing the small rubbish bin. Regulation is desperately needed but is not likely to happen quickly. In 1987, Peter Frost wrote in his book that numbers of people on the Inca Trail would soon have to be regulated because of this problem. Ten years later, there is still no limit on the number of people on the trail. Peru is a poor country and limiting the number of tourists on the trail would decrease the amount of money spent in Cuzco and other parts of the country. The result is camping gone crazy, environmentalism be damned.
Huari Ruin Site
Tile Makers
Peru's Sistine Chapel
