Ollantaytambo, Chinchero, Pisaq - The Sacred Valley

I couldn't open my e-mail account yesterday nor today. I will try a little later. In the meantime I can write about yesterday which was a beautiful day. Every day of my life is the best day of my life and yesterday was another best day. I bought a tour to the Sacred Valley because I wanted to see what's there to see and then later I can go back to the places I most like on my own. The people on the tour were wonderful - a very mixed group and totally different from the one I encountered before. On the bus I was sitting next to Samantha and I really enjoyed her company. She is from NYC but for the past three years she has been living in a small village in Costa Rica. She is a teacher and is very happy with her life there. First we went to Pisaq (30 km away from Cuzco) to see the ruins of an Inca fortress and the Sunday market. First we went to the market and I entered with a firm decision not to buy anything (because I want to travel light) but it was the best market I have seen in my life so I had to get something! The markets I have seen before in different countries and places were full of cheap mass produced stuff and occasionally good hand-made works. In this market there's nothing that is not beautiful and original. I especially like textiles and the blankets I saw at the Pisaq market are absolutely amazing - each is a story, about the people, culture, animals, farming, nature in general. I stopped by one stand and there was this blanket which looked like a field of corn: yellow and green, with red and brown edges. I immediately fell in love with it. I asked for the price and when the seller said $15 I didn't even bargain - I just handed the woman the money and snatched if from her and wrapped it around myself. Whosoever hands made this blanket, they made it for me - the blanket and me are destined for each other... It's thick and heavy and I will have to ship it. Before I do this I will return to the market next Sunday for more beautiful artwork... Next we went to visit the fortress. We had to climb 1km up the hill and were quite tired when we got there. The altitude made us walk slowly and not talk very much... The scenery around the fortress was amazing. The fortress itself is magnificent. The guide gave us a lot of information about Inca culture. I knew it was extraordinary but I didn't think it was so organized and so sophisticated. It would take me many pages to write all about it so it will be better if I tell you about it while having beer at Bohemian Hall and around Masurian Lakes one day. The Inca's way of life must have been amazing. I see a great resemblance in their religion and philosophy to Buddhism. A great stress was put on work, learning, and love and the idea that work is done not for oneself but for the community. Incas believed in circularity of life and rebirth. The bodies were buried in the fetal position, to be prepared for the next life and to symbolize the new beginning. From Pisaq we went to Ollantaytambo which was an Inca town. There we could see the temple, the remains of the houses of the clergy, the observation places for the astronomers, the houses for the common people. Also, there is a very well preserved Bano de la Nusta (bath of the princess). It's a set of small waterfals for the people to "shower" before visiting the temple. There is a complete irrigation system still used by the modern town. And there are terraces, flights and flights of them. From Ollantaytambo it took us an hour to get to Chinchero and this was one of the most beautiful roads ever taken by me. Andes are the most beautiful mountains I have ever seen so far. We were climbing up (Chinchero is 3,762 meters above the sea level) and in the distance we saw all the patches of farm land and further still the gray higher mountains, their peaks covered with snow. Blue sky above and narrow road amidst this beauty... It's not heard to see why the Incas, and the peoples who inhabited it before them, though that it was a sacred place - it is so beautiful that one immediately thinks the power which created it must be mighty... It seems to be too beautiful to be true... Chinchero is a small town, with typical very narrow streets and stairs leading to what was before an Inca temple but what is now a Catholic church because the Spaniards had the habit of destroying the temples and building churches on their remains. The Church is nice but the surroundings of it are much more beautiful. There is also a small market around the church and women and children in traditional clothes sell the artesanas which are as wonderful as the ones on the Pisaq market. We visited a small museum with artifacts excavated from around the town. We got on the bus and went home, tired and happy. During the entire trip we passed many small villages which looked good. The people who live there are farmers and their life must be hard, as farming is hard work, but no poverty can be seen. There are even playgrounds for kids and full soccer fields and in some cases even basketball fields. I was glad to see this. If the inhabitants may think that this is not a beautiful way of life that is because we the tourists make them feel our culture is better, with our luxurious goods, cars, mtv, cameras, hotels, etc. Part of the market in Pisaq is the food and everyday use goods market and goods are exchanged there - the people from the villages around Pisaq don't use money - it is a foreign idea to them. Samantha and I agreed that a life without car insurance, coffee to go, credit cards, cubicles, tv and disposable utensil can be a really good life... She is leading such a life so she knows... And my grandma Victoria, who lived in a village which resembles the ones here in the Sacred Valley, said so... that her life was hard but beautiful...