Cusco, Ccaccaccollo, & Ollantaytambo
Days Seven, Eight, & Nine - Peru - 2022
Maybe the three most scuffed days I’ve ever had traveling. But there was a total lunar eclipse, so it wasn’t all bad.
Map Credit: OpenStreetMap
1. Pukamuqu #1
Cusco is best known as being the capital of the Inca Empire from 13th century until the Spanish Conquest in the 16th century.
I think it is really important to start by saying that the above photograph was taken on the morning of day eight.
This fact truly sets the scene. What happened to day seven, you ask? Let me tell you.
Our bus arrived very late into Cusco’s terminal on the morning of day seven; I’m not sure precisely how late, but certainly something on the order of hours, plural. After a hasty transfer and check-in at our hotel (the supremely accommodating Hotel Cusco Plaza Saphi), we rushed to a local breakfast spot for some much needed food. By this point, we hadn’t had a meal in well over 12 hours, and even I -replete with my virus- couldn’t help but scarf down most of a meal. By the time breakfast concluded, we were hopelessly behind schedule for the day. I want to make it very, very clear our tour guide did everything he could to adapt to this unexpected situation and kept all of us very grounded and well-informed. We certainly appreciated that.
All the same, I was faced with a dilemma: should I address my nagging stomach virus concern at the expense of sightseeing around Cusco? Or, should I press on and hope the situation would improve? I chose the former, and spent the remainder of my morning getting medication from the pharmacy. As we had a hard stop time for a pre-trek meeting in the mid-afternoon, I had only a couple of hours for exploration. Most of the Inca-associated sites -including the famed Sacsayhuamán- are a decent walking distance outside of town and I didn’t want to risk missing the meeting … or tempt fate with my stomach.
So I decided to take it easy and I visited the ChocoMuseo a very close distance to the hotel. Will I ever regret not exploring Cusco more thoroughly? Only time will tell. I try my best to not live life that way, but this was a pretty big swing-and-a-miss.
After the pre-trek briefing, we were off to dinner (I decided to be brave on my anti-viral medication and order pancakes!). I declined post-dinner drinks, and continued building my reputation as the old wet blanket. C’est la vie.
The following morning, the tour guide made his best effort to make up for the botched day in Cusco and our transfer bus made a quick stop at Pukamuqu (a city overlook point), as well as super-quick photographic drive-bys at Sacsayhuamán, Qenqo, and Puka Pukara.
2. Pukamuqu #2
Rio de Janiero Pukamuqu is not, but it nonetheless features a statue called “Cristo Blanco”.
3. Pukamuqu #3
Sacsayhuamán is a 15th century Inca fortress on the outskirts of Cusco …
4. Pukamuqu #4
… Whose most famous feature are walls made of huge stones fit together without any mortar.
Down a short path from Cristo Blanco is an overlook from which Sacsayhuamán can be viewed. So, I at least kinda-sorta saw it.
5. Ccaccaccollo #1
Ccaccaccollo is a small Andean mountain town home to about 140 families.
After the aforementioned quick stop at Puka Pukara, we were off to visit the small village of Ccaccaccollo (roughly pronounced ka-ka-koy-yo). This village is sponsored by G Adventures’ non-profit organization Planeterra to help preserve the customs of the Quechua people. As our guide told us, as young people travel to larger villages and nearby cities -such as Cusco- they lose touch with their local mores in favor of adoption modern Western ones; so, to counter this, the tour group would adopt the customs of Ccaccaccollo in order to demonstrate it is okay for these residents to be proud of where they come from and their ways.
In order to promote this, the tour group was divided to stay and dine with an assigned local family. I was assigned to the home of the village leader (“El Presidente”) who lived with his family in a lovely home above the village’s soccer / football / basketball court.
6. Ccaccaccollo #2
The host family was extremely accommodating, even going so far as to give me a bundle of flowers. What followed was an admittedly awkward lunch with El Presidente - of the three guests in the home, I spoke the most Spanish, one had a mobile phone app which translated German into Spanish, and a third who spoke no Spanish (“Like I said: third best.”) Without any warning whatsoever, we were given local attire and weapons (really, landscaping scythes), and were told to go to the village square. There, we met up with the rest of the group (similarly dressed and armed) where we battled to the death were then told we would be harvesting corn in a nearby field. After I was scolded for cutting down too much corn (show me the law!), we were then invited to take a walk to the highpoint overlooking the town.
7. Ccaccaccollo #3
I was admittedly unprepared for this short but fairly strenuous trek above the town. It was a chilly morning in town, and -not being witting to the heavy wool poncho I was wearing, the corn harvest, or the hike up the mountain- I was still wearing my thick and impermeable winter puffer coat. Within minutes as we were going up the mountain, I was gushing sweat. Remember: I was still battling a virus at this point, and -despite having the chills, hence the coat- I probably had a pretty high fever. Quickly falling to the back of the pack, one of the locals told me, roughly, “You go up, or you go back.” Up I went. After reaching the top, I ripped my sweat drenched coat off and tried my best not to yak on the majestic countryside. Regaining my composure, I took some photos and climbed back down with the rest of the group.
8. Ccaccaccollo #4
Back in town, we were given some spare time to mill about before dinner at the Casa del Presidente. The walk did me no favors, to be honest, and I was soon sick as a dog again. After taking a quick nap to try and calm my room spin down, I broke the mayor’s toilet (it was quickly fixed, fret not netizens!), and I watched the local school children playing soccer / football at the aforementioned court. A cat even stopped by to say hello.
9. Ccaccaccollo #5
I also walked around for a little bit in the village before dinner, checking out this impossibly steep road. Seriously, this thing must give Baldwin Street or Canton Avenue a run for its money. Get on this, Guinness!!
10. Ccaccaccollo #6
I also took another photo or two of the village, for no real reason.
After another lovely meal -this one with the mayor’s wife- we were instructed to head back to the town square for some dancing. The dancing, rather oddly, didn’t happen and instead the group drank beer in a nearby living room (I had to watch because of the obvious issues I was having).
That said, alcohol-fueled ebullience wasn’t the only thing on the menu for that night was the “Luna de Sangre”, or the “Blood Moon” total eclipse.
11. Ccaccaccollo #7
Returning to the Casa del Presidente, I retrieved my tripod, camera, and telephoto lens and set up shop again in the village square. I was all set up right before the eclipse began (mad props to www.timeanddate.com and their supreme eclipse feature). For at least a good while, I had the whole square to myself, the occasional local passer-by notwithstanding. I am not too certain if these locals were aware of the eclipse or not; all the same they were certainly nonplussed about this weird guy aiming a large camera lens into the sky in their town square. Right before totality, I was joined by the remainder of the tour group who by that point had collectively drank many liters of beer. Kudos to them on a good job!
While obviously not as spectacular as total solar eclipses, total lunar eclipses are nonetheless fun to watch because it is the only time you can see the moon and stars at the same time so long as you are in a very dark place. Ccaccaccollo certainly had a very dark sky and it was neat to see the Milky Way and the moon at once.
12. Ccaccaccollo #8
I think my favorite part of this whole experience was that the youths -whose soccer / football skills I was admiring earlier- were finished with their scrimmage and able to check out an up-close view of the eclipsed, bright red moon on the screen on the back of my camera. They seemed to really enjoy it which really put a smile on my face.
I usually watch eclipses until the end, but my weary mind and body were spent and wouldn’t have been able to make it through this particularly long lunar journey. So I packed up and headed to bed.
13. The Sacred Valley of the INca
The Sacred Valley of the Inca stretches 100 kilometers / 60 miles between Pisac and Machu Picchu.
The following morning, we had one last meal with our host families before rallying in the town square and heading to Ccaccaccollo’s weaving collective. Here, we learned how to spin, dye, and weave alpaca and llama fur into beautiful garments. After some shopping at the attached market, we were back in the bus and waving goodbye to our new friends in the village.
Not terribly long afterwards, we arrived at an overlook with a view down the Sacred Valley of the Inca. After a quick stop to try some cuy (guinea pig) in Lamay, as well as a quick stop to try some corn wine, we arrived in Ollantaytambo and checked into our accommodation for the evening. By this point, it was lunchtime and we were given the option to visit the ruins in the city. Weighing the pros and cons of doing such an activity so close to the start of the Lares Trek, I decided once more to take it easy and rest in the hotel.
There are plenty of sites in the Sacred Valley I would have liked to have seen, prime among which are the Pisac and Moray ruins. Much like Cusco, will I go to the grave regretting not being able to have done so? Maybe yes, maybe no. But, all the same it was done. Again, I give the tour guide loads of credit for adjusting our schedule after our late arrival into Cusco and making the most efficient use of our time as possible. But, man, it is amazing how much a schedule can get thrown off from a bus being a few hours late. This should tell you just how tight this schedule was.
After dinner, we collectively spent time adjusting our trek bags due to the weight restrictions imposed by porters on both the Inca Trail and the Lares Trek. The Lares Trek’s weight limit is a little more flexible than that of the Inca Trail because the porters use donkeys; all the same, keeping weight to a minimum ensures the safety of the animals and the porters alike. One last night in a bed for a while….
