Sacred Valley

The Urubamba river runs through the mountains east of Cuzco, carving a fertile river valley that fed local populations from before the Inca Empire to the present time. Along the hills overlooking the river, the Incas built fortresses to protect the river wealth, not knowing they created fascinating places for modern day visitors to tour.

At the eastern end of the valley is Pisac. It is best known for the Sunday colourful and lively Indian market. Crammed into the main square of this small town is a bustling market comprised of two parts.

The local market for, of and by the Indians takes place in the streets around the plaza and is a constant scene of comings and goings. In the plaza itself is the handicraft market with a wide variety of textiles, carvings, jewelry, ceramics, pots and other items considered somewhere between art and stuff, all depending on your likes and dislikes.

There is also an impressive set of ruins perched on the mountain behind the town. These evocative ruins display the precise stonework that is the trademark of the Incas, and you will see astronomical observations posts and ceremonial baths fed by aqueducts.

The path goes through working terraces, giving the ruins a context. The first group of buildings is Pisaqa, with a fine curving wall. Climb then to the central part of the ruins, the Intihuatana group of temples and rock outcrops in the most magnificent Inca masonry.

Here are the Reloj Solar ("Hitching Post to the Sun") ... palaces of the moon and stars, solstice markers, baths and water channels. From Intihuatana, a path leads around the hillside, through a tunnel to Q'Allaqasa, the "military area". Across the valley at this point, a large area of Inca tombs in holes in the hillside can be seen. The end of the site is Kanchiracay, where the agricultural workers were housed.

The equally striking remnants of the sturdy fortress at Ollantaytambo rear up at the end of the paved road between Cuzco and the Sacred Valley, dominating the town that was once an important administrative centre for the Incas. Today its layout and remaining Inca walls give you the closest approximation of what an Inca town must have looked like five centuries ago.