Peru - The Rough Guide to South America on a Budget - page 746

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it only needed defensive walls on one
side, and three massive parallel walls
zigzag together for some 600m. Little of
the inner structures remains, yet these
enormous ramparts stand 20m high,
unperturbed by past battles, earthquakes
and the passage of time. The strength of
the mortar-less stonework - one block
weighs more than 300 tonnes - is
matched by the brilliance of its design:
the zigzags expose the flanks of any
attackers trying to clamber up. The Inca
Pachacutec began work on Sacsaywamán
in the 1440s, although it took the labour
of some twenty thousand men and nearly
a century of work to finish it.
A flat expanse of grassy ground divides
the temple from a large outcrop of
volcanic rock, called the Rodadero
(“precipice”), which is used today during
the colourful spectacle of the Inti Raymi
festival held annually during the summer
solstice in June.

two-hour cross-country walk uphill from
Q'enqo. Although in many ways
reminiscent of a small European castle,
Pukapukara is more likely to have been
a hunting lodge, or out-of-town lodgings
for the emperor, than simply a defensive
position. Thought to have been built by
the Emperor Pachacutec, it commands
views towards glaciers to the south of the
Cusco Valley.

Tambomachay
TAMBOMACHAY , otherwise known as
“El Baño del Inca” (“The Bath of the
Inca”), less than fifteen minutes' walk
away along a signposted track from
Pukapukara, is an impressive temple,
evidently a place for ritual as well as
physical cleansing and purification.
The ruins consist of three tiered
platforms. The top one holds four
trapezoidal niches that may have been
used as seats; on the next level,
underground water emerges directly from
a hole at the base of the stonework, and
from here cascades down to the bottom
platform, creating a cold shower just
about high enough for an Inca to stand
under. On this platform the spring water
splits into two channels, both pouring
the last metre down to ground level. The
superb quality of the stonework suggests
that its use was restricted to the higher
nobility, who perhaps used the baths only
on ceremonial occasions.

Q'enqo
From the warden's hut on the
northeastern edge of Sacsaywamán, take
the track towards the Cusco-Pisac road;
Q'ENQO is just over the other side of the
main road.
This great stone or huaca revered by the
Inca is carved with a complex pattern of
steps, seats, geometric reliefs and puma
designs, and illustrates the critical role of
the Rock Cult in the realm of Inca
cosmological beliefs; the name of the
temple means “zigzag” and refers to the
patterns carved into the upper western
edge of the stone. At an annual festival
priests would pour chicha or sacrificial
llama blood into a bowl at the serpent-
like top of the main channel; if it flowed
out through the left-hand bifurcation,
this was a bad omen for the fertility of
the year to come. If, on the other hand, it
continued the full length of the zigzag
and poured onto the rocks below, this
was a good omen.

Tipón
Around 25km east out of Cusco,
the town of TIPÓN is famous for its
Sunday lunches, featuring oven-roasted
cuy (guinea pig), and its ruins - a large
structure made up of several terraces
and one of the few working examples of
Inca irrigation systems, with fountains
and water channels covering the area.
From the town, it's a steep one-hour-
thirty-minute climb (or 20min taxi ride;
S20 each way) to the ruins. To get here
take an Urcos-bound colectivo from
Avenida de la Cultura, one block west of
the Hospital Regional, and ask to be let
out at the Tipón turn-off (45min; S5). To
get back, squeeze onto a passing bus on
the main road.

Pukapukara
A relatively small ruin named
PUKAPUKARA (“Red Fort”, due to the
pinkish hue of the rock) is situated right
beside the main Cusco-Pisac road, a