Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
AROUND CUZCO
The four ruins closest to Cuzco are Sacsaywamán, Q'enqo, Pukapukara and Tambomachay.
They can all be visited in a day - far less if you're whisked through on a guided tour. If you
only have time to visit one site, Sacsaywamán is the most important, and less than a 2km
trek uphill from the Plaza de Armas in central Cuzco.
The cheapest way to visit the sites is to take a bus bound for Pisac and ask the driver to
stop at Tambomachay, the furthest site from Cuzco (at 3700m, it's also the highest). It's an
8km walk back to Cuzco, visiting all four ruins along the way. Alternatively, a taxi will
charge roughly S40 to visit all four sites.
Each site can only be entered with the
boleto turístico
. They're open daily from 7am to
6pm. Local guides hang around offering their services, sometimes quite persistently. Agree
on a price before beginning any tour.
Robberies at these sites are uncommon but not unheard of. Cuzco's tourist police recom-
mend visiting between 9am and 5pm.
Sacsaywamán
This immense ruin of both religious and military significance is the most impressive in the
immediate area around Cuzco. The long Quechua name means 'Satisfied Falcon,' though
tourists will inevitably remember it by the mnemonic 'sexy woman.' Sacsaywamán feels
huge, but what today's visitor sees is only about 20% of the original structure. Soon after
the conquest, the Spaniards tore down many walls and used the blocks to build their own
houses in Cuzco, leaving the largest and most impressive rocks, especially those forming
the main battlements.
In 1536 the fort was the site of one of the most bitter battles of the Spanish conquest.
More than two years after Pizarro's entry into Cuzco, the rebellious Manco Inca recaptured
the lightly guarded Sacsaywamán and used it as a base to lay siege to the conquistadors in
Cuzco. Manco was on the brink of defeating the Spaniards when a desperate last-ditch at-
tack by 50 Spanish cavalry led by Juan Pizarro, Francisco's brother, succeeded in retaking
Sacsaywamán and putting an end to the rebellion. Manco Inca survived and retreated to the
fortress of Ollantaytambo, but most of his forces were killed. Thousands of dead littered
the site after the Incas' defeat, attracting swarms of carrion-eating Andean condors. The
tragedy was memorialized by the inclusion of eight condors in Cuzco's coat of arms.
