Interesting Facts:
- Is one of the places to get a train to Machu Piccu or to the starting point of the Inca Trail.
- It is 9,842 feet above sea level.
- It is a town in the Sacred Valley of the Incas.
- Was the royal estate of the Inca Emperor Pachacuti during the Inca Empire.
- The old town has cobblestoned streets and adobe buildings.
- Known for it’s Inca store houses which are on a cliff and also Inca fortresses an terraces.
- Called the “Living Inca City” because its residents live according their traditions and customs inherit from their ancestors.
- Traditional food staples were potatoes, maize, quinoa and the meat of llamas and guinea pigs.
We had some time before our bus was to take us back to Cusco so we got a unique chance to go into one of the Adobe homes in the old town. It was pouring down rain but it was such an interesting chance to see how they live here traditionally that it couldn’t be passed up.
They still use the some of the same staples as did the Incas. The below pictured staples are 2 different kinds of potatoes, maize, and quinoa.
They raise guinea pigs not for pets but for food and some still sacrifice them.
Pictured below is how the cook. Not what we are used to for sure.
Some families would keep the skulls of family members to so that they watch over the home and family and protect them. They would make an alter to pray to them. Pictured below is one such alter and the skulls of their family members. I know a couple of people in our group felt something eerie when we entered the Adobe house and were so uncomfortable they asked to wait outside.
