The Sacred Vally: the Ruins of Moray

The sacred valley surround Cusco and is filled with Incan ruins and archeological sites. I wanted to see a couple before Machu Picchu, so I picked a one day tour. Let's be honest - you really don't need to see more than a couple. It's like seeing too many churches or temples...fatigue is sure to happen!

My tour picked me up around 9:30 and though our destination was Moray, we made a 30 minute stop in a town for a demonstration on local handicrafts. While I knew it was a tourist trap to buy goods, I found the stop really interesting. Two local women showed us several steps to the weaving, even more than I had learned in Isla Taquile. We were shown the soap from the local plant, but were also shown the dyeing process - there were several examples of local plants and their corresponding dyed wool. They also had several pots of prepared dye to show us how instant and rich the colors were.

We left soon after and arrived in Moray about an hour later. Moray is home to a unique Incan ruin. It consists of several circular terraces the descend into the earth almost 100 feet. Of course, it is not 100% known why these circles exist, but many experts thought it was a place for crop experimentation. From the top to the circle to the bottom, the temperature changes 15 degrees C or 27 degrees F. It was thought that the Incans were studying different climatic conditions on the crops, and also developed a complex irrigation system to succeed. We descended down the hill to walk around a few terraces, and enjoyed spectacular views on all sides.

As a final activity, our group (about 20 tourists from several nations), joined hands in a big circle to listen to the earth in silence for two minutes. When the two minutes were over, we shouted "PACHAMAMA!!" Pachamama is the name of the Incan goddess of the Earth, of whom we were paying our respects. It was a cool moment.

Back to the bus for the next destination!