The town of Pisac is known for two things: its ruins, which at one time played host to all that made the Inca empire great, whether agricultural, residential, military or religious; and its craft fair, which crowds the main square three times a week. We wanted to see both of them, and we found the perfect way to do it. If you ever find yourself in Pisac, here's a step-by-step guide to getting everything in.
1) Don't walk to the ruins. I'm serious. It might sound like a cool idea to hike up this tall hill where Inca temples survive, but it'll take more time and energy than a mortal has time for. We saw families in turmoil halfway up the mountain, debating whether to turn back or to risk further punishment from the 3 hour hike. For reference, this photo was taken three quarters of the way up. Pay your cab driver the extra 4 dollars to drive to the top of the hill, and walk down to town.
2) Only invest in a guide you like. Pisac is large, and every guide we talked to insisted that we couldn't see it in less than 2 hours. Unfortunately, these explanations took 5 minutes in broken English. So with perfect weather beckoning, we decided against hiring someone whose existence we would resent for half a day. But if you find the dude we noticed picking flowers and medicinal herbs for his guests, by all means, grab him.
3) Don't spend too long near the gate. At first glance, Pisac is...boring. Not because it's not amazing, when you think about it -- the steep rise from town is stepped by agricultural terraces, used to grow the same corn and potatoes that Peruanos eat today. These give way to sacred bath ruins, and a cluster of residential buildings that served as lookout towers in this military-minded city. But all of these look like smaller versions of what we've seen before: the terraces don't compare to Moray, the baths are better at Machu Picchu, and no fortress is as intimidating as the site of Manco Inca's lone victory, Ollaytaytambo. We spent 30 minutes hanging around, quietly wondering, is this it? Instead...
4) Head straight for the cliff. Finally, we noticed the flower-gathering guide shepherding his flock toward a sheer rock face. Looking closer, we realized they were heading up some stairs built into the cliff. "Absolutely not," Patricia said. "Those stairs are sketchy as hell." As we passed through the Gate of the Serpent, typical for its perfect construction and awesome name, we realized the higher, sketchier set of stairs was an abandoned experiment -- rather than continue up the cliff, the Incas created a tunnel that went through the mountain. Had we snagged the flower-picker, I would have asked him how in the name of Atahualpa they did this without iron or explosives.
5) Get hiking. Now the real walk begins. Luckily for you, it's all downhill. A narrow path takes you downhill, away from the cliffs, and towards Pisac proper, before descending straight down the agricultural terraces. Imagine walking down the 8 foot segment of stairs, made out of stone, erected over 500 years ago. With no hand railings, one false step could send you sprawling down toward the steep mountainside below. Now imagine this doing 10 times in a row. Luckily, at the bottom, you'll be greeted by some incredible architecture.
6) Use your imagination. As you arrive at Pisa's religious structures, remember that people use to actually build and use this stuff. Check out the water canals that flowed through religious monuments, before trickling down to the crops below, before considering that Inca workers had to trek hundreds of miles to find mountaintop springs, redirect them toward their city, and cover them, creating some of humanity's first underground irrigation canals. A staff of Inca astronomers gathered every day to observe the sun's arc, measuring its shadow in the Sun Temple. Farmers gathered hundreds of pounds of crops into bushels, before beginning the long walk home, up the stairs you just jogged down. The real life stories hidden in these immaculate stones must be mind-boggling.
7) Wash up. It'll take another hour and a half to walk down from the ruins, but don't worry: the views only get more and more jaw-dropping. After you bid good luck to some scared-looking hikers just beginning their ascent, splash your hands in the conveniently located waterfall before heading into town. Find this guy if you're looking for $1 empanadas, straight out of his wood-burning stove.
8) Shop till you drop. The wiser option is probably "shop until it starts to get dark." Taxis and buses in foreign lands look a little bit more intimidating after the sun goes down, so either arrange your ride beforehand, or just ask when dusk sets in. In the meantime, scour the main plaza for an array of handcrafted items, including scarves, jewelry, and ceramics. One thing to keep in mind -- while everything is negotiable, citizens of the Sacred Valley are proud of their work, and are not natural extortionists. So don't expect them to quote outlandish prices, only to sweeten the deal at half the asking price. When Patricia asked a woman to include a handmade hat with her purchase, the woman laughed, as if to say, "yeah. I'm going to throw in something that took me 3 days for free. Get real." It was a refreshing reminder of local tradition, and Peruvian pride.
