|
There are no translations available.
THE THRID DAY INCA TRAIL Sayacmarca ("Town in a Steep Place") Sayacmarca was discovered by Hiram Bingham when he followed the old Inca road from Machu Picchu. In 1940, Dr. Paul Fejos changed the name to Inaccessible Town. This name is a perfect description of the ruin as it is inaccessible on three sides by steep drops down to the jungle below. Sayacmarca is located on a fork in the Inca Trail, with one fork going to Machu Picchu and the other to the Aobamba Valeey and the Santa Teresa River. Sayacmarca lies at 3,600m above sea level, on the tip of a very prominent ridge. The site is reached by climbing 98 steep stone steps up the edge of a mountain. Scholars are still not sure as to the real purpose of this ruin, as it is not fortified, does not have enough terraces to be an agricultural site, and the stonework, although very impressive, is not of the caliber of the important religious sites. The ruin was originally build by the Colla, the biggest enemy of the Incas before they became kings of the Peruvian highlands. The Incas improved the site that had only one weakness: there is not enough room for agriculture. The coordinates for Sayacmarca are 13°13'40.16"S, 72°31'2.03"W.  Phuyupatamarca ("Cloudlevel Town") In the stretch of Inka Trail between Sayacmarca and the next major ruin, Phuyupatamarca, trekkers will find some of the most impressive Inka trail engineering. Along one section the trail passes through a boggy area as a raised causeway. At another point it passes through a hewn tunnel, and at yet another point stones were set in notches cut in a cliff face to build up a surface wide enough to walk along where none existed naturally. Phuyupatamarca is is reached by descending a long flight of stairs, and near the entry the hiker finds a series of six flowing liturgical fountains or "baths". Terraces surround the place and a few hundreds of people could have lived there. Fifteen buildings, two plazas, bridges, stairways, and observation platforms hang halfway up the cliffside like a giant balcony. This site dominates the vast landscape, and when the clouds of the high forest descend into the valley, it gives the amazing impression of "floating" in the middle of the clouds. The coordinates for Phuyupatamarca are 13°12'25.81"S, 72°31'49.12"W. 
|
