FIRST DAY INCA TRAIL

Huillca Raccay

The second historic site is reached after about two hours. It is the Inca hillfort of Huillca Raccay high above the mouth of the river Cusichaca (Happy Bridge). The Incas, when they conquered the area, built a fort here since the site commanded an excellent view up and down the Urubamba valley and controlled the entrance to the Cusichaca valley. From the high plateau, a third site, Patallacta or Llactapata, can be seen. From here, there are great views of the Cordillera Urubamba (Urubamba mountain range) and the snow capped peak of mount Veronica

Patallacta or Llactapata ("Town on Hillside")

Hiram Bingham came to Peru in 1911 with a seven man expedition sponsored by Yale University and the National Geographical Society. Leaving Cusco in July 1911, Bingham and his team headed down the Urubamba Valley. Almost immediately the group discovered a major Inca site which they named Patallacta (also called Llactapata). they described it as "the ruins of an Inca castle". He had little time to investigate the ruins thoroughly, however. They were not studied again for another 70 years.

Patallacta is located between the Cusco and Machu Picchu on a stone-paved Inca highway, part of the Royal Road that climbed and twisted more than 5,000 miles through the Andes. The town, with its 115 dwellings guarded by a hilltop fortress, probably served as "a pit stop for Incas traveling between Cuzco and Machu Picchu," according to Ann Kendall, a British archaeologist who has spent 13 years studying the site. Agriculture sufficient to support perhaps 5,000 people flourished at 8,000 ft. above sea level, on the high slopes of the valley of the churning Cusichaca River.

Patallacta was burned by Manco Inca Yupanqui, who destroyed a number of settlements along the Inca trail during his retreat from Cusco in 1536 to discourage Spanish pursuit. In part due to these efforts, the Spanish never discovered the Inca trail or any of its settlements.

Today the land around Patallacta is powder-dry and barren. Fifteen families barely scratch a living from the soil, and almost nothing can be grown for the entire five-month dry season.

There is aother Inca site called Patallacta closer to Machu Picchu and higher. This site is currently being investigated by the Thomason-Ziegler expedition. It is not to be confused with the Patallacta at the start of the classic Inca Trail.