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“You need a cab?”
We had planned to walk from Cristo Blanco along the highway and visit the ruins of Q’enqo. With our later start that day, we had decided that if we were able to visit two of the sites included with our ticket, we would have gotten our money’s worth.
But, here was this cab driver…offering to take us to Q’enqo, Puka Pukara and Tambomachay. We could mark everything off of our list and frankly, believe it or not, I wasn’t tired of seeing ruins yet.
After some negotiation, with our driver insisting that these other sites were not as large as Sacsayhuaman, we settled on twenty minutes at each of the three sites and then a drive back to Plaza de Armas.
Down the road, we headed a short distance, and with the hilly terrain, were glad we didn’t have to walk. Arriving at Q’enqo, our tickets were punched and we entered the premises. Though there wasn’t much signage to let us know what we were seeing, we made our way through the site.
What we learned later, from the book the cab driver gave to us to look through, was that the site was the smallest of the four ruins and was built as a house and ceremonial site for an important Inca citizen. Nestled into a large rock on Socorro Hill, we entered from the rear of the site and found a fully intact ritual altar…a dark reminder of the sacrificial practices of the Incas.
The drive to our next destination wasn’t an extremely long one and we were soon arriving at the former military fortress of Puka Pukara. Located high above Cusco, the small site offers panoramic views of the surrounding mountains and was probably built there to give the military a great view over important parts of the empire. The site consists of large walls, terraces and staircases and is well marked, guiding you throughout.
Just across the highway was the ruins of Tambomachay. A short walk from the road, we anxiously quickened our pace, worried that we would not be able to see everything marked on the map given to us at the entry during our allotted twenty minutes.
An alternate name for Tambomachay is El Baño del Inca (The Bath of the Inca) and it was apparent with the still functioning aqueducts located at the rear of the site. Overhearing a tour guide informing his group that Tambomachay was thought to have been built to worship the god of water, we could definitely see that here in the peaceful, ancient retreat. Later, as we rifled through our cabbie’s book, we found that Tambomachay’s function was not certain…it may have served as a military outpost, a spa resort of the Incan political elite or maybe both.
We loved climbing to the top of the rocks to look down on the water features, however, we were a bit perplexed by our map. It appeared that there were other parts of the site, located nearby. Try as we might, however, we were unable to find them during our quick visit.
Keeping a close eye on the time, it seemed much too soon as we made our way back to the parking area to meet our ride back into town.
Though I could see that some may feel “ruin overload”, especially if they’ve already been to the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu, I still think that these four “other” sites are important to Cusco’s history and should not be missed. I would offer up one suggestion, however….negotiate for thirty to fifty minutes at Tambomachay. For such a lengthy walk, twenty minutes wasn’t nearly enough.
That being said…take a trip out to the outer limits of Cusco…it is important to see what the city itself, has to offer!
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Partial Tour Tickets-Sacsayhuaman, Q’enqo, Puka Pukara, Tambomachay
- http://www.cosituc.gob.pe
- Ticket Office Address: Av El Sol 103, Tourist Galleries, Of. 101, Cusco, Peru
- Hours: Monday to Saturday, 0800-1800, Sundays and holidays, 0800-1300
- Ticket prices: Circuit I, Sacsayhuaman, Q’enqo, Puka Pukara, Tambomachay, S/. 70, General, (about $21 US), S/. 40, Students, (about $12 US). Circuit II, Regional Historical Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art, Folk Art Museum, Koricancha Site Museum, Native Art Center Qosqo, Monument to the Inca Pachacutec, S/. 70, General, (about $21 US), S/. 40, Students, (about $12 US). Circuit III, Sacred Valley of the Incas sites, Pisac, Ollantaytambo, Chinchero, Moray, S/. 70, General, (about $21 US), S/. 40, Students, (about $12 US). Cusco Touristic Ticket, allows admission to 16 sites in Cusco, the nearby Sacred Valley and the South Valley, Cusco Tourist Ticket Integral – BTCL, S/. 130 (about $39 US). Cusco Tourist Ticket Integral for students-BEE, S/. 70 (about $21 US).
- Getting There: On foot, you can walk to Sacsayhuaman (and the adjacent Christ Statue) from Cusco, about 30-40 minutes, uphill. Walk from Plaza de Armas to the first ruin, Sacsayhuamán, by taking the road that runs along the right side of the Cathedral, and then turning left on Choqechaka road. Walk along the road and then take a right on the Atoc’sekuchi staircase. Climb the staircase until you reach a main road, where you will turn left. Walk along the road for a few minutes, and you’ll see the Cristo Rey statue. Turn left on the gravel road just past it and continue along it through a field to the entrance to Sacsayhuamán. By cab (recommended), S/. 10 (about $3 US). You also can negotiate with a driver who can wait and drive you to each of the other sites. After walking to the Christ Statue, I negotiated a rate of S/. 50 soles for the driver to take us to Q’enqo, Puka Pukara, Tambomachay and back to Plaza de Armas. We negotiated that the driver wait at each site for 20 minutes. However, with cabs being plentiful, you can use separate taxis as all of the ruins are situated along the main highway to Pisac. Taxi from Sacsayhuamán to Q’enqo, about S/. 5 (about $1.50 US). Taxi from Q’enqu to Puka Pukara, about S/. 8 (about $2.25 US). You can walk from Puka Pukara to Tambomachay. In addition to taxi to return to town, you can also flag down the next bus passing Tambomachay for S/. 1 (about $.30 US).