Special Tour to Vilcashuaman

From Ayacucho, we made a special trip to Vilcashuaman, where the north-south Inca Road along the Andes crosses the east-west Inca Road going from the Amazon to the coast; an epicenter? Alas modern day versions of those roads miss the town by a wide margin. We had to make exceptions for two of our rules 1) not day-tripping more than 1-1.5 hours one way 2) not going on tours. We had already observed during this trip that there are a good number of Peruvians going around touring.To save time, once they reach their destination, they get on day tours that take them various tourist attractions. The tour more or less turned out to be just acceptable, wasted too much time on lunch, just enough time at Vilcashuaman. [John adds: "Photo ops, toilet stops" as sung to the tune of Junk by Paul McCartney. But seriously, The van was comfortable, the driver professional, and the guide was patient and knowledgeable, and spoke clear Spanish.]

Today Vilcashuaman is still an inhabited village. It would be otherwise unremarkable, except their church sits right on top of what is obviously a massive Inca temple. There are various other Inca structures throughout the village, big and small. I found the the place particularly sad. I don't think I have been anywhere that spelled decline more thoroughly than Vilcashuaman.

The tour had three destinations: Puyas de Raymondi (Giant Bromeliads), Intihuatana Archaeological Site, and Vilcashuaman Archaeological Site. First, the astounding Giant Bromeliads which were tall, flowering, and habitat for birds and bees.




It's planting time for corn as we see on the drive from the Bromeliads to the Intihuatana archaeological site.


Intihuatana is on a lake and features great views and lots of Inca stonework.







Check out the snake and flamingo reliefs.













And water channels.


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After lunch it's Vilcashuaman where the Spanish-built church sits right on top of an Incan Temple.


And just across the way is a 5-level pyramid and several surviving gates.




More shots of the plaza and church.






View from the church to the 5-level pyramid.


Sacrificial Stone.


Divining Stone. Water flowing down the 2 channels meet; then, the single stream will flow left, center, or right as determined by the Gods.


We head back to Ayacucho and as we descend to town we see a rainbow in the far hills. Wow!