IMPRESIONANTE CAMINO INKA 2015

I recently the decentralized directorate of culture of Cusco concluded the conservation and maintenance work of the network of Inca roads in the following minutes we invite you through the magic of television to travel the 48 kilometers that constitutes this sacred network of Inca roads of machu picchu but we also want you to witness this formidable conservation work and the maintenance work carried out by our conservative workers under the command of the headquarters of the national archaeological park of machu picchu, the decentralized directorate of cusco culture through the headquarters of the national archaeological park of Machu Picchu During the month of February, maintenance and conservation work was carried out on the network of Inca trails in Machu Picchu.

The heritage chambers took a tour of this wonderful ritual path of the Incas so that your fellow viewers can appreciate this marvelous work of engineering. which today astonishes the entire world, the route of the Inca trail requires three days of exhausting but at the same time comforting walking that makes it a unique and unparalleled experience to discover this wonderful path, it starts from the piscacucho sector located at kilometer 82 of The Cusco Machu Picchu railway line At the beginning of the path, you cross a pedestrian bridge located over the Vilcanota River to begin the ascent towards a plain located on the left bank of the river in this sector.

The route allows you to see some small towns occupied by some families dedicated to agriculture, after traveling several kilometers, the ascent begins towards a high hill where the archaeological complex of Willy Caracas is located, made up of a series of rectangular enclosures built in stone. In the northern part of the monument, a semicircular space is located where offerings were made and rituals to the apus and the main Inca deities the location of wild-card acai is privileged since from here you can see the entire chain of mountains that make up the sanctuary of Machu Picchu in Caracas the stone constructions have trapezoidal niches double-jamb access windows and other architectural elements that indicate its ceremonial use.

After visiting this monument, the Inca trail leads to the lower part where the Salcantay River flows, which is born at the heights of the path. In this basin, the visitor encounters the archaeological complex of battles that It is made up of an ascending sequence of terraces adapted to the topography of the area. These platforms were dedicated to the cultivation of agricultural products for the Inca and their royal relief. At the top of the monument there are several sets of quadrangular enclosures that must have been used by the Inca. town that was dedicated to cultivation on the platforms in the lower part of Screens is close to the Salcantay River and there is a multitude or ceremonial place of impressive beauty since it is located on top of a rocky outcrop a few meters from the Pulti River.

Yours has a circular shape complemented by Rectangular houses, the interior is accessed through a narrow access that leads to a circular space where the finely crafted walls present large niches also carved in stone. purification path directed towards Machu Picchu both in Will Haraka and Pulpí Tus and Empata there, until the cleaning work, conservation and maintenance of the archaeological monuments of the Inca Trail and the complementary services intended for tourists who have returned since March 1 have been completed. to travel this pre-Hispanic route after visiting these archaeological sites we return to the path to ascend the winding path towards Guayllabamba first resting place after the walk on the way we arrive at the archaeological site of tunas moco where there are some small platforms and jumps a building with high walls similar to a callanca complemented by two rectangular enclosures, a long stone channel that flows into a semicircular ceremonial fountain where ritual ceremonies were carried out before resting in Guayllabamba.

We ascend the path that slides along the river ravine. Salcantay and we take a detour to the west side to reach the archaeological site of Páucar Campo, a formidable crescent-shaped construction erected on a system of platforms that further elevates the strategic location of this monument. Paucar Campo consists of several medium-sized enclosures. in the back and shows ceremonial spaces with a main enclosure with high walls in the front, complemented by two semicircular spaces on the sides and a wall with three windows from where there is a wide visual domain of the ravine in addition to being a place ceremonial Paucar Cancha was also an administrative control center since due to its strategic location no one could pass by there without being seen.

When located at the fork of the roads, it can be seen that to the right side of Páucar Cancha the path continues towards the snowy Salcantay to Exit through the area and Pampa, the current district of Mollepata in the province of Anta. On the left side, the path continues towards the archaeological sites of Inkaraqay, Inca Samaná, Guila and Guata, to exit towards the ravine. Dispatch in Ollantaytambo. The first day of the walk concludes in Guayllabamba where bolts We are at the checkpoint in order to resume the journey the next day from the Guayllabamba checkpoint. We begin the ascent towards the high peaks and the Warmi Huanusco pass.

In this section, we begin to appreciate the wide road with cobblestones on the edge. externally and in risk areas, wooden railings were placed for the safety of pedestrians. In other sections, retaining walls can be seen to control the slope of the road. As we move towards the top, we find the Ministry of Culture personnel carrying out drain cleaning work. To evacuate the rainwater that floods and affects the road, the climb becomes heavier until reaching the Ayapata sector where our staff worked on preparing the camping areas and eliminating weeds that grew in a destroyed way due to the constant rains.

The ascent through the Salcantay River ravine becomes heavier, the path becomes steeper and the legs are already taking their toll due to the effort made in the midst of the fog and constant drizzle that hangs over the landscape. A last effort allows us to reach the height. of four thousand 332 meters above sea level where the Guarne Guayos Pass is located, a gap that opens between the mountain chain that surrounds Machu Picchu. From here there is a wonderful natural landscape that makes the visitor feel as if he were facing face with the tutelary apus with the tie time with the machine with the Olympus of the Andean gods just a step away from distant pacha the natural landscape has changed noticeably from the lush vegetation of the inter-Andean valleys we pass to the icy mountains where wild straw abounds in In the midst of the silence that is stealthily cut by the discreet winds that comb the mountain throughout the month of February, the archaeologist Francisco O Arca has already directed the maintenance and conservation work of the network of Inca roads of Machu Picchu together with a group of hardworking workers.

Conservationists who worked in adverse conditions but achieved their goal of leaving the path clear for tourists on these icy peaks. We took advantage of the obligatory rest so that Francisco Huarcaya could explain the entire route of the path to us and, well, the traditional path that we have from kilometer 82 along the right bank starting at the kilometer 82 checkpoint passing through the leave for may sector arriving at the will cara hai archaeological complex then we ascend towards the archaeological site that is ray continuing to the archaeological site of the motorcycles we continue our journey towards the archaeological site of pataguas and then we continue towards the Pampa Lucha sector which is also our checkpoint and we continue towards the wta a power me why usca then we go down towards the Baja and Mayo Alto sector which is also our checkpoint continuing on our journey we arrive at the archaeological site From the Curaray River, continuing our journey, we arrived at the Cochapata sector, ascending towards the Labra and a Cura, who from Ronco Rajai again went down to the archaeological complex that is Kayak Mark.

We continued our way towards the National Archaeological Park of Machu Picchu. In this section, we found a wide mark. Then we arrived at the Chaquicocha checkpoint continue our journey towards the archaeological complex of Puyo Patamarca. From here we can see the archaeological complex of Inti Pata. We have Winne Buena. The path that continues towards the archaeological site of this point. From here we can see. Our national park or blockade of Machu Picchu, the path down to Pacasmayo Alto is completely paved and dates back to the time of the Incas. It is wide and slides in the middle of shallow ravines and noisy soils that the mountains are familiar with along the way.

We continue to find various groups of workers who finish clearing the undergrowth on both sides of the road while the road looks shiny. Not only was the road treated, but also the conservation of the lateral channels for the evacuation of rainwater when arriving. At the checkpoint of straw and mayo alto we also find the staff working on the adaptation of camping areas so that internal tourists can use the toilets. The toilets also look clean and renovated ready to be used by visitors. In the next heritage segment we will learn more about the Inca trail of Machu Picchu After visiting the Warmi Huanusco pass and resting in Pacasmayo Alto, we began the third day of the hike, beginning the ascent towards the archaeological complex where a priest falls.

The section begins with a laid path that soon begins to become a steep stone staircase that ascends in a sinuous manner towards the open of a cura style in the brief rest halfway up we turn our gaze to see the control and surveillance post of pacasmayo alto where the camping areas and the crystalline waters that come down from the lake stand out. snowy soft pack or chayo the ascent path has an original stone road that dates back to the Inca era and it is incredible that despite the passage of centuries, the pressure of visitors and inclement weather, this pre-Hispanic construction remains in the same condition after Ascending the entire journey we arrive at the archaeological complex of a Cura Tie where the staff maintains the architectural structures that are affected by the growth of vegetation.

A Cura High is a construction located in the middle part of a mountain. It has a semicircular shape and is made up of by two enclosures that complement each other and a central space of a similar shape with medium-sized windows, it is a religious enclosure whose windows are oriented towards the warm mountain and bathrooms here and due to the semicircular shape it presents, it is considered to be dedicated to the mother keel to Despite the remoteness of the area, the conservative workers carry out with dedication the work of conservation and maintenance of this valuable heritage of our ancestors.

Continuing the ascent, we reach a small pond that is a few meters from the summit. It is a fountain where the fox deer and Other animals typical of the area drink water, the tranquility of the waters and the impressive landscape that surrounds it generate spectacular images that further beautify the context. The ascent ends at the Room Curaca mountain pass and where the staff worked on adapting resting places. For tourists, since after overcoming the hard slope, a restful rest is appropriate. After appreciating the landscape, we begin the descent towards Sayas Marca along the same cobbled path that the Incas traveled on this purification pilgrimage to Machu Picchu.

The path has emotional moments such as When you cross a small tunnel carved from a huge rock that closed the path along the path, it is common to see large spaces that function as viewpoints. In this case, the viewpoint allows us to appreciate the path down and another small lagoon of dark waters in On the way down we see the maintenance personnel who have already completed their tasks on the Inca trail while in the distance we can already see part of the archaeological complex of that Jacques Marca. When we reach Xallas Marca, the traveler will find a stand that has an almost vertical position.

With approximately 97 stone staircases, the perfection of this construction is surprising due to the size of the lithic pieces and their adaptation to the topography of the area. It is called a mark. It is evidently located at the foot of the sacred Inca path to the park, the conventionality of Machu Picchu. This construction Obviously it is Inca because of the architectural structures, the shape of the entrances, obviously here we also have a ceremonial space that represents the crescent shape. Apart from that, we also have in the central part of this archaeological complex a huaca that is representing an anthropomorphic being in this sense, sayamarca It serves a ceremonial function and also an administrative function for the passage of two transplants through this area, both from the valley floor and also from high Andean areas, so Saiar Marca is currently an archaeological complex that has the fundamental ceremonial function that is associated with the mountains that They are located at the top on both margins, both the left and right and we can also indicate that it is associated with a jewel that is close to approximately 500 linear meters away that is called and an 8 marks mark.

Visitors can appreciate water sources ofceremonial and domestic use enclosures intended for housing narrow streets delimited by robust stone walls that remain unscathed over time double jamb doorways and a sacred huaca where you can recognize the carved profile of a human figure with arms extended on a black background as All the archaeological monuments that are located along the Inca trail, Isaias Marca, were also destined for religious rituals, here the staff of the Ministry of Culture carried out conservation and maintenance work in the front part at the foot of the main wall of Sayas Marca, a place in the Where the ancient rituals took place?

The stone constructions of the Inca road and the road itself unleash a series of questions regarding its construction. How long did the Incas take to build this entire monumental complex? What tools did they use? How many people worked on this wonderful work? How did they eat where? They slept, what method of work they used, what rituals and ceremonies they carried out, why so many sacred places, how deep they see them in their deities to justify such colossal works, the questions are endless to try to understand the extraordinary human effort made by the Incas to build this road network.

In the middle of the intricate geography of the Peruvian Andes we leave the mark there and continue the path towards the Chaquicocha checkpoint that has been installed by the decentralized directorate of Cusco culture. As soon as we start the march we visualize the archaeological site of Concha Marca located at the bottom of Sayas Marca on the banks of a stream that descends from the heights Concha Marca is made up of three enclosures located on top of a platform made up of five platforms that elevate the central part due to its architectural characteristics. This archaeological site was also intended for religious activities in pre-Hispanic times.

The path down is made up of wooden bridges that cross the abundant streams. The landscape changes gradually as we once again encounter the abundant vegetation of the ravines. After visiting Concha Marca, we continue the journey until we reach Chaquicocha, where the workers finish the conditioning work. of camping areas for tourists who travel the path throughout the year and resuming the journey our steps lead us towards the archaeological site of Phuyupatamarca which for the moment is hidden behind the hills with a dense blanket of fog the Inca trail in this section is impressive because the ancient Inca engineers adapted the route to the existing geography so we crossed this section where there is a curve built on a rocky outcrop that could not prevent the genius of the builders advancing in the middle of ravines and curves we arrived at a formidable landscape like tunnel dug in the bedrock, both the floor and the ceiling of the tunnel are made of stone and despite the interior humidity, while advancing in the midst of lights and shadows, the walker experiences the telluric force of the masters when overcoming the tunnel we continue advancing, the path does not stop After being surprised by the challenging road that overlaps the living rock as if imposing the strength and wisdom of man on the docility and adaptability of the terrain, after a long walk we arrived at Phuyupatamarca where the Cusco Ministry of Culture has a control and surveillance post.

The name of phuyupatamarca has never been so well placed since the dense fog that rises from the deep ravines does not cease throughout the day. Here the road also looks restful and clean with spaces to camp and spend the night. The drizzles are permanent and the abundant vegetation presents the variety of flora and fauna of the jungle in the next segment, my friends, viewers, we will know phuyupatamarca intifada and wiñay wayna before arriving at our wonder of the world and my friends, viewers in the previous segment, we had started on the road arriving at phuyupatamarca, being greeted by the incessant fog and a Persistent drizzle that permanently covered the landscape, after a long wait, the weather improved and the atmosphere cleared up, allowing us to contemplate the wonderful stone constructions of Phuyupatamarca.

Upon entering, we found a ceremonial fountain where crystalline water flows from the heights a few meters below. Appreciate a set of five ceremonial fountains, each of them has a channel carved in stone that leads the vital liquid from one source to another sequentially. The water flows throughout the day and all year round, according to the conservative workers. The central part of phuyupatamarca is made up of a sequence of 5 circular towers that are located ascending, have a circular shape and are connected by a paved access that adapts to the constructions. Internally, these towers have windows and free spaces for ritual practices, they are complemented by enclosures. small ones that served as residences for the Andean priests.

The complex of Phuyupatamarca is supported by a sequence of terraces or platforms that, in addition to serving for agricultural cultivation, also served the function of retaining walls supporting the buildings located at the top after contemplating phuyupatamarca we return to the Inca trail in a descending line and the route never ceases to surprise us because in some sections there are incredible works such as this sequence of 35 stairs carved in living rock followed by the exquisite paving that characterizes the entire road. The walk also takes us along a smaller tunnel than the previous ones but of the same admirable workmanship that surprises visitors a few meters below a viewpoint of the road allows you to appreciate from a distance in the lower part the archaeological complex of inti pata a system of platforms for agricultural use the exquisiteness of Inca engineering allowed these terraces, adapted to the morphology of the terrain, to function perfectly with their water channels for more than 500 years.

The inti pata platforms are connected by almost vertical stairs that allow transit from north to south and from east to west. As is necessary in agricultural work, in the lower part of Inti Pata, you can see a triangular-shaped enclosure that was evidently intended for ceremonial rituals. From Inti Pata, you can also see the bottom of the Vilcanota River valley from the Challabamba sector to kilometer 106 of the railway line on the banks of the sacred river we continue the descent along the stony path to reach Oubiña Higuain to a ceremonial complex that has terraces at the bottom and top.

The Inca constructions of enclosures and ceremonial places are divided into two parts. The lower part, which would be equivalent to the tour, has enclosures with high walls that resemble acai ancash double jamb doors trapezoidal niches windows narrow alleys and water channels that surround the walls of the buildings towards the middle part there is an enigmatic set of ten ceremonial fountains located in descending form where the water flows through small channels connected to each other each ceremonial fountain is small the space is like for a single person who was surely in charge of the rituals in the extensive terrace we find conservative workers working on cutting the vegetation that grows quickly in the growing areas their work is intense and begins with the first rays of light until sunset since time is of the essence and tourists will soon walk these routes again.

At the upper end of the monument is the hanan sector where It is accessed through a huge double-jamb door that indicates its sacred condition within the Hanan complex. It highlights an open space surrounded by a wall that has seven large windows arranged symmetrically located in the middle of the wall. On the side there are enclosures with walls full of niches that are supposed to be They were occupied by the Inca priests. The two ceremonial sets would symbolize the principle of duality characteristic of the Andean worldview in uña and huayna. A lichen cleaning process was also implemented on the Inca walls.

The workers have been trained to carry out this delicate task under the supervision from a biologist specialized in microorganisms, the Wiñay Wayna camp areas were also subjected to floor treatment, rainwater evacuation channels and hygienic services, being ready for public use during the month of February, along the Inca Trail, various work detailed to us by the archaeologist Francisco Huarcaya responsible for this road network. Well, in fact, during the month of February, three fundamental activities have been carried out: first, maintenance and conservation of archaeological sites and complexes and their associates, another of the activities is maintenance of the Inka road network rehabilitation another of the activities to be carried out which is maintenance of contemporary wooden structures in this case we are talking about the bridges lots of handrails we are also talking about signage and also this finally also works which are camping areas that have been carried out throughout the Inca Trail network starting from it from the Guayllabamba sector we are talking about Ayapata we are talking about Pampa struggle for Hai Mayo Alto we are talking about Chaquicocha Phuyupatamarca wind and good the work of the deconcentrated management of Cusco culture fundamentally the area of ​​archeology Machu Picchu carries out these activities under the direction of Dr.

Fernando Astete, in this case, in my case, as the person responsible for the Inca Trail network, at the same time I must also thank our staff, who are fundamentally those who do this type of work, the maintenance staff. conservative worker also our vigilant staff who remain for 24 hours at the different checkpoints that others have in the Inca Trail network also our personal guidance staff and controller at the different checkpoints that carry out this type of activities thank you all engineers, if it weren't for them, I don't think things would be like what they are seeing, the maintenance and conservation of the different joint archaeological sites of the road network, excited by the proximity of Machu Picchu, we embark on the final stretch of the Inca trail and advance almost in straight line towards the north towards inti point the road is surrounded by abundant vegetation that provides the necessary shade to cover itself from the solar radiation that increases with the passing of the hours on the road there are attractive sections that show stone paths piles and handrails of wood and some viewpoints that allow you to appreciate the valley floor with the Vilcanota River a few meters before reaching Inti Punku, there are half-built stone buildings that were surely abandoned by the Incas after the arrival of the Spanish.

A whim of the road can be seen. Upon arriving at Inti Punku where a small but steep slope forces us to spend the last of our energy arriving at Inti Punku, the visitor feels dazzled by the impressive view of the wonderful and even Inca of Machu Picchu and part of the Jairan Binda highway that connects with The district capital of Machu Picchu Inti Punku is a small set of stone constructions that evidently served as a control and administration post for the people and goods that moved along this route. It is common to find visitors who come here to appreciate Machu Picchu from another angle. and enjoy the wide panorama that opens with the mountains, valleys and ravines that can be seen from this point.

With the last strides we arrive at Machu Picchu, the wonder of the world, synthesis and summary of the colossal architecture of our ancestors, the summit of the Andean civilization, a reference for the humanization of nature cultural heritage of humanity pride of Peruvians and sign of self-esteem and cultural identity of all Cusco residents