The ancient ruins of the Incas: Pisac.

Our LatAm-2025 trip continues!…

So far, we’ve checked out the mysteriously intriguing Nazca Lines, strolled around both Lima and Cusco, and fed llamas and alpacas at the Manos de la Comunidad farm.

As to the coming few days, our main goal was to hike the Inca Trail and reach Machu Picchu, but first, we’d spend another day acclimatizing – this time not in Cusco but near it, visiting a couple more ancient Inca towns: Pisac and Ollantaytambo. We’d take a bus there, then afterward we’d be on-foot all the way up to Machu Picchu. Something like this:

So, first – the ruins of the ancient Inca fortress city of Pisac. The scale isn’t the most impressive, but we did need to acclimatize – so better here than kicking our heels in Cusco for another day. All righty; let’s go!…

Yes, people lived here, served in the army and other state institutions, and worked in the fields – roughly 1000 to 500 years ago…

Since the Incas left no written records, and their famous knotted writing system (quipu) remains undeciphered, what exactly happened here remains mostly a mystery…

These days, only tourists – and llamas! – roam the ancient ruins ->

The altitude is ~3500 meters. Walking up and then back down feels most unusual if you’re not used to it.

Doorway:

This hole – for tying doors shut. And keep in mind, this hole was drilled into granite without iron tools! Quite something…

All the buildings are built rather “economically” – not like in the capital, where it’s block-to-block, stone-to-stone, fitting perfectly. Here, the construction was simpler. But you can still find “proper” blocks. This kind of masonry was usually used for religious structures. For example:

The views from above – not bad at all. But that’s to be expected in the mountains :) ->

By the way, answering the common question, “What cameras do you use?”, I’m using a Sony A1, others use their smartphones, and OR has some sort of compact camera. DZ has a variety of serious mega-kit – plus a drone…

I especially love “the Little One” (that’s what we call it) – the red one. It’s real good when you want to capture details. For example – of Inca burial sites on the opposite cliff…

Mummified bodies were placed in these very caves. Obviously, not everyone was buried here – there wouldn’t have been enough space (these aren’t the Paris Catacombs:). It’s likely that only nobility and prominent military leaders were put to rest here ->

Gold and other valuable artifacts were buried here too. Later, of course, the Spanish looted everything. And about a hundred years ago, American researchers signed an agreement to take the mummies away to be studied – but the Peruvian authorities failed to specify a time limit for these studies; therefore, the mummies are still “temporarily-forever” stored somewhere in the U.S.

The mummified bodies were placed in a seated position, with knees tucked in and hands pressed to the head. Sort of like “leave the world the way you came into it”. DZ also pointed out that art historians believe that the The Scream by Edvard Munch depicts a Peruvian mummy – one the Norwegian artist might have seen at the 1889 World’s Fair in Paris!…

See for yourself! ->

OR has at least two soft-spots: penguins and cacti. Meaning, whenever there’s a chance to see either – she’s there, photographing them! And sometimes she gets some really great shots [applause!] ->

And here she is taking it (in case you needed proof!) ->

That’s all I have on the ruins of Pisac, folks Time to move on!…

The best photos from LatAm-2025 are here.