My Travels In Peru

Pisac: The City of Partridges

Just over an hour's drive northeast from Cusco is the town of Pisac, located on the northern shore of the Urubamba River. It's a lively community of a few thousand people, offering visitors an opportunity to witness a genuine farmers' market, which takes place every Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday in the main square. People from the surrounding hilltop villages meet there with their counterparts from the valley to exchange produce. For example, potatoes and quinoa grown at the higher elevations are traded for corn and fruit grown in the valley. It's a real delight to see the square on a market day. 

It's full of produce and Andean women and children dressed in colourful garments. While the adults tend their stalls, the children go around with baby alpacas and lambs to have their pictures taken by tourists for a small fee. One little girl carries a newborn lamb in front of her inside a woollen pouch, slung around one shoulder. The lamb's fleece is so soft and white: it matches the knitted cap that she's wearing. It's as interesting as it is unusual because it has a bunch of white pom-poms that look like flowers attached to it in a circle. 

The women have their long hair braided. Some have one braid and others two. One woman has tied the two braids at the ends and shaped them like a circle on her back. Also, they all wear the typical Andean round hat with a brim.

Standing in the main square admiring the colonial architecture we notice something peculiar. The roof of one of the buildings has something interesting sitting on it. On close inspection, we discover that it's a pair of clay bulls, cemented right on top of the clay tiles that form the ridge. As we walk along the streets we see many more of them, and then we find them for sale in shops, so we stop to ask about their significance. The vendor tells us that it's a tradition (superstition) introduced by the Spaniards. They're meant to keep away evil spirits and to bring health and prosperity to the house's inhabitants!

Due to the advent of tourism there's now also a permanent artisans' market, where textiles and arts and crafts are sold to them. It's interesting because it has a large variety of items for sale, but it takes second place to the produce market. Visitors are drawn to Pisac in ever-growing numbers, but it's not the markets that are the biggest attractions: it's what sits above them.

Mount Pisac stands like a sentinel at the southern end of the Sacred Valley, towering over this little town. The Incas, and the Cuyos whom they conquered, had likely chosen to build the ancient citadel of Pisac in the mountain's shadow to honour the Apu of the same name. While the present day town sits beside the river, at the bottom of the valley, the ruins of its ancient namesake are above it on an intimidating hillside, most of which is terraced. The terraces are impressive but no longer used for agriculture. We came to Pisac to see the ruins of the ancient town, along with many other visitors, on a gorgeous spring day with not a cloud in the sky. The markets are an extra – a bonus!

We arrive by bus in the morning and start our ambitious climb to the ancient citadel above. The entrance to the archaeological park is just beyond the town square, right at the foot of the mountain. The ruins are scattered on its side and cover a large area.

Past the control point, endless rows of terraces confront us, and we aren't even close to any of the ancient structures. That's when we realize that we have bitten off more than what we can chew. Nevertheless, we're committed and we continue onward. The important thing is that we have plenty of water with us and we have good sun protection. At high altitude, cosmic and solar radiation is more penetrating and damaging, so we always go out with a wide-brimmed hats, long pants, and long-sleeved shirts. On the positive side, we're at much lower altitude than Cusco and we breathe easier. So, we take it easy and slowly make our way to the first archaeological area called Pisaqa, which is the name of a type of partridge that abounded in the area.