Willka T'ika & Pisac

Willka T'ika ( willkatika.com) is situated 75 minutes north of Cuzco and a little more than an hour- depending on the cars- from Pisac.
There is absolutely no sign of garden from the outside, until stepping inside.

    From the right- the street before going onto the gravel road leading to Willka T'ika.

A ceramic shop is situated about 400m from Willka T'ika, where all the plates, cups and bowls which are used here come from.





                                     Willka T'ika means sacred flower in Quechua.
Carol, the owner and the one who had all the ideas about how to build a 26-room hotel from stones and a tree, came to Peru for the first time 26 years ago. She was lucky her then-husband David came with her for she was very smartly robbed in the market place. However, that did not stop her from returning each year for the next 10 years and finally buying land in the Sacred Valley. Since then, she has built without any professional plans, workers, permits an unrepeatable resting place for all those who are waiting to reminded of beauty and peacefulness.

After resting, getting used to the altitude and only starting to discover the beginning of the seven gardens, my dad and I decided to go to the Incan ruins of Pisac. Pisac is thought to have been built during 1440. Some suggest as victory over other ethnic groups, some in protection of Cuzco from attacks.

The picture is a bit twisted...
The Incas were unbelievable in building terraces and their homes on the most incredible heights- 3500m and more. The distance from terrace to terrace start from being 1m-1.5m at the very bottom to 5m, 6m at the very top.

There are not only ancient ruins but also a town called Pisac, situated just underneath the ruins. The town is famous for its huge market with colourful things.

Two local girls at the market, wearing traditional clothes.

             
    A lady, her daughter and a baby goat, sitting in front of the Pisac market.

                                            

                                                                         A lady and her baby.



back to the ruins...

            

 

The Incas constructed agricultural terraces on steep hillsides which enabled them to produce more food, which was difficult to do at this height.

The placed each stone incredibly close together, making them last as long as the do. Here you can see how almost absolutely no gluing material was needed to put the stones together.
                                                                                                  
The Incas constructed houses, baths and temples on top of the mountain of Pisac.

Here, I am touching a different type of rock than the one the terraces are made out of. This is at the very top of the mountain, where the Sun Temple is.

On top of some of the terraces.

The ruins from bellow.

Pisac over looking the Secret Valley.
                                                       Left- the town of Pisac. Right- terraces.

The town from above.

In the middle of two mountains, the Incas managed to build terraces all the way from up to down. The ruins of the temples are to the right.
more
More terraces going down.

Just outside the town of Pisac.

   Once going into the less touristic parts of Peru, one come upon people making handmade-mud building bricks. The Peruvians use them to build all their houses and walls.