Pisac

One of the things that is always mentioned that you should do when you’re in Cusco is to visit the Sacred Valley. Now, we didn’t really know what that entailed. When we finished the Inca Trail, we started briefly looking into it and found that there are three main sites that are normally associated with ‘visiting the Sacred Valley’; Pisac, Ollantaytambo and Chinchero; plus the site of Moray, which is further away but is sometimes included in the conversation.

We had briefly stayed in Ollantaytambo in between finishing the Salkantay Trek and starting the Inca Trail. Admittedly it was dark for the majority of the time we were there, but we did briefly see the site from a distance as we were in the minibus, driving to the start of the Inca Trail. So we weren’t too keen to head back there. Moray seemed to be too far away to incorporate into a trip with the others so we discarded that idea. Added to the fact that we’d seen quite a few impressive ruins on the way to Machu Picchu and we were finding it hard to motivate ourselves to book one of the day trips to visit the three typical Sacred Valley sites.

We decided to just visit the one site and to do it independently. We chose Pisac, as it is the closest site to Cusco and we had read during our brief research that there was a nice walk from the village to the site. So we thought we could have a nice relaxed day doing the one site rather than trying to see all of them when we were not that excited to do so. It turned out to be an excellent decision.

Contents

Getting to the Pisac site

Walking up to the ruins

Getting back

Final thoughts

Getting to the Pisac site

Getting to the village of Pisac turned out to be very straight forward. We just needed to walk half way down the street ‘Puputi’ and there was an obvious collection point for a collectivo to Pisac. Now if you haven’t come across a collectivo before, it is like a cross between a bus and a taxi. It involves a mini-bus that goes on a certain route, but generally only leaves once it is full. Whilst there is a level of uncertainty involved in travelling by collectivos, they are probably the best and most cost-effective way of getting around in Peru for short to medium length journeys.

We were waiting less than ten minutes before it filled up and we were off. The journey took about 45 minutes and cost us 6 soles each (so about $3 in total for the one-way journey). The scenery during the journey was really nice and we were dropped off at the bridge on the outskirts of Pisac.

Pisac is not a big place, so you just have to walk across the bridge and go straight for another five minutes to get to the main square. We had had quite a lazy morning, so it was lunch time by the time we got to this point. We’d bought some snacks and had planned on sitting in the shade of the trees in the main square to eat them but this was not to be…

It turns out that Pisac had used the time with few tourists during COVID to start renovating the main square, it was just unfortunate for us that they were yet to finish.

So we crossed the square and headed up the slope. This is the way to get to the entrance to the archeological site but it is also where the entrance to the famous market is. We had a quick look and it seemed to be better quality versions of the items that everyone tried to sell you in Cusco, plus a few different stalls. It might be worth a closer look if you were planning on getting souvenirs.

Walking up to the ruins

Not knowing what to expect, I was fairly impressed with the steep walk up.

First, you need to pass the entrance huts and pay for your ticket. This is the one down side with only visiting the one site. The ticket includes entrance to the four sites listed at the beginning of this article, and there is no option to pay less for just visiting one site. But never mind, it turned out to be worth it…

Once the ticket is bought, you continue up the slope and start walking past vast terraces. Whilst the route is steep and tiring, the ancient walls are impressive and the views over Pisac village and the Sacred Valley get better and better the higher you get.

Now at this point, in my ignorance, I thought that we’d basically seen the site. Maybe at the top there’d be a few buildings and that would be it. And I was quite happy with that, it would have been a nice way to spend a couple of hours. So when we got to the remains of what we were told was the village, we were happy to have a look around and try and apply the knowledge we’d learnt during the Inca Trail, such as trying to guess which buildings were more important based on the shape of their doorways.

But then we saw signs pointing further up the hill suggesting there was a temple. So we carried on walking up. First came the viewpoint, looking over the new village and the valley. From below we had thought this would be the top of the hill, but it was just an outcrop.

The path carried on and after a bit more walking we came across the temple. But it wasn’t just one building, but a whole different complex. It was a very impressive site and even we could tell that more effort had gone into the stonework than in the village below.

So this must be it surely? Vast terraces, a whole village and a separate temple complex. And yet there was another path heading up the hillside so we thought we may as well check out what was up there. Maybe it was just a viewpoint looking over the sites we’d already seen?

Well there were nice views but the path kept on going. More and more stairs, a tunnel through the rock face and yet more stairs. Eventually we got to the top of the hill and we couldn’t believe it. On the other side of the hill there were more terraces and what looked like at least two more villages. We are normally quite good at researching what we are going to visit. Not to the point where we know exactly what we’ll see but we have a general overview. Not knowing about the scale of Pisac meant we were amazed. The place was just huge and mightily impressive.

Getting back

This is an advantage of not planning properly, you can be pleasantly surprised at what you find. Of course, there are disadvantages. We were getting a night bus that evening and thus needed to be back in Cusco at a reasonable time. That meant that we were unable to properly explore the other parts to the site. We were also getting a bit worried – it had taken a long time to get to where we were. So we were quite relieved that there was a path heading around the middle of the hill back towards Pisac village. This path missed out the higher sites and rounded the hill to link back up with our original trail at the ruined village, above the first terraces. This path also passed by the ‘new terraces’, providing great views of this side of the hill as well.

We walked back to the point where the collectivo had dropped us off and waited. The first collectivo that came was filled before we could get on but less than five minutes later a coach pulled up that had spare spaces. The return journey, therefore, took a bit longer but was only 5 soles per person. And we still made it back in good time to grab our bags and get the night bus.

Final thoughts

From entering the archeological site at the check-point to getting back to the same place, took about four hours. And yet we could have spent longer. So I’m really not sure how one of these organised day trips can possibly see the three different sites all on one day. There is a road that goes up the other side of the hill, so I’m guessing you miss the climb and just get to see the ruins on that side of the hill rather than the whole site. But this is a shame, we really enjoyed the walk up, with the ever-improving views and the build-up in importance of the ruins you see. It really contributed to a thoroughly enjoyable experience. One that we would definitely recommend to anyone visiting Cusco. We would also recommend doing it independently, so that you have time to explore the site properly. The ticket you have to buy is valid for three days (or ten if you buy the full ticket for all of the sites in the area) so you have time to visit the other sites in the Sacred Valley on another day if you wish to.

But however you decide to do so, check out Pisac, as it’s an amazing place.