Steep Hike to the Secrets of the Sacsayhuaman Inca Archeology Site

I have been in Cusco for ten days, and now it is time to make the steep hike to the secrets of the Sacsayhuaman Inca Archeology Site! I have somewhat gotten accustomed to the elevation; however we are still at 11,400 feet (3,470 m) above sea level! And the problem is that the Sacsayhuaman site is a steep hike straight uphill for almost a mile; let’s go!

The Steep Hike

I start my hike from La Plaza de Armas in central Cusco. The first part of the hike is in the narrow cobblestone streets of Cusco, and I am heading up towards the archeology site. I go to the end of the street and there are stairs to continue the hike. I start walking up the stairs and must stop every few minutes to catch my breath.

After hitting up the steps for twenty minutes, I saw in front of me was the still functioning aqueduct of the Incas. There were structures and canals from the days of the Incas. I hike along the side of the canal and took several photos of the structure and the canals. I continued my hike for several minutes and realize I was going the wrong direction to the Sacsayhuamán archeology site. When I returned to the aqueduct, I saw the sign pointing to go in the other direction.

Now, as I am going in the correct direction and still walking up the stairs; I walk alongside another man walking the same direction. The man’s name was José Louis, and he did not speak English. So, the rest of our conversation was in Spanish. As we walked up the rest of the hill, he told me some of the history of the area, pointed out different plants along the way, and we continued up the mountainside.

Secrets of the Sacsayhuaman Inca Tour

We arrived at the entrance of the site, and José told me that he was a tour guide at the site. He had walked up here to look for tourists that wanted a guide that spoke Spanish. I asked him what his price for the tour was, and I agreed to his price. I paid my entrance fee into Sacsayhuamán. He was a licensed tour guide at the site and did not have to pay the entrance fee.

José told me more details about the history of the site. The Sacsayhuamán complex was built by the Incas in the 15th century. Huge stone walls and buildings were constructed of huge stones and built on the site. The workers of that time did not have steel and using other rocks cut the boulders with exact dimensions to fit them together tightly without mortar.

The complex was built up the mountain at 1,000 feet (300 m) above the Inca capital of Cusco and was a combination of living quarters, a fortress, and temples. The complex was used for less than 200 years until 1533 when the Spanish conquistadors arrived in Cusco.

Once the Spanish arrived in the area, they tore down whole sections of the complex and hauled the rocks down the mountain to build the cathedrals, churches, and government buildings using the same rocks. Today, probably only forty percent of the original complex remains. The remaining rocks were too large for the Spaniards to move, so the remnants still remain.

Mountainside Sancris Restobar

Having a Beer after a day of Exploring Sacsayhuaman.

I wrapped up my tour with José, said our goodbyes, and started the trek back down the mountainside. José stayed to guide another group of tourists and tell them the rich history of the site. Not far from the entrance of Sacsayhuaman, I discovered the Sancris Restobar, a bar with a great view of the city of Cusco sprawling below. I stopped at the bar, drank a couple beers, rested, and enjoyed the city view before I headed back to town.