1,000 feet above Pisac

On Friday, we took a hike around the Incan ruins that lie above the town of Pisac.  

With our local guide, Vico, we learned more about the Incan civilization and Andean spirituality. 

The ruins in Pisac include structures that served religious, military, and agricultural purposes, suggesting that this was an important community in the ancient civilization.  We first visited the fountains where visitors had to ritual cleanse themselves before entering Pisac.  Later we learned more about the agricultural terraces where they grew a surplus of corn and potatoes for the community.  These terraces are among the preserved in Perú.

The view of the town and surrounding Andean mountain communities were impressive!  It is no surprise that a relationship with nature was important for the Incans.  One interesting fact was that travelers within the Incan empire would touch the the rocks upon their arrival to a new town to feel a connection with the Earth and to mitigate feelings of homesickness. We hope that our students also feel this connection with our community. 

As we approached the town, we had a perfect aerial views of the town.  The students had a lot of fun identifying their homes from above.  

It certainly was a difficult (and steep!) approach into town, bu the students handled it well and had a lot of laughs along the way.  In addition, we turned this hike into a community service opportunity by cleaning up trash along the way--our way of giving back to the people of Pisac!