Day 928
Ingapirca
One of the reasons we had stayed in Alausi for three nights was that the Inca ruins at Ingapirca were closed until 3 January. These are the largest known Inca remains in Ecuador and we didn’t want to miss them. We set off early from El Tambo to get there before the rain came down and as luck would have it the sun was almost shining when we arrived, result.
This site was originally built by the local indigenous people, the Canari. They had named the area Hatun Canar but when the Incas arrived it was renamed Ingapirca, meaning Inca Wall. The Incas have the reputation of working to co-exist with the locals and that is what happened here. The Inca chief married the local princess, and both cultures traditions were tolerated. The Incas built an astronomical observatory and the Canari built the castle complex, they also built an underground aqueduct system to provide the whole place with water.
The most significant building was the Temple of the Sun, of which there are some remains. The Incas built this, their technique was to cut the stones so they could fit together without the use of mortar. The building was constructed in such a way that at the Solstices the sun would shine on a particular spot. They could also count the months of the year by how the sun hit the building. Both the Inca and the Canari worshipped the sun and moon and despite this area then as now being prone to heavy rain and thick mist they remained convinced that the gods had led them here.
Whilst I’m certain the Gods didn’t lead us there, we certainly enjoyed our roam around the remains. My favourite bit was not the temple but the remains of the Inca Road that ran the spine of South America linking Inca sites, from Machu Picchu in Peru to Pasto in Colombia. We are heading that way, but not on the Inca Road, far to many cobbles!
