restday El Tambo: Las ruinas de Ingapirca

March 27, 2017

We take a restday today to go see the ruins at Ingapirca, Quenchua for "Inca's Wall". It is cold overnight and we only reluctantly get out of bed. There are regular buses from El Tambo to the little town of Ingapirca, we are lucky to find one just leaving.

Twenty minutes later we are dropped off and the driver points the way to Las Ruinas. The site opens at nine and when we get there about thirty minutes after the English speaking guide has just left on a tour. You are not allowed to visit the site unguided, so we have to wait an hour for the next English language tour. In the mean time we visit the small museum and have a cup of coffee.

The tour is interesting. Our guide grew up in Ingapirca and is very knowledgeable while speaking excellent English. The site is located between four mountains and was used by the Canari people for their moon worship ceremonies. After the Incas came to this area from Peru they built their "Temple of the Sun" around a rock on a small hill opposite the Moon Temple. In between are the foundation walls of Canari and Inca houses and store rooms. Except for the Temple of the Sun most buildings were dismantled and the stones hauled away by the Spanish to construct their churches and buildings as far away as Cuenca.

The Temple of the Sun is Ecuador's premier Inca site and is unique in that the Inca's built it in a oval shape to mimic typical Canari architecture instead of the rectangular construction more typical for the Inca's.

After our guided tour we spent another hour walking a trail behind Ingapirca to see Inca baths, a beautiful valley and a rock formation that resembles an Inca face.

When we walk back to the little town a bus is just about to depart and we hop on back to El Tambo. For lunch we go back to Restaurant Del Tren, near the railroad station. We had an excellent dinner there last night and their set lunch for $4 each is also very good. So good that we go back to our hotel room, rest, and go back once more for dinner. We are still at about 3000 meters altitude and it is cold. Even though there are very dark rain clouds it stays dry though.

We spent the afternoon doing some route planning for Colombia and beyond.

Ingapirca historic site. In this photo you can see a section of an old Inca road leading to the Sun Temple.

These round holes called collkas were used for grain storage.

Inca terraces. According to our guide these gardens located between the two temples were used for medicinal plants.

The Canari people worshiped the moon. It was not allowed to look at the moon directly, therefore they had rocks like this. The holes were filled with water to look at the moon's reflection. Supposedly the holes are also used for astronomical observations.

Inca stonework and a stone used to slaughter llamas.

Inca stonework and the Temple of the Sun. The Inca people worshiped the sun.

Inca stonework. Trapezoid door and stone lintel. Doors faced East or West.

Passage way leading up the Temple of the sun.

View over Ingapica from the Temple of the Sun.

View down into the valley behind Ingapirca.

Natural rock formation called Inca's Face.

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