Off to visit the Ingapirca Ruinas

PHOTO ALBUM —>> https://photos.app.goo.gl/jiGaToWWsbpijb6C7

This was day 8 in Ecuador for us and we were headed to Ingapirca, the most significant Inca ruins in Ecuador. Milton arrived and we were off heading through the Andes.

Exciting drive with Milton

1st the Islesia Del Ecuador

It wasn’t too long before we had stopped. Milton wanted to show us the 1st and oldest church in Ecuador, the Islesia Del Ecuador. Built or founded in1534, when the 1st Spanish arrived.

it is holy for the Santisima Virgen Maria natividad de Balbanera, (sacred to Mary the mother of Christ in the Catholic Bible). It was easy to see that this was an old the structure by the architecture.

Exhibited inside the back area were an ancient organ/piano and other relics. Plus artifacts taken from the Incas. In front there was a well with an old hand pump, which Milton demonstrated still works!

Yes, he pumped up water. Across the road were food stands where ladies were roasting Guinea pigs, no we didn’t stop to buy any.

Along the rest of the way Milton entertained us by pointing out the many fields of quinoa. The fields ranged from greens to lovely pinky reds as the grain ripened.

We saw the dairy farms with women waiting by the roadside to have the milk jug’s collected. Fields of golden wheat and oats with groups harvesting the produce by hand. They were amused to see me taking a photo.

We reach a detour in the road where we had to go onto a newly dug route. Milton explained that there had been a terrible landslide which had taken out the road and part of a town plus killing a number of residents. This newly dug road was along what was previously an old, very narrow, steep route. It was still being dug and so really dusty and rough.

Therefore when Milton became very quiet and was concentrating on driving down this rough road we didn’t really think anything of it. In fact what had happened was the steering had stiffened and Milton was having a hard time keeping our vehicle on the road.

We reached the town at the bottom of the hill and arrived at a garage. That was when we were told the steering was not responding properly. We had basically slide downhill, around corners and nudged into the garage.

Straightway there were a few mechanics taking a look under the van and under the hood. The bottom line was the steering cable was broken and the steering fluid had leaked out. Believe it or not, but in half an hour the steering was fixed, the fluid replaced and we were underway.

At the top of a mountain opposite the town Milton stopped to point out the landslide that had occurred across the town to us. Off we drove to the Ingapirca Ruins.

Ingapirca Ruinas

Ingapirca, this archeological site is located in the Cañar province. Ingapirca is composed of two Quichua words: Inga meaning Inca and Pirca which means wall. We arrived and Milton arranged for a special, private, guide to take us around the ruins. Our guide Angel was excellent. He started by giving us the back ground history of the site:

Angel told that In 1463, the Inca warrior Pachacuti and his son Tupac Yupanqui began to take over the land we now call Ecuador. In that they began by defeating the people of the sierra including the Quitus tribe, (the people for whom modern-day Quito is named). He said that he was also a descendent of this tribe, the Quitus, of which very few folks still recognize as a tribe any more simply because the tribes have blended together. The Incas didn’t need to fight, they simply negotiated a take over. Saying that a peaceful transfer of power was better than a war which they garenteed they would win.

We were shown how the walls of these ruins are remarkable, held together in the typical Incan way of being cut to perfection without using any adherent, as is typical of all Inca builds.

Apparently, when the Spanish arrived they took many stones from the structures to use in their buildings. However, since the site was rediscovered many of its blocks were returned by the locals once they recognized them as coming from the important site.

The entire site is actually quite large and integrated by roads. We only toured the main area where we were shown the “holes” made as food deposits. Where the houses had been situated, along with a reconstructed home.

A cemetery, where the very important leaders were buried along with their wives and house workers. All tucked up together for eternity.

An astronomical observatory, where the stars were studied. The Incas having a year comprised of 28 days in a month. Angel showed us how they harvested the threads for weaving. And oh so much more.

The famous Temple of the Sun which was central to their beliefs. Therefore the temple was the most important building in the entire complex. It was constructed with an oval platform which makes it unique, since other Inca’s ruins have circle platforms. This building also offered the best view of the complex and the valley beyond.

After our tour we could have visited the museum, but we decided to opt for lunch as it was getting late.

Lunch was an education too. We decided to try an Ecuadorian option called a Humitas or steamed fresh corn cakes. Humitas are made using fresh corn, which is ground with other ingredients, (ours had fresh cheese), and then stuffed in a fresh corn husk and steamed.

In Ecuador, humitas are very popular in the Sierra or Highland region, especially in cities like Loja, Cuenca or Quito, and they are typically eaten for breakfast or with the afternoon coffee….And it was amazing!! It was delicious, both the flavor of the cornbread and the cheese with the slight corn husk flavor blended.

We were then on the road for our next destination Cuenca.

Milton was to drop us at our hotel and then had to drive all the way back to Quito. So, when we arrived at our hotel and found it locked up it was quite concerning. However after 15 minutes of knocking, ringing the bell, banging the door, finally a young man appeared. We guessed he had been sleeping, Milton was most annoyed.

Then when we were shown to our room we found it was tiny, tiny….we measured it at 9ft by 9ft. Yes, it was very disappointing. It was also set right off of a city street and was very antiquated.