Sayacmarca

One of the cooler ruins along the Inca trail, built on the mountainside in a very inaccessible area, reached by a narrow and steep stone stair. It's easy to see how this stronghold could be defended from intruders. It was likely a religious or ceremonial place, for rituals on the way to Machu Picchu, and likely also a watchtower over the valleys below.

Great views. Cool history behind this site. The stairs up are narrow and steep.

A super steep stairways lead to the amazing temple. A lot of things to explore here. There are multiple layers on this site. They all surrounding a giant single stone representing Mother Earth in the center of this site. Which one side of the stone was cut and looks dark due to constant smoke during sacrifice ceremony for years. Llama bones were discovered in front of the stone which was for sacrifice. Highly recommend if you have enough energy to climb up during Inca trail.

Another example of Inka life, close to Cusco. Worth a visit, but make sure you get a good guide.

Impressive fortress You reach Sayacmarca on your second or third day of the 4-day Inca Trail (depending on the concrete stops you do). It's an impressive fortress in the middle of the Andes, with an awesome view. You need to be a bit physically fit since you have to climb (again) lots of stairs (and you've been walking quite a lot before that).

We went to this place along the Inca Trail and were not disappointed. It is not nearly as big as Machu Picchu, but it is still huge. It was fun to explore with fewer people around and speculate what the different rooms and areas were for.

Beautiful Inca site

@thriveadventures @pachamamatours great times