Tipon - water terraces built by the Incas in Peru

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

The Incas knew how to live in harmony with nature, they skillfully inscribed their cities and fortresses in the surrounding landscape. Without breaking, they supported. If there is a source of water at the top of the mountain, then the task of the Incas was to help him get down, and then use the water for his needs. And they did it, I must say, surprisingly well.

An example of this collaboration is the water terraces of Tipon, built under the Viracocha Inca. It is imperative to see this miracle of nature and human activity if there is an interest in the culture of the Incas.

How to get to Tipon

It's easy to come to Tipon. The archaeological park is located in the town of the same name, 30 km from Cusco. Coming from Cusco, you need to take a small bus called Los Leones. In the center, it is easy to find it near the Cathedral of San Francisco, and then it goes to the Avenida de la Cultura and, without turning, continues its way to the center of Tipon. The journey costs 2 salts.

If you go from Pikiyakta and Rumikolka, as we did, then it is even easier. You just need to stop the first bus you come across in the direction of Cuzco. There are no other options. Five to seven minutes and one and a half salt, and you are on the road to the archaeological park.

And this is where the hardest part begins. Whether you have arrived in the city center or are standing on the highway, you still have 3 or 4 km in front of you, going up. Of course, you can overcome this on foot, but, they say, you have to spend at least an hour and a half, a very steep climb.

But as you know: where a tourist needs help, there is always a taxi driver. They are on duty right on the track and offer their services. We paid 10 soles. And it seems to me that they overpaid. But our taxi driver did not want to bargain. When we went back down, the same amount was announced to us. Another driver agreed to 8, and then reduced it to 7. But we decided to go down on foot. But we got to the bus station in 40 minutes and, taking the Los Leones bus, went to Cusco.

Terraces of Tipon

So, the terraces. If you are the owner of Boleto Turistiko, then your visit has already been paid for. In addition to being eminently pretty, it also offers several activities.

You can walk down the terraces, look at the waterfalls, look at the aqueducts and understand - they brought water here, and everything that can be imagined was once grown on the terraces. You can also see the built houses, which are on a higher level, you can climb up to the round tower. The architecture gives an idea of the building skills of the Incas.

There are no giant megaliths like in Sacsayhuaman, but the method of adding stones is the same. And this makes it possible to make the assumption that the terraces were really built by the Incas following the example of Tambomachai, where megalithic architecture is still present. A beautiful and exact copy of the Incas. But who is responsible for the original?

Upper Terraces of Tipon

You can also climb the uppermost terraces and view the Inca canals from a low height. This is all informative and beautiful, only there is no way to get a true understanding of the Inca water system.

If this is the task, then you need to climb to the highest level, to Pukara. The road there is steep, but if you start not from the lower level, but from the upper terrace, then part of the path can be shortened. At the top there is another building with springs in the center. There is also a pool-like structure nearby.

And to the very top there are steps. Water descends along them into the aqueduct. Descends from the very top of the mountain. No matter how long we climbed these steps, it seemed that their number was increasing. Finally, they had to surrender, and in front there were hundreds of steps, in the center of which water ran along the aqueduct. We haven't figured out what the source is. But the patience and precision of the Incas in the construction of such complex structures is respected.

Water source in the mountains of Peru and the Inca canal

If you go to this side of the Sacred Valley of the Incas, it will be more convenient to visit Tipon paired with Pikiyakta and Rumikolkoiza one day.