Ingapirca, Ecuador

I decided it would be a good way to spend the new year by visiting some Incan Ruins. The ruins at Ingapirca are the largest of its kind in Ecuador and the most northern on the Incan trail. While Ecuador is not known for its ruins as much as Peru this site was still important the expansion of the Incan empire. It was most likely built as stop along the trail for the Incan military to restock supplies and rest up.

I arrived in the late afternoon and it was covered in fife hoc really added to the effect and made it quite cool. You need to enter with a guide but besides her and a family from Riobamba we were the only ones.

The Incans built on top of the site of the Cañari people who originally lived there and still do. Remains of their oval structures could be seen below the trapezoidal structures of the Incans. You could see the remains of many buildings, storage places for grain, their medicinal gardens and on top of it all the Temple of the Sun. This was built in accordance to the movement of the sun and on each Equinox was designed so the sun would shine through the door onto a special stone where they might have their offerings or sacrifices for the gods.

The stone work was amazing and perfectly cut so that no holes existed between the stones. Around you could find stones with turtles, Suns and Snakes carved into them. Not far was a bathing complex carved into stone. And even a natural cliff that looked like a face (supposedly an Incan farmer).

Eventually the Spanish took their land with the help of the Cañari people who were still not happy the Incans had taken theirs.Read more