Ecuador - Ingapirca 2007

Ingapirca is a town in the Cañar Province, Ecuador and the name of an Incan ruin site just outside the town itself.

The ruins are the largest Incan ruins in Ecuador. The most significant building is the temple of the sun, an elliptical shaped building constructed around a large rock. The building is constructed in the Incan way without mortar. The stones were simply chiseled and fashioned to fit together perfectly. The temple of the sun was positioned so that on the solstices, at exactly the right time of day, sunlight would fall through the center of the doorway of the small chamber at the top of the temple. Most of this chamber has fallen down.

To get to Ingapirca you can either take a car ride from Quito (the capital) which lasts about 8 to 10 hours, or you can take a plane which last about 45 minutes. We decided to take the plane ride because although the scenery is absolutely beautiful, we just didn't have the time to do the entire car ride.

Cuenca is the main destination when trying to get to Inpapirca, and Cuenca is absolutely amazing. The streets are much more colonial, and everything is much more cleaner. I fell in love with Cuenca because the city didn't seem quite as hectic as Quito and there was much more of a tourism feel to it.

On your way towards Ingapirca you pass through the small towns of the Cañares people and you get to see all their tradition. Not much has changed in this part of Ecuador. People still live off their farms, they still dress like in the old days, and they still talk in Quechua (an indigenous form of talking).

The ruins themselves are quite amazing. You get to see the Inca influence in these ruins and you get a sense of amazement while standing on top of the temple of the sun. The little tour of the ruins allows you to not only see the ruins, but you get to go along a small trail that leads to "La Nariz Del Inca", and a small museum built to show the history of the Cañares tribe.

While we walked around the area, indigenous people who have lived there for years had items they were selling. These items are not your ordinary items that can be purchased anywhere. As a matter of fact these items should probably never have been on sale but these people need to make money. What items am I talking about?

The Cañares people would bury their deceased with different kinds of pottery, carvings, or tools. As we're heading back towards the main entrance to the ruins an old lady stops me. She lifts up a piece of cloth and shows me that she has items that are over 500 years old. I see items that I'm even afraid to hold in my hand, but I doubt their authenticity. As she's showing me all these items I begin to see that she's right, and they're not fakes. These things are real. I want to take everything home with me, but I can't. I'm afraid I'll get stopped for taking ancient ruins with me. I bargain with the old lady and decide to take a bunch of carved stones which represent the Inca Sun.

As I'm holing the stones I'm thinking that perhaps I got my chain yanked. We decide to stop by the local museum and everything the lady had was on display on the museum. This of course meant that what she was selling was real. It's a shame in a way because these items should be preserved to show the history of the area and it's people but foreigners like me treasure such old items and decide to purchase them.

I've yet to visit Machu Picchu, but this trip to Ingapirca was definitely not a let down. Mom and dad who have been to Machu Picchu tell me it's almost identical with the exception of the scale of things.

Cuenca Ingapirca pictures:

As you can see, Cuenca looks absolutely clean and it's filled with vibrant colors.


Religious or not, churches are wonderful architecture in this part of the world.


Most of the buildings here are not fixed. They are kept this way to show their history.


As you can see, not much has changed since the Spaniards came to Ecuador.


These indigenous women are the normality in Cuenca.


This yummy treat is known as "Rompope". It's basically egg whites beaten to a point where they become fluffy. They add fresh fruit and some sweetener.


Yours truly trying on an authentic hat for the cold and some ponchos.


At the entrance of the ruins you can see wild llamas relaxing and letting people take their picture.


The ruins at Ingapirca.


If you think this looks familiar to Machu Picchu, you're right.


That's known as the temple of the sun.


This colorful fellow is known as "El Caballo Del Diablo" (The Devil's Horse)


What do you see there? Yeah, that's known as "La Nariz Del Inca" (The Inca's Nose)


Got Milk?


These are the stones that I was talking to you about. These are hand carved Cañare's stones, which are easily over 500 years old.