Although Pisac may be Peru’s overlooked ruin, it’s also very unforgiving to explore, as we learned the hard way. It’s fair to say our Pisac travel hacks for the brave are hard-earned.
Every one of our tips about Pisac come from the major mistakes we made when exploring the incredible ruins. Seriously, you wouldn’t think Wendy and I have traveled together for twenty years based on these silly mistakes.
So you don’t make these same mistakes, here are our 5 tips to explore the Pisac ruins in Peru.
Why Explore Pisac
Pisac is a small town in the Sacred Valley of the Incas in Peru, located approximately 20 miles from Cusco. The town is best known for its impressive Incan ruins, colorful market, and stunning mountain scenery.
The ruins of Pisac are a testament to the impressive engineering skills of the Incan people. The site is home to a network of terraces, buildings, and fortifications that were used for both agricultural and defensive purposes. The most impressive feature of the site is the agricultural terraces, which are still in use today for farming. The views from the top of the ruins are breathtaking, with panoramic vistas of the surrounding mountains and valleys.
As you’ll read in our tips, Pisac may not enjoy the majestic city ruins its more famous counterpart Machu Picchu does, the freedom and views available to visitors makes Pisac a must-see for any visit to Peru.
Here are out tips and hacks!
1. Get acclimated
As you may have heard us mention during the video, Pisac has an altitude of 11,525 feet or 3,525 meters. Add to this Pisac is a strenuous hike, taking travelers up and down stairs and rugged paths. All of this exertion can lead to some serious altitude sickness if you aren’t used to the high altitudes, which isn’t fun.
If you don’t believe us, check out our Peru overview video here.
Sometimes called “mountain sickness,” altitude sickness is a group of symptoms that can strike if you walk or climb to a higher elevation, or altitude, too quickly. The pressure of the air that surrounds you is called barometric or atmospheric pressure. When you go to higher altitudes, this pressure drops and there is less oxygen available.
Drink plenty of water and avoid alcohol and smoking. Also, plan on spending at least two days in Cusco or the Scared Valley before tackling Pisac. To avoid this, spend at least two days getting acclimated before tackling any strenuous ruins or activities.
2. Take your time
If you haven’t already watched us explore Pisac on our travel video ‘Discovering Pisac: Peru’s Best Kept Secret‘, head over there first as this tip will make more sense once you do.
Amazingly, there are very few restrictions on where you can go in the Pisac ruins. Visitors can explore the narrow alleyways, roam from room to room, making Pisac a true traveler’s delight in the sheer freedom it offers. The only thing that can stop visitors from taking advantage of this freedom is time. We certainly didn’t budget enough time and consequently, didn’t explore large sections of the Pisac ruins.
It’s fair to say, one of our big regrets from our Peruvian adventure was not dedicating an entire day to the ruin.
3. Give yourself time
As you may’ve have gathered, Pisac is a very large ruin. It’s huge!
Sure, there are fewer buildings than other ruins, but these are spread over a larger area, making Pisac nearly four times the size of Machu Picchu. The difficult terrain combined with the sheer size requires much more time too fully explore it than other ruins in Peru.
Based on our time at the Pisac ruins, visitors should budget at least four to five hours. If you take your time as we recommended in the last tip, it could be six or more hours. Between exploring every nook and cranny as well as taking time to enjoy the ruin, we wonder how practical is it to hire a guide?
4. Wear a hat
Between being so close to the equator and along with the high altitude, the sun is fierce in Peru and no less so at the Pisac ruins.
Laurence thought a baseball cap would be good enough to keep the sun off my neck, but it wasn’t, not only did he end up with a sunburnt neck, but his face also caught the sun! A wide brimmed hat is useful not just at the Pisac ruins but throughout any time spent in Peru.
5. Take a lot of water
Aside from the viewpoints located on the highest peak of Pisac, there is no shelter or cover in the ruins. Its all out in the open.
As well as protection from a wide brimmed hat, you’ll want plenty of water. We carried a fairly large bottle of water with us when exploring the Pisac ruins and it was gone by the time we reached the viewpoint, which is roughly the halfway point of walking the length of the complex.
And yes, we did have more water in our backpack which was securely stored in the car, back at the entrance.
Those are our five tips for visiting the Pisac ruins. If they help you avoid the mistake and missteps we made, we will be very happy.
