Pisac – Carnival Time in the Andes
In the last post on the February 2026 Kingdoms of the Andes tour by Adventures Abroad I described one of the all time great days of travel on a visit to Machu Picchu. It certainly will be hard to top that, but we are going to give it a try. In this post we’ll visit a place that was not on my radar before signing up for this trip and reading the itinerary. Pisac is a small town at the head of the Sacred Valley of the Incas that apparently is famous for its market. I’m always a bit leery about such claims as in my experience by the time a place becomes famous enough to attract tourists it almost inevitably ends up being compromised by selling products aimed at the tourists and not the locals. The Otavalo market in Ecuador is a prime example.
As it turned out, the visit to Pisac ended up having nothing to do with the market and everything to do with local Carnival traditions that made for one of those spontaneous days that no one can plan for because they just happen. Join us and find out why this was such a special day.
Pisac is located only 32 kms. (20 miles) from Cusco at the southern end of the Sacred Valley. On the way we stop at the Taray Mirador to view this statue with a very interesting provenance. It is called The Impossible Hug and was commissioned by the Cusco based Cusquena beer company during Covid when personal contact between individuals was verboten. It was created by two artists who were not working in conjunction with each other, one in Lima and the other in Cusco. Each created a figure and the two were joined together on this high point that overlooks the Sacred Valley. No one seems to have any idea what the figure on the right is supposed to be and I won’t even hazard a guess.
Pisac was the site of a major Incan fortress much higher up in the Andes than the present day town that is now believed to have been built by Pachacuti, the same Inca emperor responsible for Machu Picchu and Ollantaytambo. The site itself never came under direct attack from the Spanish conquistadores, but it is believed that after the fall of Cusco in 1533 the residents fled to sites deeper in the Sacred Valley. The Spaniards did vandalize parts of the site they considered to be blasphemous like the cemetery, but today it is a major archaeological site in remarkably good condition as you can see from this photo.
We did not visit this site and after Machu Picchu and Ollantaytambo, it would have been anticlimactic, so I have no regrets.
The modern town of Pisac was established by Viceroy Francisco de Toledo in the 1570s and laid out in the grid pattern that Charles V had decreed for settlements in the New World with a central plaza as the most important site around which the church and governmental buildings were established. Today that is the Plaza Constitución and that’s where we’ll head once we get down into the town.
Most of Pisac’s core area is pedestrianized and we have to park the bus on the edge of town and walk into the centre where the market is located. The first thing I notice is that the streets are deserted. There are shops with wares on display, but nobody is manning them.
Where is everybody?
Before we try to find out, Diego our tour leader decides we should stop into a traditional restaurant that uses a horno de barro to do its cooking. This is an oven made from clay and brick which can cook anything from empanadas to guinea pig.
There was a line up of locals waiting for the next batch of empanadas to come out and we joined it.
There was also a newly roasted guinea pig as well.
As tempting as the guinea pig looked, I opted for an empanada and washed it down with Pisac’s version of chicha, a drink that has been brewed in the Andes for thousands of years. There are both fermented alcoholic and non-fermented versions with no alcohol. Most chichas are made from corn, but there are many different varieties from different plants. What I have in my hand is a chicha morada which is made from purple corn and is non-alcoholic.
The price of these two items was ridiculously cheap and I was glad that Diego had us stop in here to eat like the locals as the saying goes. Before leaving I ducked into the men’s room where I was confronted with this sign.
First of all it was in English and nobody but our group were English speakers. Secondly, trying to figure out what it meant wasn’t easy. Did it mean if you were a cad and not a gentleman you had to go elsewhere?
Somewhat baffled, I rejoined the group and Diego suggested that we explore the town on our own at our own pace.
Surprising Pisac
The street we were on led directly to the Plaza Constituciòn and as I got nearer I could hear music, a loud speaker and intermittent cheers and laughter. On the way I passed this chihuahua in a box who didn’t seem too thrilled about whatever the hell was going on in the plaza.
On the other hand this dachshund seemed like he was ready to party.
Coming into the plaza I was greeted with this apparition. WTF?
Well, at least I’d found all the people. I quickly realized that this was a carnival celebration and was very different from your run of the mill carnival that involves floats and booze. In this celebration everyone from one to a hundred was participating. There seemed to be two main events. The first was taking place in the centre of the plaza which was completely surrounded by temporary stands that were packed to the gills with spectators. Try as I might, I couldn’t get a look inside.
However, I could surmise by seeing the gatherings of groups in traditional regalia that would enter and exit the plaza to great cheers. These were competitive dancers, each troop hoping to bring home an award for best performance in the Pisac carnival.
Some of the ensembles really brought home the meaning of ‘local colour’.
The other main activity started with purchasing ammo.
Either in the shape of water balloons.
Or canisters of foam as these girls are armed with and ready to partake in the fun. And it was fun. I sat on the edge of the plaza and just watched as water balloon battles erupted spontaneously with combatants on all sides getting soaked.
You’ll notice that there are no other tourists around and that these events are put on not for tourists, but for and by the residents of Pisac and the surrounding area. Lent will start in three days and this being the last Sunday before then, it was time to let loose. It also is another good reason to choose the February departure for this tour. You won’t get scenes like this at any other time of year.
Although I was mesmerized by the goings on right in front of me, I did decide to actually try to find the famous market so I braved the balloons and the foam and headed onward.
This figure was standing on the corner where the street leading to the market meets the plaza and I still don’t know if this was a real person or a giant puppet.
And as I expected, the market was a bust. The few shops that were open were not selling anything unique like the one we had visited just outside Cusco. So I returned to the fray, encountering this shootout on the way.
We had come to Pisac for one reason and found something totally unexpected and a lot more fun. I decided to join the fun. As they say, when in Pisac…
In the next post we’ll start making our way towards Lake Titicaca, the next big item on this itinerary, but we’ll have stops along the way at two more archaeological sites – Raqcui and Three Fountains. I hope you’ll join us.