On the road to Cusco 47 kilometers outside of Abancay lies the Saywite Stone (7 a.m.–dark, US$2.50), an immensely interesting half-egg–shaped boulder that was dragged down from the fields above and carved with what appears to be the Inca kingdom in miniature. Among other things, there are obvious architectural models of Machu Picchu, Choquequirao, Ollantaytambo, Pisac, and Tipón, all roughly geographically oriented.

The four corners (suyos) of the Inca empire (Tawantinsuyo) are represented by four square indentations, or windows, on the blank side of the rock. Animals represent the three realms of Inca cosmology: a monkey and condor represent the heavens; puma and deer represent the earth; and frog and snake the area beneath the ground.

Perhaps most interesting, the different climates of the Inca kingdom are spread around the rock and conjured by their corresponding animals—octopus and lobster for the coast, llama for the mountains, and jaguar, wild pig, and tapir for the jungle. Finger-width channels lead from above to all these areas before draining off the rock through miniature tunnels.

One theory is that priests poured llama blood or chicha on the rock in order to control or predict rainfall. Crops would be good in whatever region of the rock was reached by the liquid. Unfortunately, some of the figures have been chipped away—by the Spanish, locals say—and are hard to distinguish. Ask the person collecting tickets for some of the harder-to-see details.

The rock was the center of a religious complex. A labyrinth of stone walls next to the rock was probably once a granary and home for the priests. A staircase leads down a ridge past a series of restored pools. At the bottom of the hill, a huge boulder has been split in half and is carved with steps leading nowhere.

In the fields above and on the other side of the Abancay–Cusco road, there is a boulder field with another half-carved stone that is similar in appearance. The Saywite Stone is about an hour outside of Abancay and three hours from Cusco. Bus drivers between the two cities can drop travelers at the site, which is well known and marked with signs. From Cusco, the trip to the Saywite Stone leads through the spectacular Apurímac Canyon.