In our mini-van, we were off to see the various archaeological sites in the valley. On our way, we stopped at Awanakancha, a private project associated with local farming communities to promote traditional Andean weaving. As such, they had alpacas, llamas, guanacos, and vicuñas. We were able to feed the animals alfalfa and they were extremely mild and hungry. We observed women weaving and learned about dying the alpaca fibers.
Through the valley, we saw many farming terraces, villages, and animals. The Sacred Valley is known for harvesting corn and many types of potatoes. We finally made our way to our first ruin, Pisac where we saw an Inca Cemetery. In the side of the mountain, you could see holes where dead bodies were brought into after being mummified. We walked our way to the top of the ruin where so many people once lived, but were forced to leave. Here's a picture with Pisac behind us:
As we were leaving, hordes of tourists were just arriving. We were glad that we had gotten an early start. As we drove through the valley, we learned that schools and towns were proud enough to clear parts of the mountain to put their town name, school name, or number. Our guide told us on the anniversary, they light candles to celebrate.
We then headed to the famous Pisac Market where they were stalls upon stalls of native goods. We didn't buy anything, but it was fun to check out. The market use to only be on Sundays, but due to the many tourists, they have the market everyday.
We drove through the valley to Urubumba, which has grown considerably over the years. Jamie and I had pondered booking a Starwood hotel here, but decided it was too much travel in one day. We had a buffet lunch and a pisco sour. A pisco sour is the most famous drink in Peru and is very popular in South America - I had many in Chile last year with Amanda.
After lunch, we headed to Maras, the famous salt mines. There are about 3,000 salt pans owned by about 300 people from the town of Maras. Legend has it that there were four brothers and they put one brother in a cave and holed it up. Saddened by his brothers' wishes to kill him, he cried so many tears that the salty stream came from the mountain. One of the brothers lived to be the first Inca king. Jaime, our guide, said that the water from the mountains actually flows through salt deposits. We all dipped our fingers in the river and it was indeed, very salty. You can't see all the salt pans, but here's a few behind us:
Afterwards, we headed to Moray shown below, known for concentric circles used for raising crops and performing rituals. They were indeed built / restored to perfection.
Due to timing, we had to skip the Chinchero ruins. We had definitely taken a more leisurely pace as both Jamie and I were still suffering from the effects of the altitude. Walking up and down steep ruins definitely made us breathe heavy and our hearts pound. However, we all agreed we had the benefit of resting in the car. We had pondered spending the second day in Cusco, but that would have been more walking at a higher altitude. The Sacred Valley is about 500 meters / 1,640 feet less than Cusco at 2,900 meters / 8,510 feet.
We finally made it to Ollantaytambo where the Incas built "irrigation systems and a crowning temple designed for worship and astronomical observation". Indeed, we got to see the Temple of 10 Niches where there were trapezoidal windows and the Temple of the Sun. We learned about the Incan love for the number 3 as they believed in the skies, earth, and the inner world (underground). We also saw the beautiful Princess Baths.
Afterwards, we walked through the village where our guide showed us original Incan walls and Incan homes. We were allowed to go into one where a man was cooking stuffed potatoes and there were about a dozen guinea pigs on the floor eating scraps. Currently, the guinea pigs were pets, but meant for food later. I equate it to having chickens - there was also a chicken in the home hanging with the guinea pigs.
Here's a map of the Sacred Valley, so you can see how everything is situated and how much we saw in one day! Typically what we scheduled would be done in 1.5 days in a group tour, but since we had a private car, we could pack it in.
We walked back to the main square and were taken to the train station where we boarded a train to Machu Picchu. The train service is called Peru Rail and it took us less than two hours to get to Aguas Calientes, also known as Machu Picchu Pueblo. We were met at the train station by a woman from our hotel, called Gringo Bill's - an Aguas Calientes institution. I had booked a family suite which ended up being 2 rooms connected by a bathroom and did not look like the pictures on the website. But it was good enough for us for 10 hours.
As Jamie wanted to rest, Mary Ann, Caitlin, and I headed to the local square and ate at the first restaurant we found, Amaru. We split a vegetable pizza and a caesar salad. Then we went back to Gringo Bill's, as we have plans to be at Machu Picchu as close to sunrise as possible!
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