Sacred Valley

 The Sacred Valley, a/k/a Urubamba Valley, lies north of Cusco along the Urubamba River between Pisac and Machu Picchu.  Here is where the Inca focused upon agriculture, due to a lower elevation compared to Cusco.  

We were up before the chilly dawn for our tour, eating breakfast next to the fire in the hotel dining room.

 

This tour was not private and was combined with people from other tour companies.  We climbed into a packed van with about a dozen other people from all over the world.  Interesting to us, there were more non-English speakers than English speakers, representing Brazil, Spain, and El Salvador.

 The guy sitting next to us was an Asian guy about our age from Florida.  He would be hiking the Inca Trail a few days after us, so we shared notes about preparation as older hikers. 

Unfortunately, one of the Spaniards was ill and hacking up a lung.  Later, the other two began coughing frequently.   Before the end of the day, the sickest one, an older woman, was laying down across two seats in obvious distress.  Her husband gave the opinion that it was altitude sickness.  Now, difficulty breathing is a sign of altitude sickness, but I've never heard of constant coughing as a legit symptom.  Let's just say that I had Covid concerns.

Because it was a private van and tour, there was no masking requirement.  Julia and I started off as the only ones masked, but others eventually joined. The tour van made frequent stops for photo opportunities, and I practically leaped out of the van, scrambling for fresh air. 

Sacred Valley--first photo opp

 Our first longer stop was at the Pisac ruins.

Crops were terraced to avoid erosion.  Potatoes were grown at one elevation and corn at another.  Waterways provided irrigation.  Six hundred years ago, the Incas had a pretty good grasp for agriculture.

After the ruins, we stopped at a small town known for making silver jewelry.  Naturally, Julia found something that she needed. Upon leaving the store, she encountered a young woman who makes a living posing for cute pictures with tourists holding  baby alpaca.  There is no set donation; you pay what you think is fair.  Tourism suffered greatly during the height of the pandemic, so people were being generous.

We then headed to a buffet lunch with a wide array of Peruvian dishes to choose from.  This was an opportunity to try Peru's national dish, cuy, better known as guinea pig.  They are sold whole in the markets but there was a stir fry dish at the buffet.  I've tried it and do not need to try it ever again.  Tastes a little bit like chicken but with lots of tiny sharp bones.

Then there were more ruins at the town of Ollantaytambo. 

 

I walked more steps this day than on the first day of the Inca Trail.

 

natural waterway

We had one last stop to make--one that Julia had been waiting for all day.  In Chinchero, our tour company stops at a different weaver's home every day.  This family hosted us for tea, demonstrated natural dyes, and offered assorted woven pieces for sale.  

the weavers bonding

We then wandered about the town, where we found other weavers working and selling.

Back strap loom

Supper

After a long day and van ride back home, we were ready for supper but opted for something more familiar:  pizza and a jug of house wine.  The small Italian restaurant in Cusco looked like something from an Italian mountain village with an old guy pulling pizzas from an ancient oven.  We must have been famished because we didn't leave a pizza crumb or drop  of wine behind.  Then it was off to bed at 9 p.m.  The alarm would ring for the Inca Trail at 4 a.m. on the next morning.