Peru: Sacred Valley

We took a bus from Cusco into the Sacred Valley, so called because of its importance to the Incas.  The valley contains the Urubamba River that creates incredibly fertile lands.  (Our guide told us of the many, many varieties of potatoes and corn that grow throughout the valley and its hills!)  In addition to its fertility, the Incas saw the valley as a reflection of the Milky Way in the sky, only increasing its importance.  Our itinerary meant a stop at Pisac, Urubamba, Ollantaytambo, and Chinchero.

We were excited!!  Do we look excited?!

First stop Pisac.

Cabezas and the terraced hillside.  (The views in the valley were just breathtaking!)

It was so fun to have the McKnights on our tour!

lots of stone building ruins

Pisac includes agricultural, hydraulic, military, residential and religious ruins.  It also includes a hillside cemetery where over 3,500 tombs were excavated.  

We had a fun stop and lunch in Urubamba.  Unfortunately we didn't see any of the sights around Urubamba, but we did enjoy some alpaca at lunch.  (And some Cusquena)

The long climb up to the top of Ollantaytambo

The complex includes many temples and a fortress.

Ollantaytambo includes several structures that are built right into the rock wall.

The unfinished sun temple in the background.  (hard to see, but those are 6 ginormous rocks laid completely flush together to start the temple.)

Sunsetting at Ollantaytambo.

We got to Chinchero just as the sun was going down.  We didn't actually walk among the ruins, which worked out because we had a better view from the other side.

There was a small market at Chinchero and some ladies showed us how they use nature materials to wash and then dye the natural fibers for textiles.  Here she is dying this one RED!

The ruins were gorgeous with the lights at twilight.

We went back to Ollantaytambo to catch the train to Aguas Calientes.  We had a late train so we grabbed some delicious brick oven pizza and a few more Cusquenas while we waited.  Next stop...Machu Picchu!