Visiting the Sacred Valley

Day 9

Today was a final free day in Cusco and there was an optional tour through the Sacred Valley.  As it was a bit of a long tour not too many people were interested so it was just Terry and I on a different group tour.  It felt a little strange to be on a bus filled with people we didn't know, but it was a fun day!

The Sacred Valley is filled with a lot of farming and ruins.  The valley is also filled with all sorts of terraces the Incans used for farming.  It was a lovely and lush valley but lost a bit of luster after seeing the valleys in Machu Picchu and Aguas Calientes.  You could tell many of those on the tour hadn't yet been there.

The tour involved a drive through the valley, a tour of 2 sites, lunch, and a few markets along the way.  The whole valley felt far more touristy than anywhere we had visited before.  All the scenic pullouts had platforms built to allow the locals to sell all their wares.  Which at this point are also getting really repetitive.  The annoying bird calls, blankets, alpaca/llama keychains, hats and random alpaca goods.  And usually a girl with a live alpaca to take pictures.  And they are a little more pushier.  No gracias has stopped working.

Pisac ruins

The first site was at Pisac.  It was a fortress built right into the hills.  We didn't have a lot of time to wander so it was more of a picture opportunity than time to see the ruins.  But after awhile they all start to look the same.  This one was disguised into the hillside more than others.  They also have a lot of terraces that have been cleaned up.  And as the guide said, it takes a lot of time and effort to get these all done so there are many that haven't been cleaned out of the growth over time.

The second site was at Ollantaytambo.  A fortress at the other end of the valley.  It was a formidable 247 Incan stairs to the top.  And the same stairs on the way down.  The sheer size of the rocks they hauled from one mountain top to another is astonishing.  One was so big it would have taken 1600 people to move it.  And there was multiple large stones of various size.  But they had everything well designed.  Across the valley was a huge series of storage houses.  And they had it there because of the winds coming through in the one specific spot.  And the strangest part was they had a carving of what looks like a face but have timed it so that the sun comes through the one specific spot on the solstice.  I can't imagine how long they would have had to watch that to get it right.  The dedication and determination the Incans had to get things just right amazes me.  The effort and the time they took is visible in many different sites across Peru.

Ollantaytambo

The guide today was one of the craziest guides I've had in a long time.  He was a bit obsessed with condors.  The Incans believe there are 3 realms, the above, the below and where we are.  Represented by the condor, the snake and the puma.  We live in the world of the puma so according to the guide when we try to live in the world of the condor we through off the balance.  And something about condors fighting means it will rain.  He also referred to himself in the third person a lot.  But has a name that we never did figure out.

And the funniest thing I've heard all trip is when he was telling us about the condors.  I'm telling you, it was condors all day!!  They mate for life so when one dies the other one usually soon dies.  So he said that this was a good way of finding a mate and that men should tell women that they are condors to show their seriousness.  It mostly sounded like a cheesy pickup line and I can imagine him outside the bar telling this to all the ladies!

There were also a few markets included.  He spent 5 minutes telling us how the Pisac market has become unbearably commercial and that it's ruined the traditional trading that the Peruvians would do.  And then gave us 25 minutes to shop.  But before we hit the market we were given a pitch to buy some silver.  He did his whole little spiel but everyone was more amused by the guinea pigs in the back.

Guinea Pigs

Guinea pig, or cuy, is quite the delicacy here.  In fact our guide had it when he got married and when he got divorced.  At least that is what he told us.  Traditionally they serve it whole.  Like a roast pig.  Only on your plate with a chili pepper in it's mouth.  I don't think anyone on the tour ended up trying any.  We did drive through a town where we could stop and try some.  They even had a giant guinea pig statue.  The only weird thing is that they roasted them on a stick and then thrust the cooked guinea pig at the bus while we were driving by.  It was strange, for lack of a better word.  But the entire town was filled with little restaurants all cooking up guinea pig.  I guess at least that one bonus is this one probably wasn't posed on the plate as much.  But nobody took the guide up on the offer and we continued on.

View of the valley and snow capped peaks

The included lunch was a real treat.  This tour isn't filled with 5 star hotels.  Not what I came for.  The rooms were all clean and had most of what I hoped for.  And when weak wifi is my biggest complaint I'm good.  It was a novelty to go for a buffet lunch at a very fancy hotel.  They had gardens filled with hydrangeas, bouganvillea, and fountains filled with flowers.  And the poshest toilets we've seen as far.  I know lunch and toilets don't really go together, but in Peru paper isn't always available so you have to carry your own.  And hand sanitizer.  But here had all the amenities.  Felt a bit spoiled.  And the lunch was really good.  We had multiple types of potato.  Including the dreaded dry potato.  It is by far one of the worst things I've ever eaten.  Glad I just had a small piece.

Terry and I and our Peruvian "children"

We had a few scenic stops.  We got to see more terraces, more ruins, and some snow capped peaks.  Coming from a land of snow for what feels like 8 months of the year I'm less excited by the snowy peaks.  But they were attractive and we had a long bus ride back to town.  Down the same road for the third time in as many days.  But it was light out so I finally got to see all the scenery in the daylight.  The amusing part was that there was a little girl letting people hold her alpaca.  So I decided to go for the picture.  But then some of the other people on the bus forced Terry into the picture and told us our Peruvian children were lovely.  It involved a lot of laugher to tell them we were just on a different tour together and not a couple.  And our different accents really confused them all!

We made it back to the main square in Cusco to see the flag ceremony.  They do a big parade every Sunday morning to put it up and the rest of the tour group was out to see it.  So we got to see them take the flags down.  They put up the Peruvian flag -which is really similar to Canada, instead of a maple leaf they have their coat of arms- and a rainbow flag.  Which is not for gay rights, but because the Incans had special beliefs in rainbows!  They had the horn player and the military and police forces out to take them down.

It was a long but busy day, and now time to prepare for our homestay tomorrow!