Day 59 - Sacred Valley

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Our tour started with a trip to the market at Planterra weaving, where we spotted the long-term travellers from the short-term who bought alpaca jumpers, hats, scarves etc - by this point we'd had our fill of pushy market sellers and had sufficient alpaca knitwear.

Our first set of ruins was Pisaq - most impressive for its many terraces. The Sacred Valley has 105 natural micro-climates, many created by the multi-level terraces used not only for crop growth but also for decoration and support for buildings. Crops grow in half the time they take nowadays (e.g. maize took 4 months instead of 8-9) and the Incas lived to a very old age (the guide quoting 100). We began to get to know our tour group slowly but surely - 2 English girls (Emma and Alice), and 2 English guys (Ben and Dan); all who had just finished school. One English guy Adam was taking a gap year in the middle of uni, then an Aussie couple Matt and Claire from Melbourne, 3 Canadian sisters (Jill and Erin who were twins, plus Heather). Finally the group that isolated themselves a little, for which we would soon be glad, Canadians: Christine and Jen (mother and daughter), Christine's cousin Georgette and her friend Margaret.

For lunch we had the most amazing buffet (even had sushi); we went up 5 times each! We weren't so happy with the price though, £10 each and no alternative options. The enclosure of llamas, alpacas and a vicuña at the back was entertaining though. The afternoon saw us explore the ruins at Ollantaytambo, where the biggest stone was 350 tonnes! Here we received our third different theory on the nodules protruding from the rocks. In Qorikancha we were told that the sun shone on them to enable the Incas to tell points in the calendar, in Saqsaywaman they were used to tie the ropes that dragged them, and here simply an artist's signature.

For dinner we went to Blue Puppy.. again forced into an expensive meal. Here we began to see Christine's true colours shine through, she was a stuck up, glass half empty kind of person!

Chris's Corner

The town of Pisaq was majorly affected by the floods in late January, half the town was swept away, the bridge and entire police station included. A temporary bridge was in place, just one car wide, but I fear full recovery and re-building may take some time.

With all those Inca steps affecting Soph's knees it's a good job we purchased walking poles for the trek a couple of days earlier.

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