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Published: June 17th 2006
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The Sacred Valley is a pretty common day tour that visitors to Cusco head out on. The tour itself leaves from Cusco town and takes in the sights of the Urubamba Valley, which is about an hour from Cusco and includes the area between the Inca communities of Pisac and Ollantaytambo.
On the list of sights for the day are the markets of Pisac, several Inca ruins, lunch, a church, the town of Ollantaytambo and sunset over the hills.
On the tour the first stop was Pisac and the markets and the option to walk up a hill and look at some ruins. I was more fascinated at the colourful markets and wandering through the little village of Pisac rather than a ruin on this particular morning... I just didn’t think it would compare to Machu Picchu!.. It turned out that I was the only person on the bus of 30+ people that wasn’t too fussed with the walk (and did I feel lazy then!) but after all the tourist buses left Pisac markets it was far less crowded and the colourful local characters emerged and the constant push for purchasing goods was far more relaxed. There were some
great things to see including the wood fired oven cooking up the local delicacy of guinea pig. It is funny that all the guinea pigs when being pulled back out of the oven all appear to have the same facial expressions of sheer terror, but I have been assured that they do not actually die by oven baking even though it may appear that way.. a tip if your keen on trying this one from the menu... be sure that your serving still has a head attached, otherwise it may be a far less appetizing rodent. For the record though, I couldn’t disassociate myself with the fact that my brother used to have guinea pigs as pets and that they seemed to resemble a rat far too much for me to eat... I draw the line there!
Ollantaytambo is the town that is pretty much the mid way point that the Machu Picchu train stops at on the way to Aguas Calientes from Cusco, so it is established in the sense of it having a central hub. Surrounding the town are hills on all sides as well as having its very own Inca ruins to investigate. The ruins that
we looked a little closer at consisted of steep terraces on a hillside with rock steps that take you to the top for a great view over the town below on one side, and the farmland on the other sides. There are also faces that can be seen in the rocks of neighbouring mountains that can be made out if looking at the exact spot on the mountain and from the correct angle your standing at. Its sort of like trying to spot the 3D image on the bit of paper if you stare at it long enough... ¨can you see it?... can you?... its right there... see the eye and the shadow of its nose?... what about the hat that he´s wearing?... ok, wait half an hour or so and the light will be better¨... somewhat vague, but yes there are two different faces that can be see out of the rocks on one of the mountains.
Another cool little thing that can be seen from these steep terraces is a huge stone refrigerator that has been built into the side of the mountain... about 70m up from the ground, built into the rock face it looks like
guinea pig anyone???
a peruvian delicacy! a massive stone window. Constructed of huge rock pieces and engineered magnificently so that the breeze running round the mountain cools whatever may be stored inside.
It is always a sure thing that a tour of any sorts is made more valuable and enjoyable by the people you meet and this again was no exception. I met a couple of brothers from the UK (one living in Melbourne now) who were getting ready for hiking the Inca trail on a 4 day trek.. apparently due to the 400person limit a day they are the only 2 booked in with their company and have a total of 5 porters/guides with them and were pretty damn excited at the prospect that this meant more strength to carry the beer supplies with!..a load that would no doubt get lighter and lighter as the days went by… a very well deserved beverage at the end of each day!....
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