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Published: January 14th 2011
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We had an early flight to Cusco, so we all had to be up nice and early. We had taken high altitude pills, and a bunch of us weren't feeling so good. Steve got sick on the plane and wasn't feeling good when we got to Cusco. He decided to stay at the hotel and rest while the rest of us got on the bus to visit some ruins.
Our first stop was Chinchero, a small Andean Indian village that had some great views of the Sacred Valley of the Incas. The buildings were made of adobe, and the locals were all dressed in traditional garb. It definitely made me feel like I'd stepped into a national geographic episode. Everything was vibrant and beautiful. I got to pet a sheep that was there too! However at an altitude of over 12,000 feet, it was incredibly hard to breathe and was slow going. Usually travelers get a day or so to acclimate to a higher altitude, but the student that planned this trip, didn't account for that and it was go, go, go.
Next we went to Ollantaytambo, which was only around 9,000 ft, and when we arrived a festival
was taking place. It turned out that it was the festival of Reyes Magos (day of the Three Wise Kings). This festival is held annually on January 6th. We really wanted to stay for awhile and enjoy, but our guide was very strict with time and made us continue on to the ruins. We dilly-dallied a bit, so we got to spend a little bit of time enjoying the dancing and music. Ollantaytambo was impressive. We hiked upward a bit, and it was incredibly hard to catch my breath. I was very very slow, and the guide was very very fast. It was frustrating, but I tried not to let it interfere with my experience.
The bus stopped at a buffet for us all to eat at. The food wasn't that good and it took way too long to be served. I think we ordered soup and then waited 45 minutes for it. Some of the group was smart enough to go explore instead of eat there, and came back with giant pop corn! It made us wish we had left too. Adam was bummed he didn't go explore and try to get some chicha.
We then went
Chinchero
I pet a sheep! to Pisac, which was breathtakingly beautiful. It was so green and the agricultural terraces were amazing. We got to walk around for a bit before we were shooed back onto the bus to head back to Cusco. The guide took us to an alpaca factory to watch a demonstration on how to pick out real alpaca fur from fake, etc. (this reminded Adam and I of India and how they try to sell you stuff afterward). After the demonstration we walked back to the hotel rather than look around.
It turned out Steve had gotten no better and was sick the entire day - vomiting and couldn't keep anything down. We were heading to Machu Picchu the next day, so a doctor was called in to see if he could go. The doctor diagnosed him with a parasite and got medicine to him. Adam and I walked around the town looking for a place to get food to bring back to his sister and dad. We found a restaurant that would do to-go and ate in the lobby. We had to be up early again the next day to catch a train, so we went to sleep early.
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