http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Sacred-Valley/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from South America , Peru , Cusco , Sacred Valley en-us Wed, 09 Dec 09 18:11:58 +0000 Wed, 09 Dec 09 18:11:58 +0000 Mike and I were finally on our trip to Peru October 30 2009 after 10 months of planning and lots of reseasrch it was happening Our first leg of the trip after arriving in Lima took us to the city of Cusco in the central Andes mountain region where we hailed a taxi and headed for a village about an hour away on the western edge of the Sacred Valley. Ollantaytambo is a typical town with cobble http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Sacred-Valley/blog-455865.html BuonaseraAm back in Cuzco on a warm Saturday night after a full day exploring in the Sacred Valley. I visited many towns and villages including Urubamba Coya and Pisac. Having a driver whom I could ask to stop whenever I wanted was a real bonus.The whole valley is spectacular and the people very welcoming.....I hope this comes through in the images.I was fortunate to be in Pisac when they were http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Sacred-Valley/Huchuy-Cusco/blog-453236.html Then we went around the Sacred Valley la Valle Sagrada which is the wider area around Cusco.It has many impressive Inka ruins and some amazing villagesCheck out the pics http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Sacred-Valley/blog-439262.html We arrived in Cuzco on Sunday 082309 very early in the morning around 715am and were picked up by a representative from Hotel Inkarri where we had reserved a ldquoTriple roomrdquo with a fullsize bed plus a twin bed up in the loft. We had taken the antialtitude sickness pills Sorochji sp about hour prior to our flight so we didnrsquot have any of the symptoms of being at 3400 http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Sacred-Valley/blog-433937.html Packing done and ready to roll. We're heading to Cusco to start a 6 day bike journey through the sacred valey. Most likely we will be knocked out by the altitude sickness and the imense amount of bugs we will be facing. After this there's the Inca Trail. We will rest one day at Yucay and leave towards the holy Inca grounds. If the biking and the cloud forest mosquitos don't consume us the 4 day a http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Sacred-Valley/blog-425855.html Je me lve tt le matin pour pouvoir visiter quelques sites de la valle sacre. Je commence par Pisac o je rencontre un couple de Belges qui veulent partager un taxi jusqu'aux ruines. Les ruines et le paysage sont superbes. L'endroit est situ en montage et j'ai quelque peu de difficults m'habituer l'altitude. La randonne est beaucoup plus pnible que d'habitude. Aprs la visite de Pisac http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Sacred-Valley/blog-412823.html I woke up feeling rubbish again and couldnrsquot eat for feeling sick. I bought a few snacks for the bus in the hope Irsquod feel better later. I didnrsquot. The journey felt like an eternity but it was only a few hours. I was picked up at the bus station in Cusco and transferred to the hotel where I promptly fell asleep at 6pm. At 8 I was woken by the phone and was completely disorient http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Sacred-Valley/blog-404000.html One week after the depths of the Amazon we headed for the Sacred Valley of the Incas the Urubamba River. The Urubamba starts above Cusco in the Altiplano and ends in the Amazon basin. Cusco the seat of the Incan empire designed in the shape of a puma sits just west and above the river valley. This area of Peru is similar to Rome in that you can't walk a block take a hike or bike ride without http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Sacred-Valley/blog-397463.html And so began the longest journey of our lives. It started better than we had anticipated when the bus finally arrived looking rather like a real bus rather than the tin can we'd been expecting. However we saw the result of our costcutting almost immedietley limited leg room burning radiators overcompensating for the cold outside and 50 First Dates in Spanish did not bode well Adam Sandle http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Sacred-Valley/blog-391358.html Sorry guys English version is up the next days.Da es mir durch meine Magenprobleme und eine fiese Erkaeltung im Moment nicht so gut geht bin ich heute nicht wie die anderen nach Ollantaytambo gefahren sondern auf halber Strecke in Chinchero ausgestiegen um dort gemuetlich herumzubummeln das schoene Wetter zu geniessen und etwas Kraft zu tanken. Im Bus war durch Zufall auch eine Aerztin die m http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Sacred-Valley/blog-385853.html My search for adventures ended up in a mountainbiketour through the Sacred Valley with some other people from my hostel. It was a quite painful experience and I am still not sure if the photos were worth it...In the morning we went to the Plaza del Armas in Cusco where a party was going on again. It seems as if there is party every day sometimes with fireworks that are mostly ending up in the http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Sacred-Valley/blog-380825.html Per Bus wie Voegele Reisen so wie wir es eigentlich nicht wollten ging es von Cusco nach Chinchero. Dort besuchten wir eine lokale Weberei. Auf eindrueckliche Art wurde uns gezeigt wie solche Stoffe von Hand auf natuerliche Basis gefaerbt und schliesslich weiter verarbeitet werden. Blut von kleinen Tieren die auf Kakteen leben werden zum Beispiel verwendet um Rot herzustellen. Verschiedene a http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Sacred-Valley/blog-377050.html Hello AllInternet is a little scatchy here and I dont have much time so this is short but more to come.We made it to Cusco. It is absolutly amazing. Words cannot descibe what it was like watching the Andes come into view as they would peak out above the clouds. Cusco is nesstled inbetween the muntians as is every city here. As we came in to land swooping around the mountian tops tears came http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Sacred-Valley/Huchuy-Cusco/blog-369625.html SacsayhuamanHere are some pictures taken around Sacsayhuaman just outside of Cusco back in 2006. http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Sacred-Valley/blog-368507.html Hola back againJust thought that I would write a final note before the end of my time in Cusco. Its been a week or 2 since I last wrote and Ive managed since then to learn some salsa play the pan pipes experience mountain biking for the first time ouch and gain a 40hour intensive spanish school certificate hooray Last weekend we had a day out visiting various Inka ruins near to Cusco http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Sacred-Valley/blog-352548.html Buenas tardesright now im at my homestay in Arequipa but more on that later. tuesday morning we woke up and went out to breakfast and lunch and got food i got bread and juice because thats all i could eat. then we went to the airport checked everything in and regrouped in the terminal. we reflected as a large group on our past three weeks away from each other. the other group had done thei http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Sacred-Valley/blog-338655.html Hola Chicos I hope people are appreciating my spending hours 7 up to now Ive had to install active X twice writing and updating this blog. This is mainly aimed at my nephew Ryan and Neices Natasha and Nakita and no there is no russian link.Today we took the sacred valley tour with a bunch of Germans one Ozi has to be at least one and a couple of girls form eastern europe and no http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Sacred-Valley/blog-336649.html The trip to Puerto Maldonado and ultimately Reserva Amazonica was again smooth. Contours Travel are really coming through on admin. Nice cabin in the jungle and excursions started with a jungle walk. I crashed and Pete and Chris went on a dusk river cruise and Chris filled her ambition to see a family of capybaras in the wild. Also spotted some caimans. The following day saw a trek thru the jungl http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Sacred-Valley/blog-333095.html Birthday FiestaWe were casually walking home through Huyro minding our own business when we are accosted by a group of kids all yelling Hola and we hear Meet my posse coming from the darkness. It was from the familiar voice of Dan our Supervisor who then promptly invited us to join the party for Friedas staff member Dad and having barely sat down we are given a huge plate of food. Every http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Sacred-Valley/blog-330887.html I arrived safely in Cusco and was met at the airport by Care Supervisor Yessika. What I didnt realise is that it was a five hour car journey from Cusco to Huyro where my project is stopping in Urubamba to go to the Projects Abroad office. After a quick chat with Tim the director for Peru we started of again. The journey involved going over a really high pass like 4000m and then back down the ot http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Sacred-Valley/blog-320627.html