Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu, Peru

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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 cobblestone streets but with an exceptional ancient Inca ruins tucked into a hillside. The view from our room was spectacular, looking directly into the Inca terraces!

We decided to do the trip on our own and without any organized tour or group, that way we could spend as much time as we wanted at specific areas and leave room in our itinerary for special things. We booked a 5-hour horseback ride and were thrilled to get to climb a remote mountain area to a special Inca site called Puma Marka with just the three of us, Mike and I and our local guide Melina....while there we tethered the horses to some brush by a stream and walked among the ruins and the sheep grazing there to keep the grass neat - enjoying the crisp fresh air at 12000 feet.

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Photos

Andean mountain view
The first day of exploring, we had a local guide give us a private tour of some ancient ruins overlooking Ollantaytambo

Waterways
Marvelous engineering from ancient Incas provides vital waterway running thru all parts of the villages

Magnificent view
Looking out our bedroom window we could see the whole hillside with the ancient structures, temples and ruins!

Olly streets
Narrow streets of cobblestone and packed mud where locals met and traded their goods and bread and daily needs.

Cheryl rode Marcus
and Mike rode Tornado; ask him about that whirlwind!

Tornado takes a break
We walked among the ruins and the sheep that grazed the area keeping the grass neat

Local Olly family with Cuy
Yes, this is a typical family home and those guinea pigs are not pets - they are food, called Cuy, they eat fresh alfalfa!

Inca site
The Incas built beautiful structures on the mountain-sides; visible from anywhere in town and easy to spot those approaching

Local scenery
Great time of year to go: end of October there is Springtime!

Stonework
Those Incas were great stone masons - their work still stands and is being used like when it was first built.

Photo Op
Mike and Cheryl rest after climbing up to 10,000 feet - across the valley you clearly see other ruins and terraces

Local color
These two native gals on the left; walking into town to do some shopping or trading - they've dressed this way for generations - and the baby on her back is slung in a blanet she wove

Amazing Stone work
Inca stone work is fitted together like a puzzle; most of the joints are so finely-fitted you can't find a crack to squeeze a piece of paper into!

Beautiful
Local woman resting with a typical daily load on her back

Alpaca sauced and skewered
We had some great food - did I mention that Alpaca tasted about like beef?

spring planting
Dude and oxen and his elder working the fields - they plant about 30 varieties of corn, alfalfa and many kinds of potatoes

Moray
A place of special work for the ancient ones - they planted at different levels to see what happened with crops at each elevation

Moray
special feeling of harmony with PachaMama (Mother Earth)

Burro
plentiful in Peru

Cuy Feast!
notice the head pulled off the body laying on the left side with a tooth pointing inwards

Salineras
Amazing salt fields on a hillside where they dry and harvest salt to sell