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Published: June 27th 2006
Scenic View of the Sacred Valley
Entering the Sacred Valley from Cusco we enjoyed this beautiful view!Sunday, June 18. Today we took the Sacred Valley Tour. This tour is of three small towns, Pisac, Ollantaytambo, Chinchero, with a lunch stop in Urubamba.
In addition to ruins, Pisac has an extensive market that springs up on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays. In addition to the typical tourist stuff, the local produce appears. Very interesting to walk through the market and see the products available. Be sure to stop by the bakery and have an empanada - the bakery has been active for 500 years, I believe.
Lunch in Urubamba- we didn't have lunch included on our tour, so we were dropped off at a local restaurant that had a delightful buffet. Lloyd hadn't been feeling well last night or today, so he ended up having just soup. The kids and I enjoyed the meal and the music of some local musicians who appeared, played for tips, and attempted to sell us their CD.
Ollantaytambo is known for its ruins, and they are a great introduction to Inca construction, as there are agricultural terraces, storage facilities, and holy areas. The site is on the side and top of a mountain, and makes for interesting climbs and descents
Pisac Market
Before shopping in Pisac we enjoyed an empanada made in a 500 year old oven that is still used today. Yum! - definitely more tourist friendly for the masses, unlike our ascent on the Pisac ruins yesterday which were definitely more for hikers!
Our final stop was Chinchero, the site of a lovely local Catholic church with interior dating back several hundred years. The market outside the church is usually good for locating local weavings of high quality. We arrived later in the day, and I did not locate a treasure to purchase - however Kathryn found a great deal on an Alpaca scarf.
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