Sacred Valley

---

The Sacred Valley of The Incas is the valley formed by the Urubamba River, and was apparently a place the Incas were rather keen on. And it's easy to see why. The scenery is stunning and the amazing Incan ruins make Stone Henge seem like child's play! Since we are high in the Andes and this is winter, the weather can be rather cold but so far we have been very lucky - dry and mild with lots of sunshine. But when the sun goes down at 6pm it gets cold very quickly indeed.

We started out to Ollantaytambo after a lovely egg breakfast at the lodge. Ollantaytambo is known as Olly for fairly obvious reasons. The small town was an old Incan village that is really well preserved but better yet is the Incan temple and fort above the village. The terraces were very impressive and the detailed stone work is incredible. The Incans cut stones to fit precisely together. They didn't use cement/mortar as they knew it would erode away. The huge slabs of the temple were especially impressive.
After climbing around the ruins for an hour or two we found a small pizza place for lunch near the main plaza. Pizza is popular here and it's the good thin-crust type from a wood fired oven.
Next stop was a half hour drive away beyond Urubamba to the Moray terraces. These are concentric circles of terraces built by Incans in enormous natural depressions, and used to create different microclimates for crop breeding. I know a man who would have found this very interesting, right Dad?! We clamboured down the sides of the huge terraces and struggled back up...the thin air makes everything a little tougher than at lower altitudes.
Last stop was the salt mines at Salineras. This was created by the Incans and is still an active salt mine. There is a small natural stream of very salty water coming off the hillside into a steep-sided valley and it has become the livelihood of lots of families. Thousands of pools have been created and are filled by diverting the stream. Then they seal off the pools and allow the water to evaporate.
At this point it was close to 5pm and we headed back to the lodge for another great supper cooked by our hosts, Christophe and Rhomina. As I write, the kids are playing darts in the bar. That's good and I know that we're doing something right as parents!

---

Comments

[jane aka mum & granny]

Thanks for the blogs
I look forward to each day's blog, all so interesting & with great photos. I can see you're all having an amazing time.

[Sand Nick Carys and Ben]

Blogs
Hi Mum/Jane/Granny! Nice to hear from you and glad that you're enjoying the blogs. We are having fun writing them and will be turning them into a book when we get home. Take care, and loadsa love! Xxx

[Uncle Chris (Jnr!)]

Brilliant trip!
Hi Guys - loving reading more of your amazing adventures! The Incan stone walls appeal to my OCD as well as my world-beating Tetris talents! Lots of love xxx

[Sand Nick Carys and Ben]

Re: stones
Hi Chris! I totally understand what you mean about the Incan stones and I think we'll have a photo that you'll appreciate in tonight's blog. It's amazing how precisely they fitted these stones together by hand. Hope you're all well. Love La Famillia Summers.