Blogs from Sacred Valley, Cusco, Peru, South America - page 2

I know that this might not make sense to those reading back home, but we have gotten a little tired of travelling at the moment. Don't get me wrong, we love the sights we've seen they've been remarkable, the treks, food, people, weather all have been fanstatic. But right now we are craving a small bit of normalcy, we want to stay put, unpack our backpacks into a drawer, stop, take a breath, reflect some and appreciate what we've seen and done. So that's exactly what we did in Cusco, we put our feet up, found an Irish pub and relaxed and regrouped. Now might be a good time then to update everyone on some of the general apects of our adventure thus far. Accommodation: We've been largely staying in Hostels across South America and been ... read more

There is so much to explore in the Sacred Valley, multiple ruins, villages......the views go on and on! Chinchero was a village that we visited and saw a demonstration of spinning, dyeing and weaving ancestral techniques. Beautiful textiles!!... read more

Today Kelly and I took our long anticipated tour of the Sacred Valley. The tour got off to a shaky start when the tour company told us to get on one bus, which apparently was the Spanish speaking bus. After driving a couple of miles down the road the bus stopped and the tour guide told us to get on the bus in front of ours. After making our way over to that bus and climbing on we soon realized that this bus was Spanish speaking also. In the end the tour guide spoke in Spanish but would translate for Kelly and I. The bus was old and unimpressive, but for $30 dollars we were not expecting much more. And as awful as the bus was the view made up for it. The Sacred Valley or ... read more

auf ins heilige tal zu ruinen-städten der inkazeit. inklusive herrlicher aussicht fahren wir aus dem kessel cuscos hinauf in die höheren gefilde, durch saftig grüne wälder voll eukalyptus und mit blick auf den gletscher, hüter der tiere und der familie. unser erstes ziel, pisac, hoch über den landwirtschaftlichen terassen und idyllisch vor den einzig erhaltenen felsengräbern gelegen, imponiert sehr, wie es so die restlichen mauerwerke der sonne entgegenstreckt. schnaufend erklimmen wir die höchste plattform, bevor es weiter geht nach ollantaytambo. wir erfahren viel über den inka-kalender, die unglaubliche bauweise mit riesigen, perfekt aufeinander passenden steinen und die zahlreichen anbaumöglichkeiten von hunderten sorten von erdäpfel und duzenden von mais. bewässerungssysteme vor gut 600 jahren scheinen fast besser gewesen zu sein als die heutigen und die teilweise immer noch funkt... read more

Arriving in the Sacred Valley we noticed two things which had been scarce around the rest of Peru - trees and tourists. I had assumed that we had been above the tree line as we travelled along the Andes through central Peru. It turns out that all the trees were chopped down by the earliest inhabitants and only the less useful, bushy species remained in any number. The severe lack of decent wood had a profound impact in the Spanish conquest of the country. The main reason for the Spanish military successes was the use of mounted cavalry, against which the Inca's had no response at close quarters. Had there been trees available they would have been able to fashion pikes to enable them to spear the horses, out of reach of the swinging swords. The ... read more