Arrival in the Sacred Valley

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Today, Wednesday, we woke early in Lima to take a taxi to the airport for a flight to Cusco in the southern part of Peru. This town is the historic capital of the Inca Empire and is the closest airport to Machu Picchu and therefore there are a ton of departures on offer for the short flight. Cusco is high in the Andes mountains (11,100ft or 3,330m) and apparently a lot of visitors suffer from altitude sickness which locals offer to treat with tea made with coca leaves....legal here in Peru but not at home.
Our arrival in Cusco was complicated by the fact that the rental car office was miles from the airport and that somehow our reservation has been cancelled, and all their cars were booked! Thankfully we found another company who had just one car left and we made it ours. We drove straight out of Cusco towards our hotel in Urubamba in the Sacred Valley, about an hour away. The trip here was very scenic, through mountains and valleys. The roads are pretty rough and driving is surprisingly aggressive and fun.
We are staying at the Capilla Lodge, a lovely and very small lodge on a hill outside the town and the place seems extremely relaxed. We are one of only two groups of guests here tonight. Perfect! The owners are a very friendly Frenchman and his Brit/Peruvian wife who have cooked our supper and served our drinks in their Alma Pub! Their 4 year old daughter, Beatrice, took an instant shine to Ben and Carys. The photo of Ben being a horse for Beatrice is a keeper.
Tomorrow we'll explore the Sacred Valley.

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