Sacred Valley

This morning we got picked up and headed out on our Inca journey. Our journey today is taking us through the Sacred Valley. While on the way there, our guide, Jhon, told us about how the Incan people claimed many valleys and set up outposts every 30km. We later learned this was probably party due to the fact that llamas, a main mode of transportation, don't like walking and carrying goods after a certain amount of time.

Our first stop today was at Pisac. There is a small village where researchers believe the builders may have lived. Built into and up the mountains were terraces that the Incas used for farming. The terraces varied in width depending on what was planted in the terrace and I'd the soil needed to be tilled more or less. We walked through the terraces to the religious site. They know it is religious because the architecture was very beautiful. The big stones on pink granite were carved into perfect rectangles before being stacked to build houses for priests and the temples. More rustic buildings in the area were most likely storage and unimportant. We also learned that an easy way to spot an Incan building is to look at windows and doorways because they are at an angle from the bottom to the top. This was an anti earthquake measure.

After Pisac we drove about an hour to Ollantaytambo. While on the drive we finally decided on dates and cheap flights to go to Easter Island. After a few mishaps and a call to my mom for some help, we got it booked. We're going to Easter Island!

In Ollantaytambo we got some lunch which was much nicer than expected. We went to Tunupa for their buffet and boy was it something. We had some salad, ceviche, hummus, bread for our first "course". For the main meal there was a lot of choices like alpaca stew, ribs, beef in pepper sauce, and our favorite of the day: the passion fruit chicken. That chicken wa seriously good. Need to try and replicate that when we get back. There was also a dessert table and fruit. We ate a lot...maybe too much. It was also a beautiful place with a courtyard with purple flowers and a fountain in the middle that overlooked the mountains. It was very nice.

After lunch we went to the Ollantaytambo site. Like Pisac, it has the terraces built into the mountain. I asked Jhon if the mountain was carved out by the Incas prior to the terraces and buildings being built there, and he said the Incas looked for mountains that has curves in them already and built the terraces in. We walked to the top of the site where we again found what is believed to be a religious site due to the architecture. It was very windy at the top so we had to be careful .There was a ramp behind it that they used to haul up these MASSIVE stones of pink granite. As an anti earthquake measure, between the big stones the Incas out smaller stones to keep the walls together. Also at the top, we saw some rustic buildings that were built during the war with the Spanish to house soldiers and leaders. What was also cool here was seeing some terraces that have plants on them that helped you imagine what it would have looked like and to see storage houses built higher into the mountains to help keep it cool. We walked through some ancient buildings on our way out and saw some water systems and fountains. I really love seeing all of the ingenuity up close.

After Ollantaytambo we drove about 20 minutes to the start of the Inca Trail. We drove along the river so the views were amazing. When we arrived, we walked past the sign to start the trail, across the bridge, and then back the other way away from the start of the trail towards our glamping site. Our little glamping hut is actually really nice with a king bed, its own bathroom and a big shower. We washed off the dust, sweat, and sunscreen of the day before heading to the main house for some tea and snacks. The roasted corn was very good and addictive. They make it in a pressure cooker with olive oil and heat it up like popcorn and the idea is to make it softer rather than crunchy. It's a type of corn that won't pop like popcorn and they call it "eggs of the hummingbird" because of the shape and color.

We hung out in the main house for about an hour before dinner. The boys had trout and they made me chicken which was very nice because I said I don't like fish. Still the only thing I can't even stomach (I've eaten a lot of eggs on this trip which hasn't been fun...). After dinner we chatted with Jhon for a bit but then left to get an early night before our big trek starts in the morning.

Hopefully it all goes ok 🙈Baca lagi