Sacred Valley Horse Tour

Today we rode Peruvian Paso horses through the Sacred Valley of the Andes mountains. The views were stunning! Our tour guide for today and tomorrow's adventures is Willy. He is very nice and knowledgeable.
We rode an hour out, to Moray, a huge earthwork that is essentially circular stacked levels of earth used by the Incas as a testing ground for plants. There is a significant temperature difference from the top to the bottom and therefore different plants thrived at different levels.
We had lunch in a tent overlooking the valley. Not a bad picnic spot! Food was made by a chef who works for the today's tour company and it was delicious - beef, quinoa, veggies and apple pie for dessert.
On the way back we were able to ride a bit faster, but despite our understanding that Paso horses have a particularly smooth gate, it felt just like a trot to me! May have a sore behind tomorrow but still very much worth it!
Next we went to the Maras salt mines - 3000 small pools of mountainous salty spring water that are dried so that water evaporates and leaves salt. We bought some pink salt on our way out which is supposed to be great for BBQ.
We rested at the hotel in the late afternoon and ate dinner at the hotel. Dave had the Peruvian delicacy of fried Guinea pig (for $20!). Ken and I opted not to try it. There wasn't much meat there to try! And they included a shot of anise afterwards to "help the stomach" after eating it. More card games after dinner and off to bed...Read more