• South America
    Our first stop the "capital" of the Inca Empire
    Really lucked out with our driver for the dayThe Inca people paid "taxes" though labor to build these structuresA pup among the ruinsValley view and just before the puffer jackets were stowed awayAgricultural terracesHousing structures in the foregroundAlpacas seeking shade among the touristsMoray agricultural terraces were used as a farming research stationFrom the Ollantaytambo Fortess🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙Map sent by our Machu Picchu guide along with a message "run for tickets!"

    Sacred Valley of the Incas

    May 7 in Peru ⋅ ☁️ 45 °F

    What a great day! We started early from Cusco and headed toward Ollantaytambo. We hired a driver who just happened to be a archeologist, had excellent English and wanted to tell us about every ancient site we checked out.

    Located between Cusco and Machu Picchu, the Sacred Valley of the Incas is a fertile, scenic river valley in the Peruvian Andes that served as the agricultural, spiritual, and administrative heart of the Inca Empire. Created by the Urubamba River the valley acted as the primary "breadbasket" supplying corn, quinoa, and potatoes. Dotted with impressive archaeological sites like Pisac and Ollantaytambo, the valley demonstrates the advanced architectural and engineering skills of the Inca civilization. There were so many tourists, but the scenery was beautiful, especially the agricultural terraces.

    We finished our day with a train ride to Aguas Calientes (hot waters) where we made a mad dash to the Machu Picchu ticket office to secure tickets for Saturday. More on that later, but let’s just say it was a big downer after such a lovely day.    Read more