The last leg of my trip is upon me! The Cusco area is where I'll be spending my last week of sabbatical. I took the night bus from Puno to Cusco, but decided to head straight to the Sacred Valley, in order to take my time exploring the sights and villages there. The Sacred Valley is about an hour or so from Cusco, and has beautiful scenery and plenty of ruins to explore. It's most common to take day trips from Cusco to visit the sights, but I thought it'd be nice to stay overnight in a couple different places to get a better feel for it.
Stunning Sacred Valley! (not taken at 6 AM)
I hoped in a taxi to Pisac, and arrived to Hospedaje Kitamayu at about 6 AM. The delightful owner, Janny, greeted me with tea, and had a room ready to go, so I promptly got into bed and slept for a couple more hours. I woke up nice and refreshed and enjoyed a breakfast of scrambled eggs- a rare treat in Peru where breakfast is usually just bread and jam. Then I set out to see the main attraction, the Incan ruins.
The ruins cover a lot of area on a mountain, and usually you can either hike all the way up/down them. However, right now the middle section of the trail is closed, so the choices were to take a taxi to the top and hike down a bit, or to hike up from the bottom; the latter is what Janny recommended to me. Of course, I started off the hike by going the wrong way for about 20 minutes. A local guy was walking along the path, and helped me find my way back to where the trail ACTUALLY started. I seriously should not be allowed to hike on my own, I get lost EVERY TIME.
The trek takes you up a mountain with some beautiful views, and the opportunity to see some Incan agricultural terraces. Along the way, there are various ruins that you can explore.
Incan terracing near the beginning of the hike
Admiring the ruins by sitting on them.
When I reached the last hike-able part of the trek, I met a German couple who had come down from the top. They told me there was an alternate trail and pointed it out, so I started hiking on it hoping to make it to the top of the ruins. But….the trail just looped back on itself and brought me right back to where I’d met the Germans. Grrrr!
End of the trail for me!
I was kind of disappointed (and tired from now having hiked even more uphill), but all things happen for a reason! When I got back to ruins where I met the Germans, I was surprised to run into one of my friends from Spanish school in Medellin! He was there with his girlfriend, and we ended up making plans to have dinner together that evening, which was a great time.
After my hike, I enjoyed some lunch at Mullu in the town square, and visited the Pisac market. The market essentially takes up the entire town square, and is filled with typical Peruvian handicrafts and souvenirs. It was very touristy, but I love Peruvian textiles and the prices were pretty good, so I left with quite a few things!
Souvenirs galore at the market
The next day I didn’t do much in the morning. I was starting to get worried about my lack of waterproof clothing and the high chance of rain predicted on my upcoming 2-Day Inca trek, so I ended up buying some gear from some local shops in Pisac. I picked up a pair of pants and a Colombia knock-off jacket for a total of $34: a low price to pay for peace of mind knowing I’ll be dry on the trail. Well, unless my cheap crappy clothes are not in fact waterproof!
That afternoon, I continued by Sacred Valley trip by checking out more Incan history at Moray and Salineras de Maras on my way to Ollantaytambo. More to report on that soon!