The Sacred Valley is filled with interesting Incan sites to discover. Two of the ones on my list were in Maras: Moray and Salineras. Maras is sort of, maybe, not quite, in between Pisac and Ollantaytambo. I thought it'd be easy to find a tour that would take me to these sites, but ALL the tours begin and end in Cusco, after visiting the sites for a few hours. So instead, Janny (from my hotel) helped me hire a taxi that would pick me up in Pisac, take me to visit the sites, and then drop me in Ollantaytambo, where I had a hotel booked for the next night for about $50. It would have been nice to have a guide, but luckily there is Wikipedia, so I read up before visiting!
First stop was Salineras, which consists of 3,000 salt pools that have been in use at least since Incan days. The pools are fed from a natural warm salty spring, which flows through manmade channels and is directed into shallow pools. Then the water channel is blocked so the water in the pool can evaporate, and then locals harvest the salt. Each pool is owned by a different family, and it's all organized by the community.
Super salty!
Thousands of salt pans
It was really impressive to see how ingeniously the Incan people set up a system to harvest salt. These days we are pretty spoiled by just going to the grocery store!
Next up were the Incan terraces at Moray. Historians don’t know exactly what these terraces were used for, but the commonly accepted explanation is that they were a laboratory of sorts for testing crops at different climates/elevations: Wikipedia tells me the the difference between the top and bottom is as much as 27 °F (but you’re not allowed to go to the bottom).
Moray terraces
There is one that is very well restored and maintained in the photo above, and two others that have not been extensively restored, giving you an idea for what they may have looked like when discovered (they were also probably covered in vegetation).
One of the less well restored terraces, with mountain views!
After checking out Moray, I got dropped off in Ollantaytambo at my hotel, La Casa del Abuelo. Ollantaytambo has been continually inhabited since the Inca days, and many of the streets and buildings date back to that time. Unfortunately a lot of the charm is lost due to a very touristy center, but if you wander slightly away from the main plaza you can stroll peacefully and pretend you're an Inca (or just appreciate the absence of souvenir shops).
Walking around Ollantaytambo
That evening I had dinner at La Esquina, where I had an AMAZING salad and some really not amazing carrot cake, then I went back to my hotel which had strong Wifi (so rare) and watched a little Netflix for the first time during my trip!
The following day, I woke up pretty early, and headed to the ruins which were less than a 5 minute walk from my hotel. My plan was to hire a guide there, since I was told that there are usually a bunch of guides for hire hanging around the entrance. Unfortunately, it was international water day, and there was a little celebration going on, so none of the guides were there! I was a little disappointed, but one of the ticket checkers gave me a short overview in Spanish, and I had the site map with a bit of information. There were a lot of tours there, and I thought about asking to join one, but they were all really old people who could barely climb the stairs (no offense to old people), so I ditched that idea and just gave myself a tour.
Ruins!
The ruins are best known as the site of one of the few Inca victories against the Spaniards. They managed to hold back the conquistadors, and flooded the area below, stopping their advance. The victory was short-lived, thought, and Ollantaytambo was soon captured by the Spanish.
It was only about 10:30 when I finished up at the ruins, so I decided to do a short hike before lunch, up to some...you guessed it....RUINS!
Final destination (as seen from the top of the other ruins)
The Pinkuylluna ruins/houses up on the hill were used as storehouses. I have no idea why the Incas would have stored stuff in such a difficult to reach location, but it was a nice way to get some exercise and also offered great views of Ollantaytambo.
I made it!
Following the hike, I enjoyed another salad at Hearts Cafe, and then I was kind of out of stuff to do, since the only other activities there are more, longer hikes. I ended up going to a cafe near my hotel where I had a tea and a cookie and read a book. Then I just walked around some more, watched some more Netflix, and started getting packed for my trip to Machu Picchu.
Overall I think I spent a bit too much time in Ollantaytambo, but I liked the experience of staying longer in the Sacred Valley villages than most people do. Now that I am in Cusco and I see how hectic it is, it was nice to have a couple of relaxing days and get in some day hikes.
I was really glad I stayed overnight in Ollantaytambo the day before my Machu Picchu trek, because it allowed me to get a lot more sleep than if I'd left from Cusco. You can read about my visit to Machu Picchu soon!