After our day in the sacred valley we drive to Ollantaytambo to see one more sight and check into our hotel for the night.
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| The drive over is pretty |
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| Way up the cliff is a hotel you zip line to. You stay in capsules. |
All the inca trail hikers meet up for a quick photo before our hike tomorrow.
Loving my single room at the lodge.
One more sight before we retire for the night. We do meet up for dinner after but we all really just want to take it easy because our upcoming hike will be hard.
Before we launched into our hike we visited the sacred valley of Peru. We visited a local heritage site where we learned about the Quechuan peoples. We were greeted with tea, a dance, and given local outfits to wear.
We took some fun group photos.
We made some alpaca friends. They just wanted to eat.
We were then lead out to help with the harvest.
At lunch we had a very tasty vegetarian meal made with local foods.
We had discussions about how yarn is colored before being woven into beautiful goods such as rugs and scarves.
The rest of our time we explored the site.
My time in Cusco was short. We had one day of sight seeing before we went off to the Sacred Valley. I did return to Cusco after my inca trail hike (more later) but I was too sick to complete my sightseeing. Again, Cusco is another town I must visit once more. There were so many things I missed. I did enjoy my one long day there.
We started with a little walking tour and stop for a local snack.
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Aji de Gallina Empanadas (Chicken) |
We visited the narrow streets, some with example of Inca masonry. We were told how advanced the methods were for their time, made to withstand earthquakes. Also pointed out were the animal patterns hidden in the brick layout.
We visited a food market. You can tell from my past posts that I was in heaven. I was able to buy some dried fruit snacks for my upcoming hike but I really wish I had time to purchase more food stuff to take home.
Cusco is a beautiful city.
One of the more “touristy” things we did was visit a chocolate place. We made our own hot chocolate.
Half our tour group snuck in a dinner at a local restaurant. I tried alpaca meat and decided I wasn’t a fan.
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| Alpaca brichera |
It was a nice dinner but it made us late for our Inca trail preparation meeting. The meeting is where I got this map, and questioned what I was getting myself into.
Some from the tour went out that night. I was exhausted and retired early. I wanted to save all I had for the Inca trail – I had a feeling I was going to need all the energy I could save up!
Our tour guide made sure we got window seats to get this marvelous view coming into Cusco.
My visit to Lima was very brief and I spent most of my time in Miraflores. During my trip to Peru I let my tour company do all the logistics for my Lima sightseeing and therefore only had a little time to wander around historic sights. It seemed like there was more to see so I am due a trip back sometime.
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| Basílica y Convento de San Francisco |
The Basílica y Convento de San Francisco had an amazing collection of old books that unfortunately were not well cared for. There is a huge room full of rotting books. I wanted to cry.
Other than the rotting books, I enjoyed my short visit to Lima.
Growing With Leala 