Our Peru Adventure - Sacred Valley

The Sacred Valley is a region in Peru's Andean highlands. Along with the nearby town of Cusco and the ancient city of Machu Picchu, it formed the heart of the Inca Empire,stretching roughly 60 kilometers/37 miles. It is an area of fertile farmland and Spanish colonial villages.                 

There are many many Sacred Valley tours available. We choose to go a different route. Taxidatum is a taxi service in Peru. We used them to pick us up in Cusco and bring us to Ollantaytambo. They also offer a taxi service through the Sacred Valley. 

A tour will provide a guide that will usher you through each site. A taxi driver will get you to the site then you are on your own. We do well on our own. 

A tour guide will speak English and have extensive knowledge of each site. A taxi driver will use Google translate and give you some information. We were okay with that as well... we don't necessarily need in depth information on each site and well you can ask questions and google things if need. 

A tour guide with cost minimum $100 per person while Taxidatum cost $80 for a small car and $100 for a van. 

We choose the van. The taxi driver was great.. and our trip was perfect. We all gotta do what works for us. 

The driver picked us up at 8am. We had already explored Ollantaytambo so our first stop was Moray. 

Moray are famous Inca ruins. It is composed of three groups of man made circular terraces. They descend 490 feet (150 meters) from the highest terrace to the lowest. Each terrace has 12 levels of terraces with the largest depression having a diameter of 600-feet.

With the Incas having no written language, the Moray ruins are an enigma. Evidence suggests, however, that the bottom six terraces at Moray were built by a culture predating the Incas, somewhere between the 6th and 10th centuries and were most likely used to cultivate different crops. 

These were definitely wow worthy. The Moray ruins were included in the ticket we bought for the Ollantaytambo Ruins. 

We returned to our car and next headed to Maras. 

andean mint helps with altitude sickness

On our way to Maras we stopped at a little shop where we sampled some chocolates, corn nuts and salt. 

We bought some of the salted chocolate, the giant corn nuts as well as two different types of salt. 

Maras Salt is highly valued is its rich mineral content. It is considered to be more sustainable than it's more popular cousin Himalayan Salt. While Himalayan salt is rich in calcium, magnesium, and potassium Maras Salt contains calcium, iron, magnesium, and zinc.

After a bit of shopping we headed to the Maras salt mines. The ticket price was $5 per person, kids free. 

Our next stop was Chinchero. Chinchero is one of the few places where it seems that time does not pass, since Inca traditions and culture still persist. The people who inhabit it are of Inca blood, it brings together twelve Andean indigenous communities. The town also boasts a thriving artisan community, particularly known for its weaving traditions.

Ollantaytambo was 2700 meters above sea level.. here in Chinchero we were at 3700 meters above sea level, also known as the "Rainbow Town" due to the frequent occurrence of rainbows, especially during the rainy season.

There we visited a textile center.

 

But before we got to the textiles we met with the cuties that provide the wool.

One of the women gave us a demo of how the wool is cleaned, dyed, spun and woven. Alpacas are generally sheared once a year and their wool is dirty. The wool is cleaned with chunk of saqta root. The weaver grated it with a cheese grater into a clay dish of hot water and before you knew it the wool was sparkling white. Above are some of the items they use to dye the wool. Quinsa K’ucho leaves & Tara pods for blues. Ch’illca leaves for greens. Cochinilla insects for red.. they use this dye to stain their lips as well, it can last 100 kisses the weaver informed us. Lol. Q’olle flower & Yanali bark for yellows and Purple corn & Awaypili for purples.

In the Andes, traditional Quechua backstrap weaving uses the backstrap loom, the oldest form of loom in the world. Weaving is a central part of women's daily life and cultural identity. 

Blue dyes take the longest so they are saved for special occasions. Their fingers dictate the thickness of the wool. They spin spindles all day.. while walking, cooking, mothering..

 

While the weaving tradition in Chinchero has faced challenges in the past, it is not dying. Efforts to revive and sustain it are underway, with NGOs, tourism, and the women themselves working together to keep this ancient art form alive and thriving.

 

It was a fascinating learning experience. 

Next stop was the Chinchero Ruins.. we parked.. got out of the car and then changed our minds. It was sweltering hot..  I could feel a headache coming and we had more stops to make.. So we made an executive decision to skip the Chinchero Ruin. No regrets. 

Time for lunch. The driver took us to Casa Angel. It was a tourist buffet spot. Buses of tourists all on the Sacred Valley tour stopped here for a meal. I was not aware that we would be stopping here.. I thought we'd just have to wing it at some point of the trip. It was a massive set up. I remember visiting somewhere similar when we had hired a driver in Morocco. We appreciated the cool air, clean bathrooms and variety of food. 

Guinea Pig aka Cuy in Peru is a delicacy, valued for its low-fat, high-protein meat. It's a traditional food source, a symbol of prosperity and good luck, and used in various religious ceremonies. We did not try it.

Our final stop was Pisac. Pisac is home to the Pisac Archaeological Park, a hilltop Incan citadel and is considered one of the finest archaeological complexes in Peru. Built in 1440 in Sacred Valley over 3000 meters above sea level.

The entrance was included in the ticket we used for the Ollantaytambo and Moray ruins.

 

wow wow wow. The place felt magical. The weather was perfect.. the alpaca's everywhere.. the perfectly sculpted terraces.. just stunning. We had initially intended to hike our way down through the ruins to the main town and have the car meet us there. But the hike takes 2 plus hours and we were running behind schedule now. I am so glad we skipped the Chinchero ruins so we could have more time here. We were only able to wander through a small part of the upper ruins before we headed back to the car. 

 Our final stop was at the Pisac Market. 

We bought a coffee mug from the sweetest old man who was hand painting them. He stood on a mug and had M do the same to demonstrate their strength.

 

H is wearing the hoodie he bought from Ollantaytambo. M bought a similar one with a quarter zip without the hood.

D bought some gloves while I bought a scarf.

 

We got back into the car as the driver drove us to our Cusco hotel. We were now going to be at 3400 meters above sea level and by the time we got to Cusco we were starting to feel it. We checked in and freshened up before heading out for dinner. Both H and I both had headaches and were feeling a little queasy.. dinner the last thing on our minds even though it was very good. 

And so we wrapped up another amazing day. Which place was your favorite?

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