THE SACRED VALLEY

Whilst hanging out in the kitchen at our hostel we got talking to two Aussies from the Gold Coast called Holly and Dave. They were planing on doing a one day tour of the Inca sites in the Sacred Valley a few hours out of Cusco. As we had nothing planned we decided to join them and went about finding a cheap deal. Deal found we celebrated by drinking beers in Nuevo Mundo bar overlooking the square then chowed down at a Chifa (Peruvian/Chinese food) restaurant in the next square. It was one that Elvis our walking guide had pointed out and was full of locals, it didn't disappoint.

Chinchera
We don't usually take organised tours because often you get many awkward moments where you think you're going to see something authentic like a traditional textiles factory and you end up in a shop with cute little kids trying to sell you bracelets and their parents making you feel guilty if you don't buy anything. This is how our trip kicked off which was not the most promising start. However they did give us a tiny talk about how they spin and dye alpaca wool before the emotional sell.

Most of the women were dressed in colourful traditional garments and a couple had cute babies in tiny beanies tied to their backs. We were in a place called Chinchera, we didn't see the Inca ruins here but we did see some nice ponchos.

With fingers crossed that spot two would be better we rattled our way out into the hilly country side. Mud red houses with orange terracotta roofs huddled together below massive slopes with fields of bright yellow maise, red turned earth and rich green crops filling any available flat space in the valley.

Moray
Near the small town of Maras up in the foothills surrounding the Rio Urubamba valley are the three amphitheater like concentric circular terraces of Moray. Apparently it was used as an Inca laboratory. Each level creates a different micro climate due to the amount of sun and wind it receives. This enabled Inca boffins to determine the best conditions to grow a variety of crops. They were almost alien in their appearance and put our humble English crop circles to shame.

Salinas
Roughly 3000 rectangular pools appeared below us cut into a steep mountainside as we descended down a hairy hairpin road. There is a massive salt deposit in the mountain that gets released via a hot spring near the top of the mountain. The salt-laden spring water is irrigated into the pools where it evaporates leaving... you guessed it, salt. This is another fine example of the ingenuity of the Incas. Due to this being rainy season the pools were a milky chocolate colour, however in the dry season when most of the salt is made the pools are much whiter and brighter. Despite being the wrong time of year the shear scale of this site was incredible and like nothing I have seen before. We bought some extremely salty dark chocolate, it seemed like the obvious way to taste the product.

Lunch in Urubamba
Our magical mystery tour bus dropped us outside a pricey buffet for lunch. To escape the obvious tourist trap we decided to make our own plans against the tour guides wishes and went to a little restaurant five minutes up the road. Unfortunately it was probably the worst meal we have had, I'm sure the hoof of a tiny animal was floating in my soup amongst other indistinguishable bits of meat. Still it was only 8 Soles or 2 quid for a starter, main and fruit juice. Quite a flashy Tuk Tuk pulled up outside with CDs for hubcaps. They actually looked pretty good. Back by the bus we spoke to the guys who paid for the overpriced buffet, they too said it was the worst food they had eaten. This made us feel a lot better.

Ollantaytambo
We wound our way with the river through the valley arriving at the quaint cobbled village and Inca fortress of Ollantaytambo, known as Ollanta to the locals. As the bus lumbered through the village we caught a glimpse of a charming little square with crumbly alleyways leading away from its heart. Unfortunately there wasn't time to explore this little gem, however as this is also the home of the main railway station to reach Machu Picchu we decided we would return for a night.

The Inca site here is pretty colossal. Massive terraces stack up the steep mountainside like a giants staircase. At the top is the Temple del Sol (temple of the sun) which is made of colossal stone blocks cut and dragged from a quarry on the other side of the valley 6km away. Similar to a lot of Inca ruins Ollantaytambo was still under construction when the Spanish arrived and was never completed.

This is one of the few places where the Spanish conquistadors lost a major battle with the Incas. From high above the Incas showered the Spanish with spheres, arrows and boulders. The rebellious Inca King Manco Inca (who the Spanish were after), diverted the water channels from the terraces onto the flood plain below bogging down the cavalry horses and causing the Spanish to hastily retreat. Unfortunately the victory was short lived and the Spaniards returned with four times the soldiers and Manco fled into the jungle.

As we boarded the bus so did two young kids dressed in traditional attire. They sang some traditional songs then asked for money, this was followed by a man playing traditional music on a drum and set of panpipes. I quite like panpipes when they are playing authentic music but I can't stand panpipe covers. Suddenly the tranquil slightly haunting music changed pace and started to sound like Abba. I hoped it was a coincidence but then the next song was unmistakably The Beatles's 'Hey Jude''. He even tried to get the bus to sing and clap along as if we were happy campers at Butlins. The emergency exit was two rows back and occupied by a happy family clapping away in a pipe induced trance... we were trapped. Now I remember why we never take organised tours. Still at 12 quid for a twelve hour tour including transport and a guide I can't complain too much.

Pisac Ruins
Set in the Inca forest high above the quaint village of Pisac, a ruined citadel sits on a forested plateau with plunging gouges on either side. It's majestic sweeping terraces curve round the steep southern slopes that step down deep into the valley. If ever there was a place to go for the worlds biggest slinky record this was it. The citadel not only used to guard the Urubamba valley below, but also a pass leading northeast into the jungle.

Our guide pointed out the wall to the north which was full of small holes. Apparently this was a cemetery for the common people.

The sound of panpipes from the cluster of sellers that stalk the tourist busses drifted across the terraces in the wind. The tranquil melodies really added to the atmosphere and luckily were not written by the Beatles or Abba. We rushed around the ruins pretty sharpish as time was running out and the park rangers were trying to blow people out of the site using high-pitched whistles.

Our final stop for the day was Pisac market. This is supposed to be one of the biggest markets in the region and pinged up on a few websites as a good place to visit. Unfortunately it was the end of the day and sellers were packing away. Luckily it wasn't too far to visit from Cusco if we found ourselves with a free morning.

It had been a pretty long day considering we left our hostel at 6am and were just arriving back in Cusco at 7pm. We searched out some food, had a bed-time beer then hit the sack. No amount of altitude sickness could stop us sleeping well tonight.