Sacred Valley, Peru

We left Cusco on the morning of May 22nd to make our way to the Sacred Valley. On the way there we stopped stopped at the Quesermayo Valley to visit Awanakancha, which is a project to help 14 different communities of native people. This project includes an area with many llamas and alpacas, and the wool from these animals are used by the locals to make traditional Andean weavings. We walked around the project and made friends with some of the llamas and alpacas.

We learned how the wool was dyed with natural ingredients, and then boiled in the dyes to create the coloured wool.

We also some of the traditional ladies working on their weaving.

We continued our drive and stopped to observe a beautiful view of the Sacred Valley:

Out group also grew to 29 people just before leaving Cusco for the Sacred Valley (we had 16 people for Brazil and Argentina, 17 people for Lima and the Colca Canyon in Peru and then we’ll have 29 people for the Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu and Jungle).

We finally arrived in the Sacred Valley of the Incas, which is located in the Cusco region of Peru. The Sacred Valley was an area which was very important in the Inca time for the production of corn. We visited two main areas within the Sacred Valley: Pisac and Ollantaytambo.

We first visited the Inca ruins in Pisac, which were pretty incredible! The first thing we could see were many Incas terraces. Since it was difficult to grow crops along a mountain side, the Incas built terraces in order to make flat areas in the mountainside so they could grow their crops (mainly corn). They used the altitudes to their advantage, where the terraces at the lower altitudes got warmer weather and the terraces with higher altitudes had colder weather, so they grew different types of crops depending on how far up the mountain the terraces were. In the photo below you can see the terraces the Incas built, and you can also see in the background the old Inca town ruins. The living quarters higher up on the mountain housed the high class people, while around the terraces was where the farmers lived.

It was interesting to see the structure of the buildings as we walked around the ruins:

This was also the site of a huge cemetery, but not one that we are used to seeing. The Incas would lay their dead to rest in the side of the mountain, and then cover up the graves. It was hard to see this by looking at the mountain, but there were small holes that indicated this. (unfortunately I don’t have a good photo of it).

From the ruins we also had an incredible view of the area!

We decided to climb up the hill to where the higher class people lived, and explored the ruins up there:

Also in the town of Pisac we visited a local market, where my tour manager’s mother worked as a fruit vendor. We had the chance to try some delicious fresh fruit!

We also visited a local bakery with a traditional oven, where we ate warm empanadas fresh from the oven! I’ve seen a number of traditional ovens and stoves in Peru, it’s pretty cool to see them still in use today!

Just next to the bakery we saw a number of guinea pigs in an enclosure. It broke my heart, these poor little animals were being kept there in preparation for them being eaten as a local Peruvian specialty.

Our next stop in the Sacred Valley was Ollantaytambo, another town and Inca archaeological site, at an altitude of 2,792 metres above sea level. It served during the Inca Empire as the royal estate of Emperor Pachacuti, and later (during the Spanish conquests) it served as a capital for the leader of the Inca resistance against the Spanish.

The site has a number of impressive terraces carved into the mountain, and then the ruins of the town at the top of the mountain.

From the top of the terraces we had a great view of the town and the mountains:

In addition to the terraces and town, the Incas also had storage facilities where they kept supplies of food, but they did not keep them on the terraces or where they were living, they actually kept the storage facilities high up on the opposite mountain. This is because the mountains create a wind tunnel, and so the Incas built their storage facilities in line with the wind tunnel so that their food would stay fresh for longer. You can see the storage facilities half way up the mountain (just above the shadow) in the photo below.

I liked the town of Ollantaytambo! It was really small, and had a nice feel to it. I enjoyed walking around the streets and observing the people. We spent the night in Ollantaytambo and left the following day for Machu Picchu!