For my last full day in Cusco, I took a tour bus ride to the various sites in what is called the sacred valley. The sacred valley consists of the towns of Cusco, Chinchero, Urubamba, Ollantaytambo and Pisaq.
Rita and Josh were supposed to join me today, but they were still feeling sick. So I went to Plaza de Armas by myself and met up with the tour bus at about 8:30 AM. It was a full size bus and probably about 3/4 full. The tour was a mixture of English and Spanish speaking tourists, and the tour guide spoke to us in both.
Our first stop was at a shop where they made clay figurines. They were explaining how they were made and offered some for sale. I bought a chess set that was the conquistadors on one side and the incans on the other.
We then visited the site of Pisaq. It was on top of a mountain and we had to follow a trail around the side to get to the site.
From Pisaq we stopped at a buffet, where I got to talking to some people who were on the tour. Two of them we friends from California. The other 2 were from Germany, and met each other by posting on a bulletin board that they were looking for someone to travel with. All four of them met at the hostel they were staying at. We all noticed that the tour guide was speaking more spanish than english, and we felt we were missing a lot of the conversations and explanations of the sites.
The next site was Ollantaytambo. It was a series of terraces going up a small mountain, with a small structure at the top. There were also some trails to the side. The mountain facing it had a figure carved into the rock, that looked like a face and in the face were caverns, that were used to store grains. You could see a trail going into the face and we got to see some trekkers on it.
The last site was Chinchero. Some people in the tour left at this point and took a taxi back to Cusco. The rest of us walked up a long cobblestone street to get there. It was starting to get dark at this point and the weather was getting cold. Chinchero was basically a church with a big courtyard. We didn't go into the church. Down the side of a hill, we got to see some show going on with cows. I'm not exactly sure what was going on though.
Back at Cusco, I said bye to the friends I made and made my way back to the La Plaza de Armas. On the way I got a bit lost and realized there was more than one plaza in Cusco. At one there were some artists who where painting using spray paint. I finally found La Plaza de Armas and there was a big music festival going on. It was mostly young couples and they filled most of the plaza.
I met up with Grant on one corner and we made our way to a small lounge, where we met everyone else for some drinks to end the night.
Here are some pictures of the Sacred Valley.
Rita and Josh were supposed to join me today, but they were still feeling sick. So I went to Plaza de Armas by myself and met up with the tour bus at about 8:30 AM. It was a full size bus and probably about 3/4 full. The tour was a mixture of English and Spanish speaking tourists, and the tour guide spoke to us in both.
Our first stop was at a shop where they made clay figurines. They were explaining how they were made and offered some for sale. I bought a chess set that was the conquistadors on one side and the incans on the other.
We then visited the site of Pisaq. It was on top of a mountain and we had to follow a trail around the side to get to the site.
From Pisaq we stopped at a buffet, where I got to talking to some people who were on the tour. Two of them we friends from California. The other 2 were from Germany, and met each other by posting on a bulletin board that they were looking for someone to travel with. All four of them met at the hostel they were staying at. We all noticed that the tour guide was speaking more spanish than english, and we felt we were missing a lot of the conversations and explanations of the sites.
The next site was Ollantaytambo. It was a series of terraces going up a small mountain, with a small structure at the top. There were also some trails to the side. The mountain facing it had a figure carved into the rock, that looked like a face and in the face were caverns, that were used to store grains. You could see a trail going into the face and we got to see some trekkers on it.
The last site was Chinchero. Some people in the tour left at this point and took a taxi back to Cusco. The rest of us walked up a long cobblestone street to get there. It was starting to get dark at this point and the weather was getting cold. Chinchero was basically a church with a big courtyard. We didn't go into the church. Down the side of a hill, we got to see some show going on with cows. I'm not exactly sure what was going on though.
Back at Cusco, I said bye to the friends I made and made my way back to the La Plaza de Armas. On the way I got a bit lost and realized there was more than one plaza in Cusco. At one there were some artists who where painting using spray paint. I finally found La Plaza de Armas and there was a big music festival going on. It was mostly young couples and they filled most of the plaza.
I met up with Grant on one corner and we made our way to a small lounge, where we met everyone else for some drinks to end the night.
Here are some pictures of the Sacred Valley.
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