Písac, Peru
We awoke to celebrate the day of Victoria’s birth with a new lease on life. We still knew that the air was thin but we could get around a lot more easily and the headaches were gone.
Our tour of the Sacred Valley of the Incas was pretty spectacular. It started with being picked up at the hotel and placed into a small and rather packed bus. We drove to the outskirts of town to a large area where the tour company redistributed people to buses of various sizes (based on language). I think that tour companies subcontract portions of their tours to local companies and being shuffled like a human deck of cards is part of that process.
We ended up with a great group of people. Everyone was happy to be on vacation and were very chatty.
The conference organizers provided choices for a couple of tours and I really wasn’t sure about taking an extra day to see the Sacred Valley but it was definitely worth it. The sites were quite amazing.
We drove to Pisac, starting as a strategically located viewpoint of the surrounding valley it grew into a major town and trading centre. The ancient ruins are like a mini Machu Picchu. Expertly designed to incorporate into the natural structure of the landscape, they give an idea of what it would have felt like to live during those times. This is also the site of the largest Inca era cemetary where innumerable mummies were exhumed and sold as souvenirs in the modern market town below (before the government cracked down on the practice in the 70’s).
The highlight of the day was Ollantaytambo. Built in the 1200’s, it is the oldest continuously occupied town in the Americas. The Incas chose the site to build a sun temple that was under construction when Spanish arrived. The terraces leading up to the building site hint at how impressive the temple would have been if they had been able to finish it. The panoramic view at the top revealed the site where the several ton stones were moved from the quarry at the top of the mountain on the opposite side of the valley. Impressive engineering and architectural feats.
I would love to come back and send more time in this lush tranquil setting. Maybe on a bike next time?
2GuysTravel 