The Sacred Valley

I felt like I`ve been on the Gringo Trail, so decided to do something slightly different. Most people head to Machu Picchu from Cusco, but I decided to spend a few days exploring the Sacred Valley on my way to Machu Picchu. The Sacred Valley runs along the course of the Rio Urubamba, which the Inca`s considered sacred. It was definitely worth the trip.

It took an hour on the bus to Pisac, where there are some ruins on the hill side. I got ripped off by the Taxi Driver on the 4km journey to the ruins - but it saved having to walk uphill with my rucksack.

You can read about the ruins here, and here are some pics:

And here`s one of a traditionally dressed Peruvian woman I met at the ruins - dig the hat:

Rather than catch the taxi back, I walked the 4 km down hill into town - I needed the exercise and it saved on Taxi fare - I have to think of these things now I don`t get paid :-(

Pisac is a really nice town, with a famous Sunday market - although the market was still on even though it was Monday.

I stopped for lunch and had Empanada`s (like a cornish pasty, although these had sauce and cheese rather than meat) - which are baked in a wood oven - they were so good I had two.

Wandering around town I decided to try the boiled corn with cheese - which you can buy everywhere here - totally filling - Peruvian comfort food:

I then got on another bus to Urubamba, where I got a Collectivo to Ollitaytambo. A collectivo is a minibus that seats about 15 people, but at one point I counted 28 - it was a real squeeze. My bag had to go on the roof again - but it arrived safely, as did everyone else.

There are even more ruins at Ollytaytambo. The village itself is small, but quaint, and is built on the original Inca design using the original Inca foundations. I really enjoyed it - although it was freezing at night.

Here`s some pics of the ruins:

I got bad sunburn on my neck, so resorted to wearing the Buff Bekki kindly picked out for me (thanks Bekki)

For your amusement - here`s a picture of the cutest hostal key fob ever:

And one of the electric shower heads they have here - if you touch it while it`s on - you get a bad electric shock - note the fuse on the wall - I`m sure it meets UK standards...not:

By the way...it didn`t even work...