Cusco and the Sacred Valley

So, now that I have time and things to write about, I am going to write A LOT of blogs! This particular post is about a week that I spent in the Sacred Valley of Peru. It was one of the most memorable weeks of my life. I went with a very nice Spaniard named Cristian that I met at Pisco Sin Fronteras, the non profit where I had been volunteering. We met about five other PSFers in Cusco. I did not have a camera of my own, so I am using all of Cristian's photos! He is also a graphic designer, so I do not think he is going to appreciate the "design" of this blogpost.. He he.

We arrived in Cusco after a 20 hour trip from Pisco. The first thing that I wanted to do was rest. The altitude in Cusco is about 3400 meters or 10,000 feet, so I

was exhausted and had a head ache. We bought tourist tickets, which included the majority of the ruins that surround Cusco (minus Machu Picchu) and museums in and around Cusco. And, of course it included a statue - located on the ROAD - that everyone has admittance to.. But, anyways.. Neither here nor there.

The second day, we went to ruins surrounding

Cusco. We started ruins that were a tribute to water and walked down through the countryside to three other ruins. My favorite, that day, was Sacsayhuaman, which is located directly above Cusco. The city of Cusco itself is said to be in the shape of a puma, and these particular ruins were the head and teeth of the puma. In the photo above, you can see the stone architecture that is typically Incan. The jagged edge to my left is part of the "teeth". There is no mortar; the stones were "engineered" to fit together. Basically, they just fit together... It is said that Sacsayhuaman took over seventy years to build.

The next two days in Cusco were spent resting and visiting museums. After we felt well rested, we went to a site called Pisac. This was another ruin located above the village of Pisac, which was very hippy. They even had Kombucha, which Cristian smelled and practically gagged, but I drank, and enjoyed, my hippy fix (kindof)! The hike up to Pisac included waterfalls and riveting views. To me, the most fascinating part of Pisac was the terraces built for agricultural production. This type of process is still widely used throughout Peru today.

The buildings of Pisac were said to be built in the 1100s, and the majority were used for worship.

After we visited the city met with friends, and ate some good food, the next stop was Ollantaytambo. This village is located more or less one hour from Cusco. I had heard of a hostel(www.casadewow.com - see the homemade bed to the right) there owned by a woman from Asheville, NC, so I had to check it out. It was amazing. Not only was I sooo happy to speak to someone from NC that said "y'all", it was also an awesome little place to lay our heads. The first day there, we hiked above the village to local ruins and ate at a restaurant that donates all its profits to a nonprofit. The following day, we went with some Spaniards on a "locally" led hike. It was very interesting. The "guide" even lit up a funny smelling cigarette on our hike. It was a beautiful hike, but we could have spent our time elsewhere. I did appreciate spending time with new people though, and the ample time in nature.

The day after our stay in Ollantaytambo, we went straight to Agua Calientes to make our way to Machu Picchu. We arrived at 8:00 at night, by train, and woke up to go hike to Machu Picchu at around 4 in the morning. We hiked all the up to Machu Picchu. We were definitely one of the first one hundred people who arrived, if not the first seventy! I had a lot of energy that morning, so we were able to make it up relatively fast.

The advantage to arriving to Machu Picchu early is that you are able to hike to another ruin called Wanupicchu. We started this hike at approximately 7 a.m. I had a mixup with the lavanderia (the place that washes your clothes), so

I had to wear a dress for the hike. I survived! The view from the top was like nothing I have every seen and more beautiful than anything that I could have ever imagined. From the top we hiked around to caves that are located beneath. And, then we hiked up (again).

We luckily visited Machu Piccu on Easter Sunday (and Cristian's birthday), so the crowd was very slim. We spent the whole day walking around the ruins and discovering this ancient, mysterious place. I was so tired that I took a short nap with a chinchilla...

After walking ALL day long, we were exhausted. We returned to Aguas Calientes, had a celebratory bday dinner for Cristian, and took the train back to Ollantaytambo (pic to the right). We slept the whole two hours of the train ride. We said goodbye to Ollantaytambo the following day and headed back to Cusco for our last evening there!

The next day, a Tuesday, I headed back to Pisco to finish out my last two weeks of work with another friend from Spain, and Cristian headed travelin'. It was an emotional goodbye, to say the least, but looking back, it was a great Machu Picchu experience. And, if you have to say Chao for Now, what better place to say it than at one of the great wonders of the world. I am thankful to have had this experience with such special people. I am truly lucky!

I will be writing more blogposts over the next week about Huaraz and Chachapoyas, two other

places I have recently visited in Peru. I am in Chachapoyas now, and I am making my way up through the jungle to Colombia. Today, I hiked twelve miles to the world's third largest waterfall, and tomorrow, I am making my way up to Yurimaguas - and then on a boat to Iquitos, Peru in the jungle. I will be heading back to NC June, 26 and then to San Fran in August to be in Erica and Bryan's wedding. Stay tuned, and I will keep everyone posted!