Pisac Cusco

Meer dan tien dagen zijn Joyce, Melissa (uit Ierland die we nog kennen uit Samaipata) en ik in Cusco en het is hier geweldig! De stad zelf is erg prettig. Mooie pleinen, kerken, koloniale huizen, schoon (voor Zuid-Amerikaanse begrippen) een actief nachtleven, prettig klimaat (warm en zonnig overdag en koud 's nachts), een hoop toeristen …

Cusco is a city that I really enjoy, it has a lot of history being the former imperial capital of the Incas and with 70% of the local population being employed directly or indirectly by tourism there are lots of opportunities to do quite a lot of stuff.

This time however my main objective was to hike and see some things that I didn´t do …

7am I was picked up by bus to go on the Sacred Valley tour. An 11 hour tour, it was a little underwhelming compared to Machu Picchu. However, the thing to remember about these stops is that the places were lived in and Machupicchu was like a head office of sorts (kinda makes it sound less cool when I put it that way). Stories about the tour are in …

As Stacey is only in Peru for a week we decided to head over to Cusco and see some inca ruins with her. To make the most of our time there we caught a flight at 8am which meant we had to be up at 5am to get to the airport! We arrived at our lodging around 10.20am and as we are here for a while spent some time sorting out our bags. With the laundry …

Idag har vi varit på dagstur i Sacred Valley, ett viktigt område för Inka folket. Vi har sett Fantastiska Inka konstruktioner och tempel guidade av vår passionerade guide Roger och hans glada chaufför Enrique. Vi besökte två Inka ruiner Pisac och Ollantaytambo. Helt otroligt att de kunde bygga terasser, hus och …

On the sixth day it wasn't such an early start - we were picked up by our tour guide at 8am for a journey through the Sacred Valley. The Sacred Valley is more commonly known to the indigenous people as the Urubamba Valley which was carved over time by the Vilcanota river. The valley runs from Pisaq (also spelt as Pisac) all the way to Ollantaytambo …

Toured the Inca sites of Pisac and Ollantaytambo today. Hotel right at the foot of the Inca site in Ollantaytambo, don't think you could get a more atmospheric hotel location. Feet hurting so much now as a result of the sunburn and bites I got when on the rafting trip. Very swollen now and blisters forming too. Just have to do my best to treat them …

TUESDAY

I decide to book a day trip with the hotel to visit The Sacred Valley. I will be picked up at 8:15...

The normal gathering of the tourists means that, again, it is a while before we finally leave. But it is a big coach with lots of room. I share the back row with Kendalle, an American girl on her travels. But there are …

Exciting day @ high Altitude. This is because we are meeting up again with Benjamin(yesterdays tour guide) to take for a tour of the sacred valley.So we got up early to have breakfast down stair in the hostal. Interestingly they had olives... olives for breakfast.

So we get on the bus and head off to our first sight of the tour for the …

Today, woke up a little early to get ready & go on an all-day (9am - 7pm) bus tour of Incan ruins and archeological sites. So, I open the door to my room… bam, wet sock. LORD… the lake of toilet water that was our bathroom floor last night, has crept into the hallway and now threatening to come into our room. Ridiculous. We called …

... and after we had some food it was 3pm again before we started exploring.  It wasn’t anywhere near as impressive as Pisac though and given the number of tourists there was actually a queue to climb up onto the ruins which ruins it ...

It's was our last day in Cusco. We were planning on going to Pisac today, but that fell through. I've had a cold/flu thing since the bus ride from hell. I guess I couldn't have expected to escape the epidemic on wheels unscathed. So today we decided ...

... as one of the great conquering statesmen. Under his rule many great monuments were built. He built Sacsaywaman, Pisac, Ollantaytambo and rebuilt the city of Cusco. He was also responsible for Machu Picchu and the Inca Trail. While he was a great ...

... ruins and looked down onto the city of Cusco. Lovely. We also saw the 20 foot Jesus statue that watches over Cusco, a little like Rio. Tomorrow we're getting out of Cusco and taking a day trip to Pisac. It's the other cultural center of the ...

After returning from all the drama of the Pisac side trip, we showered off the dust, packed for our big trek and went out for dinner. The restaurant was seriously lacking (competent) staff.  Had we not been so hungry and wanting nothing more than a ...

... it is sold or bartered for corn and potatoes. We got a bus home not far from there, very tired. The last days in Cusco involved hanging out with the other travellers we'd met in South America (we'd all converged on Cusco for the 24th). Our South ...

... To name a few of the most famous ones, Machu Picchu and The Inca Trail, Sacsayhuaman, Sacred Valley of the Incas (including Pisac and Ollantaytambo), the Salcantay trek (also ending up at Machu Picchu, similar to the Inca Trail), the Choquequirau trek as ...

... streets, colonial architecture, and locals in native dress populate the street scene.  The following day, we returned to Cusco via Huancarani and Caicay until we reached The Sacred Valley Road. We have a few hours now to prepare for our ...

... ...which I have to agree is strange but I'm so numb to it anymore I barely notice.  It's refreshing to see Cusco again through a fresh perspective. To settle in the first evening,  we went to see Kusikay, Peru's version of the ...

... the Festival of the Sun, which occurs at Peru's winter solstice on June 24. It's apparently the most important festival in Cusco and across Peru, and one of the biggest celebrations in South America. We had thought it would be a great way to kick off ...