Sacred Valley
Trip Start
Jul 16, 2008
1
4
84
Trip End
Ongoing
Pisac,
Sacred Valley,
Peru
Sunday, July 27, 2008
When we arrived in Pisac we had our first real view of the river and the amazing Sacred Valley (I was unable to see out the window of the bus because it was so crowded!). It is beautiful! The sun was shining (and warm! First time I had been warm in a while!!). The sky was blue. The mountains are gorgeous. I could see the little road we had driven along carved into the mountain...pretty scary!!
The town of Pisac is pretty small. One main square (the Plaza de Armas, of course. All of the towns of a Plaza de Armas) with shops and restaurants aroudn it. We walked down some of the streets surrounding the square but there wasnīt much else to see. Mostly just houses. The square is filled with a market. There is a church behind the market (again, a big church on every plaza de armas!)
Behind the church is the path up to the Pisac Ruins. It was a beautiful trek up. We hardly ran into any other people. Had amazing views all around-of the rolling hillsides that look like quilts because of the farming on them, cows in the fields below us, a soccer field getting smaller as we climbed higher, and the town of Pisac, receding. Stephanie is afraid of heights so the walk took us a while but we made it after about 2.5 hours.
Moray
Not too bad because you pass ruins along the way however. We didnīt have a guide so it was hard to know what all the ruins were but we were able to tag along with some other tours at some points and listen in. There were various different Inca villages for farmers. Then there was one large area of ruins that was the center, where the Government buildings were, Intihuatana. Tehre were temples there where the poeple owrshipped the sun and got healing power from the sun (or at least thatīs what I think...I was trying to listen in to a French tour guide for that part and my French is not so great!) We walked through a tunnel (kind of scary!) to QÁllaqasa, the military area. A bit further along was a cemetery. There were holes in the rock faces wehre there used to be tombs ( all havebeen looted). We ended at Kanchiracy where we took a taxi back down (it was getting late and we did not want to be stuck up in the dark!)
The next morning we walked through the Sunday market, which is bigger than the Saturday market. Lots of beautiful textiles but pretty much just the same stuff as in the stores in Cusco. However, the colors out there in the middle of the farmland and the mountians are really exquisite. It really awakens your senses.
We took a bus to Urubamba next. I thought the bus to Pisac was crowded but it was NOTHING compared to this, especially since we did not get seats. The bus doesnīt start in Pisac so it was already full by the time it got to us. I was so suqished and it was SOO hot.
Pisac Market
After about 15 minutes the guy came around to collect the fares. He had to push through the aisle of people standing. And, of course, at the same time a man sitting behind me was trying to get off. So I had people trying to get by me on both sides at the same time in the aisle of a narrow bus! Luckily poeple got off and after 25 minutes we were able to sit down. We were about halfway there by this point. We did not spend much time in Urubumba but I did want to see the Plaza de Armas so we walked to the center of town to get lunch. Then we hired a taxi for the rest of the day, to take us to Moray and then back to Cusco. There is no bus directly to Moray and it involves taking 2 buses and walking about an hour so we opted to take a taxi for 80 soles (less then $30).
The road to Moray was beautiful. Pretty flat until we got to the small town of Maras. Our driver showed us the Plaza de Aramas (it was tiny...this is a town with no restuarants or hotels...just a little village really). After the town of Maras the road got a little treacherous. It was kind of like being on a rollercoaster. I was glad I was in a taxi and not on a bus!
Moray was used by the Incas as a kind of farming laboratory, to test different microclimates. It looks like a huge amphitheter with different steps down. Each level down supposedly has its own microclimate. It was stunning. This great depression into the ground with fields around on one level, then the mountains with the fields, and then snow capped mountaints towering over it all. We went down into the pit. It was very peaceful down there.
Our driver was still waiting for us when we were finished (we were a little nerovous we would be stranded!) The was back we had a few adventures. We came across a whole herd of sheep and a few pics (with a coupel of babies...very cute) just walking down the middle of the road. We had to wait for them to go around us. When we got closer to Cusco there was lots of traffic because of the holiday tomorrow. There were all of these tables set up int he streets with people eating cuy (guinea pig) and chicken. The cuy were interesting...plates piled high with whole cuy-heads, legs, everything!
Comments
Sacred Valley
I loved the Sacred Valley. And Urubumba was wonderful....i wouldn't be surprised if you guys had 1 of the 2 drivers we experienced during that part....so reasonable and they are so proud to show you their area! ah the memories!