trailing the incans

we left our hotel after enjoying the hotel's extensive breakfast (complete with nutella and pillowy little croissants) before meeting the taxi driver the hotel had helped us arrange. we left cusco, traveling up over 12,000 ft (thank you, snapchat) on our way out of town. for miles we saw little besides rolling hills, the occasional goat, and a few people in traditional dress (women in braids and skirts with bright sweaters) walking along the road. there were a few llamas too, when we passed by villages. the houses we saw were mostly few and far between but a good portion of them were entirely painted with the names of presidential candidates. i wonder if they get paid to do that. it seems a little.. extreme.

they're much farther than they look

our first stop was the stepped terraces of moray. to get in we had to buy a pass for a number of archaeological sites within the sacred valley - which cost almost as much as our tickets to machu picchu! (gotta make money somehow, right?) we figured we wouldn't have time to see more than a couple but we did want to explore some of the sacred valley on our way. as i mentioned, we didn't have tons of time to linger - and my mom couldn't have hiked all the way to the bottom and back up - so we contended ourselves to walk around the edges. the terraces here were used for farming - specifically to test out certain crops that the incans may have then planted closer to home. we later learned that the incans would have eaten corn and quinoa but also lots of different beans.

panning out

our second stop was, i thought, far more visually impressive although arguably less archaeological significant. the salt pans of maras at first seem tiny because you're so far above them. in actuality each one is about 6-8 feet square and covered in tiny salt crystals. you can walk in between them, along the crystalline walls of the pans, which was rather surreal. it reminded me of a cross between mammoth hot springs and the leather tanneries of marrakech. i wish we'd had a little longer to explore but just being there (and, yes, sampling the salt) was a worthwhile experience in itself. on our way out i made sure to buy some salted chocolate for the office.

chica

from there it was still a short drive to ollentaytambo, where we had barely enough time to scarf down our lunch before being dropped at the train station. the lunch was tasty - sopa criolla with noodles, egg, and tasty broth and my first chicha morada, a lemonade-type drink made from blue corn - and the town itself looked rather nice, if a bit touristy. it's too bad we didn't have longer to explore. we were told to be there early for the train so of course we didn't want to take any chances. we seemed to be about the first tourists there but before long the waiting area was full of fellow travelers looking in vain for a place to charge their phones (it pays to get there early!)

by the time the train was in the station the clouds had rolled in and it looked like it might rain. we took our seats in the vistadome train which i think ended up being a bit overblown. (again, you gotta make money somehow) it was basically a normal train with transom windows which didn't afford you a view of much except the clouds. and the lights were on inside the train which means the view is obscured by the reflection. they did give you a drink and a little quinoa pizza, which was a nice touch. the view was fairly stunning, with mountains rising impossibly high all around us and the river beside us. we followed the river the whole way to aguas calientes, the little town in the valley closest to machu picchu.

we left the tiny train station and immediately found ourselves in the middle of a labyrinthian market that seemed like something out of morocco or india. we were disoriented but eventually found our way out with some direction. the little town of aguas calientes exists solely to accommodate tourists visiting machu picchu so as you can imagine it's full of hotels, restaurants, and little shops with snacks and souvenirs. from the train station, most of the buildings are uphill. the whole town is built up around the river - presumably the agua of aguas calientes, although i can't imagine it's terribly warm. the incline, particularly with luggage, was tough for my mom with the altitude and her asthma, but we took it slow and she made it. after settling in we made arrangements for the next day - including a search for a rather elusive ATM (for all the tourists you'd think there would be more. i guess they're hoping you'll use a currency exchange place) with an exorbitant fee ($13!), buying our MP tickets, getting our bus tickets, and booking a tour guide. we were planning on an early night as we had (yet another) early morning ahead of us but we did venture out for a small dinner.

we were up the next morning at 4 after about six hours of sleep. the hotel was rather noisy - according to my mother; i never wake up - which is annoying. it's definitely not the nicest of hotels we've stayed in but it was fine for one night. at the advice of guide books we elected to catch the very first bus, or groups of buses, in hopes of getting views of early morning light and missing the rain. we had worried that it would be totally overcast or, worse, rain while we were up there but as we waited in line we noticed a little peek of sunshine coming through the clouds so we were hopeful. we later learned that the weather changes so quickly up there in the mountains - it's so high it has its own micro-climate. by the time we reached the top - only about 10 minutes after we boarded the bus - the skies had started to clear and i was thinking we might get some views with rays of sunshine peeking through. i rushed ahead, at my mom's suggestion, while she took her time climbing the many steps to the lookout spot. i made it up fairly quickly - actually perhaps a little too quickly. i never really felt winded from the altitude (we were at about 8000 ft there) but i did notice my heart beating faster than it usually would have.

first view

that first view was as magnificent as i had imagined. there were a few other people who had made their way up there but it was still enough space to peacefully take in the view. it's one of those places that's surreal to be in because you've seen the image so many times. but also you feel as though you're completely isolated - surrounded by enormous mountains for miles on every side. it's amazing to think that anyone would have built anything somewhere so remote. just getting all those huge stones to that spot was dangerous and time consuming - it took them 100 years to build the site. my mom and i enjoyed the view for a good while before moving on.

llama llama

we walked down along the many terraces (of course used for farming), through the main gate and in towards some of the temple areas. the prevailing theories were that this was either a university or a site for astrological purposes. they know the men's and women's living quarters were separated and that the king would have visited twice a year, on the solstices. there's a sundial in one of the temples that indicates the solstices. their lives were dominated by two seasons - summer, the rainy season when they'd plant the crops and winter, when they could build. there were some nice examples of that typical incan masonry - the huge blocks smoothed out to fit with no mortar - but there were other structures that were used with smaller stones also. we had some close encounters with some of the many llamas who roam the grounds - partly for the gratification of tourists i'm sure but they also serve the useful purpose of trimming the grass in an area that would otherwise be nearly impossible to maintain. they don't seem to mind being touched but they don't care much about posing for photos.

clouds rolling in

our guide did a nice job of explaining structures as we passed them along with telling us a bit about how the incans lived and the kinds of things they would have eaten, including the central role of coca that remains important in peru even today. down on the lower portion of the site we saw some of the residential areas and another temple - the temple of the condor this time. there's a large rock formation which is supposed to resemble the bird with a pit below. based on the skeletons they found at the bottom they assumed this space was used for ritual animal sacrifices (no humans). nearby were also two shallow pools carved out of rock. eventually they determined these were used for looking up at the stars without having to actually look up. not long after we arrived the clouds that were still in the sky rolled away and it was sunny and even warm for the majority of the time we were there. it was hard to guess at what they weather was going to be like so we were glad we hadn't brought our heavier sweaters and even more glad that it didn't rain. our guide left us after he had guided us through the ruins and let us explore on our own. i walked along the terraces a bit more and back up to the initial spot where you get that quintessential view of huyana picchu (the mountain beyond the site that some crazy people climb up). i wanted to take a few more minutes to drink in the view, not knowing when i'd be back here again. this time there were quite a few more people around and it was a little less tranquil.

terrace tea

by the time we made our way back down to town it was only midday since we'd gotten such an early start. we still had a few hours to kill before our train back to cusco so we decided to relax in a little french cafe with some pastries and coffee. we lingered quite a while and eventually realized that it had started to rain. we were thankful we weren't up at machu picchu then - although we couldn't be sure it was actually raining up there. eventually we made our way back to the hotel and had some tea on the terraces as we passed the time watching the rain. we gave ourselves plenty of time for a late lunch before we had to make it to the train. the walk back to the station was much easier - downhill this time. i was anxious to sleep on the train but the staff seemed bent on making sure that didn't happen. one thing after another - music, then a fashion show of traditional peruvian clothes, and when they weren't doing anything they seemed to blow the horn every fifteen minutes. we arrived back in poroy - for some reason the train doesn't quite go all the way to cusco - and we were glad to see our earlier taxi driver we had arranged to meet. finally about 20 minutes later we were back in our lovely hotel and i went down to take advantage of the spa.

piles for miles

the next day we got to sleep in until all of 7 and got a cab to take us to pisac. on the way we stopped at a few incan ruins to try to make use of our expensive passes but maybe we were a bit blasé after all the impressive sites we'd already seen. after a short drive we made it to pisac, a nearby town in another valley. we happened to be there on market day, and we'd heard it was one of the best so we were eager to explore. the market took up all of the large main square, with produce at the front and textiles and other goods in the back section. we made our way towards the back, poring over brightly colored alpaca blankets and scarves and trying to decide what we should get. we strolled up and down the stalls, slowly crossing off items on our list of christmas presents. i settled on a couple of pillowcases and a wall hanging for me, both in a lovely reddish orange.

perfect little meal

we walked through a bit of the produce section, noticing again how many women wear the traditional braids and tall brimmed hats. after we'd finished in the market square we popped into a nearby place that's known for serving guinea pig, or cuy. they have a giant stone oven also where they serve empanadas, which seem to be the food of choice in pisac. short on time before we were set to meet our driver again, we elected to go to a less populated cafe. we found a perfect one just off the main square that had fresh empanadas straight from the colonial clay oven, washed down with another chicha morada. pisac did seem like a cool little town, and i'm sure it would've been worth exploring more if we'd had some time.

we wanted to make it back to cusco in time to do the last of our shopping. by the time we got back it was raining so we took a break in our room to wait it out. once it stopped we ventured back out and got some alpaca sweaters, patterned shoes, and a few more gifts. once we got back down to the main square we figured we should finally go into the cathedral. it was huge and each of the three sections seemed completely different and very separated from the others. it wasn't remarkable, but again maybe we had seen so much at that point that we were mentally exhausted. there were some interesting paintings that explained the major earthquake. that night mom figured it was probably her last chance to try guinea pig so we were on a mission to find it. we found a little restaurant that had the meat in taqueño form, which seemed more manageable (usually they're served whole, roasted on a stick). the meat itself was gamey and greasy - not our favorite.

i'm sure there was lots more to explore but for the three days we spent in the sacred valley i think we did pretty well!