SACRED VALLEY

Ryon and I took one day to visit the nearby Sacred Valley. Going to a few different small towns we saw more ruins at each site. I feel like the descriptions are all similar, but each place has its own unique beauty and awe. Most sites are high on hillsides or mountain tops as the Incas wanted to be closer to the gods, so the views offered after the exertion of each hike made it all worth it - even in the pouring rain and chilly winds. It began with a site called Pisac in the warm sunshine but after about 40 minutes it turned to drizzle and breezes, and within a few hours it was indeed pouring.

A view from the Pisac ruins.

At the entrance of Pisac was a large gathering of local people. It looked as if they were gathering around large pots of soup. I never did figure out where they came from or why they were having lunch on that hill, far from all homes and shops.

These were some shops where we stopped for awhile. To the right you see some llamas in the background...they were humping for quite some time and that was...weird.

Ryon and I in a self-portrait :)

This is my hilarious "Sr. Picture" pose - I could totally put that in a yearbook!

A view from the top of one hill looking back on a portion of Pisac.

GORGEOUS VIEW!

The following are all views of and around Pisac. It was a beautiful view and I couldn't pick my favorite pictures so you get them all :)

For lunch we skipped out on a big buffet option and went walking. After 10 or 15 minutes we found the kind of place we were looking for down a little alley. Chickens roamed out back, a semi-toilet in a shack with little privacy served as the bathroom, rooms were upstairs for the family, and one small room with a few tables and air filled with swarming flies was the 'restaurant.' At noon three elderly men sat with bottles of Cusquena (surprise) and gave us confused smiles combined with the standard "Buenas Tardes." We hadn't much time, and soup was so filling (AND SO GOOD!) we didn't order the main course (which, while most traditional Peruano places have about 3 options, this place only had one and it looked delicious!) So, soup and some Chicha Maron (the purple corn juice, in case I haven't mentioned that), and we strolled back down the plain, barren streets, past the typical dogs and store fronts, and past the 2 surprisingly vast and beautiful open fields, each with two strategically planted trees dead center. And then the token donkey roaming freely, of course :)

This is an 'artsy' picture I took while walking through town looking for lunch.

At Ollaytantambo, another 'famous' site, there was a coffee shop called 'Inka Bucks' with a Starbucks-style logo that we laughingly entered after our rain-drenching exploration. At that same site a guard let me cross ropes to drink from another "ancient Inca waters" water fountain, and we also managed to get yelled at to be silent in the Sun Temple by a random guide who decided hers should be the only voice allowed at that time (I literally asked Ryon to get in a picture and he asked where -to which she exclaimed, "Pardon!" and shushed us like Kindergartners!)

Me falling out of an old tower window. If you could see my face you'd see I'm very afraid.

This is a view from Ollaytantambo. That tree looks like something from a Tim Burton movie, especially with the wispy clouds passing through and the rain falling that day.

This is part of the irrigation system running through the ruins.

From the ground looking up the hill of Ollaytantambo.

Me :)

From the top of the terraces looking down.

A view of the terraces of Ollaytantambo.

On our drive out of the valley we stopped at an old Church built on ancient Inca walls, etc...

It gets to the point where it's all the same and I just want to stray and enjoy the beauty and imagine who roamed there before me, but all the facts and details become boring (surprised, Kaitlynn? :)

Views in the Church courtyard (Check out the clouds!!!!):

So, more gorgeous scenery surrounding, more valleys and hillsides and the sun setting and wide fields and then trees and shacks and cows and llamas and my cheeks begin to hurt from the huge grin across my face - but when you're as blessed as I am, you can't help it! And you shouldn't.