Today was a pretty easy morning except neither Ryan or I slept very well. The pillows were really thick and hard and I threw one off the bed in the middle of the night and tried another but it was no better. We woke up and my head hurt but Ryan felt much better. We got dressed and packed our 6 kilos in our duffels, brought our regular suitcases down and checked them into storage much like a coat check, and had breakfast at the hotel.
There wasn't much but I had some coca tea and some Andean granola which was like sugar puffs. I also had a roll with butter and some mysterious marmalade that was tasty. A serve asked if we wanted any scrambled eggs so we both said yes (we needed some protein! although Ryan had some ham and cheese already) and I stayed with the table and Ryan went to the room to gather the rest of our stuff. He managed to carry both duffels, his pack, my camelback, my water bottle, 2 prs of sunglasses, and both fleeces plus his camera in one trip!
We had our eggs, rechecked the weight of our bags, and loaded onto the mercedes. This time the duffels were stored in the bus instead of on top! We drove out of Cusco and had a great view of the entire city. We saw 2 people running up the switchbacks, crazy in that altitude! We didn't get out, but stopped at some ruins that are in the shape of a Puma. Pumas are a symbol of power in Peru. The Spanish used teh stones of the ruines to build their homes and churches in Cusco, but the Incas buildt so well there are still tons of huge stones in place today!
From there we drove to a living Inca museum. There were llamas and alpacas so we could see the difference between the two. Cesar picked up a llama and let some people hold it, but I settled for petting one's neck instead. It's fur was really soft. The llamas look more snooty, or aristocratic to me. I was worried one would spit on me but I seemed to make it through spit free! We saw a wild relative of the llama, the vicunya, which hair costs a lot since its wild, about $1200 for a sweater! and we also saw a wild chinchilla too! Next they had women and children in tradition Peruvian dress demonstrating how to spin alpaca wool into yard, and how they weave. They also showed us the natural things they use to dye the wool into bright colors. The gift shop had water to buy and a bathroom we could use.
Next we drove to an overlook point for the Sacred Valley and the Urubamba River, got out and took some pictures . The river is one of the main rivers that eventually empties into the Amazon! The weather was on our side as it was partly cloudy and made shadows across the mountains which I love! From there we drove down to the valley floor, crossed the Urubamba River, and arrived at the town/Inca ruins of Pisaq. We left the bus and sat down in the ruins while Cesar spoke in general about the beginnings of the Incan civilization and culture.
These ruins really showed the amazing engineering of terraces into the mountainside. We got our first hint of Incan stair hiking as we went up the ruins and through a tunnel, then down more stairs! They definitely make you catch your breath. On the back side was the temple with more intricate stonework.
Only holy places that very spiritual Incas lived had the perfected stonework the rest of the civilization had more scattered rock structures. We got a chance to explore the ruins and we heard water running so we went and looked for it and found an aqueduct through the ruins that still carryed water. There was a hill we could climb to take pictures and then we met back up with the group. All the Peruvians were taking pictures with Martine and Betina because they were so tall and white and blond, which was funny.
We hiked back to the starting place where the bus was. Most people did all right but I think there will be a few who have problems hiking. After Pisaq we continued our drive through the valley to our lunch destination in the town of Urubamba. It was a buffet style of PEruvian food and we drank coca tea again. The tea was included in the buffet so when the waitress took our order we all said tea and she rolled her eyes - we were supposed to help ourselves but she brought it out for us anyway. There was guacomole, potato salad, chicken, soup, rice, and desserts.
The men's restroom was a trough urinal, but the women's was fine. From there we went to the final stop of the day, the village of Ollantaytambo. It is very small, and much less touristy than Cusco or Lima. The streets are still cobblestone but many are barely narrow enough for a single car or bus to pass through at once. We arrived at the ruins and took our packs with us as we climbed to the top of the stairs. The wind was fierce and Cesar had wrapped a scarf around his neck to cover his face from the blowing dirt - we were not so prepared. We sat down and listened as he told a story of how the Incas and the Spanish battled.
Farther along the ruins we learned how they used the rocks to the the date using the sun and bumps that stick out of the rocks, where they sat to see the summer and winter solstices, and how they build the structures to be earthquake proof. In the distance (10k) we could see the quarry where the stones came from and learned how the Incas diverted the river to move the rocks across. We also saw abandoned rocks on a ramp to Ollantaytambo which shows how it was never finished. The INcas built around existing temples of other cultures rather than remove them as the Spanish did with the Incan temples. We walked across the ruins to see where grains and beans were stored, the Incas were rich with planning and foresight rather than the gold as the Spaniards believed. We also saw a temple where water was honored on June 21st. Sun would come through a window and hit the water on this day. The temple was built regular stone style and made smooth with a llama hair plaster mixture. We thought it seemed like a short cut!
We then walked to our hotel, collected our duffel bags and found out we're leaving at 8 for the Inca trail! Ryan and I settled in and then went to explore Ollantaytambo a bit. We walked back towards theruins to a market but didn't find anything to buy, so we walked to the town square, found a bench and people/stray dog watched.
A boy begged us for money and when we said no he took his baby sister over to us and tried to make her cha cha. We still didn't give him any money. An old man sat next to Ryan and maybe asked him if he was oriental? But Ryan didn't understand. The man seemed nervous, maybe we were on his bench? After Ryan tried to tell him that he didn't understand and was actually telling the man that he didn't speak Spanish, not that Ryan didn't speak spanish, we headed back to the hotel. We bought some water and slept a little. Ryan took a shower (which was hot, good! and filled his water for the morning and I journaled. We wet up with most of the group to go and eat dinner.
It had started pouring rain so I got a change to use my rain jacket and it worked great! We went into almost the first place we saw but it was totally cute! There was a fire and candlelight and there was room for the entire group. I ate alpaca ravioli that came in a spicy cream sauce and Ryan ate trout stuffed with sweet potatoes that had orange peel in it. It was gourmet Peruvian food! Tom ordered coca beer and it was awful, Ryan finished it but ugh, no one else would.
After dinner it was still raining, but not as much so we walked back to our room to find the bathroom and floor had flooded and water was seeping throught the walls. I asked for a new room so the hotel people hleped us move our things and the new room was fine. I journaled a bit and went to bed. There were 2 twin beds so we used one to put our stuff on and we squished into the other. The beds are made very tightly at the bottem and Ryan didn't care much for that. Some of the group stayed up and we could hear them laughing. There was also a dog that would run down the hall when he heard other dogs barking.
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