On our second day in Cusco, Alex woke feeling much better and ready to take on the day! We had booked a day tour of the Sacred Valley. Along the Sacred Valley are tours of other archaeological sites, such as Ollantaytambo, Pisac, and Chinchero.
This was a beautiful valley that the Urubamba River runs through.
First stop was Pisac. Our guide explained a lot of the spiritual beliefs of the Inca, especially their burial traditions. There is a lot of terracing at Pisac, which he explained served different purposes; one is that the rocks soak up the heat of the sun and in turn, warm the soil behind it. This is important because even though it may be warm during the day, it cools off very quickly once the sun starts going down.
The valleys are so lush and green!
Second stop was Ollantaytambo. This archaeological site is bigger than Pisac.
You are treated to a lovely overview of the city in the valley at the top of Ollantaytambo.
And on the other side of Ollantaytambo are the farms.
Alex was always on lookout for chicha "signs"; the red "flag" you see in the picture. This means chica is ready. Alex really wanted to try some but we were warned by our guide that if you haven't had it before, it tends to make you very sick.
Here is a good overview of the terracing at Pisac.
Our last stop was Chinchero. It was especially beautiful with the sun going down.
Chinchero
This was a little guinea pig hut at Chinchero.
The llama was not amused at all the picture taking.
Gorgeous!
A lovely end to a first full day! Once we returned to Cusco, we headed to dinner at a place called ChiCha. Alex and I started with tamales; one was sweet and one savory. They were phenomenal! I ordered fried cuy on top of quinoa. Cuy is very good! It's like duck and pork. Alex got lomo saltado. Being so close to Argentina, I ordered a glass of Malbec and was not disappointed.
Off to bed at 9pm!
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