2014_09_14 Sacred Valley Day 1

Well we made it through the night at the Torre Dorado Hotel after a completely different experience than we had become accustomed to at the Palacio Nazarenas!  As I said before, we had all five rooms on the 2nd floor.  The rooms were pretty Spartan - the hot water was iffy at best.  I was fine with it - I like a hard bed but some of the others had a bit of a hard time.

The staff was quite open to making most any breakfast item we could think of.  I asked for a fried egg sandwich on wheat toast and they made it for me.  Took a while - the eating area was next to the open kitchen and we could watch them prepare the meal. one or two people trying to prepare for the whole hotel.  The lady in charge mad me some hot chocolate using milk and a block of chocolate.  She called it the old way to make hot chocolate - delicious.

We had packed small bags for the two days we would spend in the Sacred Valley and left the big bags behind for when we return too this hotel the next time.

At the appointed hour a van appeared with just a driver (Walter) who spoke very little English.  We asked him about the guide that was supposed to be with us today.  He didn't know anything about a guide.  We tried to call Mountain Lodges of Peru - no answer.  Then about 15 minutes the guide Helen appeared.  She apologized - stuck in traffic.  So they loaded our bags in the rear and on the top of the van and off we went.

This was a little park across the street for the hotel.  We were sort of out on the periphery of Cusco in a residential neighborhood.

That's Walter heading for the rear of the van.  It was easy to find our van all day.  Ours was the only one with luggage on top!  

We stopped at a small farm that had vicunas, llamas, and alpacas. We called this guy the Bob Marley alpaca.  He had some cool dreads.  He came right over to be hand fed some greens.

This vicuna was just lying around.

This was the excitement moment.  Apparently someone left them a way to get out and that all dean over to the fence.  This guy on top jumped up there effortlessly.  A couple of boys ran over and put them back in the pen.  That's a llama in front.  Eventually all was well.

Here was a display of various wills dyed in natural colors for use in textiles and rugs.

Several ladies were weaving on traditional looms.

This little guy was walking around trying to sell us something.  

Then he asked about the pork sandwich Luis had bought.  I gave hime a 1/4 sandwich and he went off to eat it.

The ladies did a bit of shopping at a store here before we jumped back on the bus and headed to Pisac.

These replica Inca dwellings had thatched straw roofs so you could see what the homes looked like.  Most of the ruins are just the walls made of Inca stone and adobe.  Through the window are some buildings just beyond the parking lot where locals are selling their goods.

We headed way up to the top of the mountain at Pisac.

This is a view of the terraces as we climbed upwards.

These terraces are in the shape of a partridge (Pisaca in Quechua). This is where the town of Pisac and it's ruins get their name. The right side is the right wing of the pisaca. The other pisaca wing is off to the left. The rock formation in the center is the head. Pretty amazing - these terraces are HUGE. I bet they are twenty yards wide and at least ten feet high.

Near the top we veered a bit off to the right.  This is a Inca cemetery.  There a holes in the cliffside where mummified remains were placed in a fetal position so that they could be "reborn" into their next life.  Food and personal items were buried with them so they would have things when the came back.  It's really hard to see in this image but they believe 10,000 Incas were buried here.

Here's the group as we were heading back towards the bus.  We drove back down the mountain to see a bit of the Pisac market and do a bit of shopping.

This was our meeting place at the market.  A old stone oven where they were making empanadas.  We bought a pineapple and cheese one in a square of baked bread.  The ladies were told that only had 30 minutes to shop - we had spent a bit too much time at the ruins.  They went into power shopping mode and we all met up pretty much on time.

Walking out I tried to take a picture of this lady but she spotted me and looked away.  You can kind of see the stalls on the side.  I only saw a tiny portion of the market.  Rich said we wasted too much time shopping and the ladies thought they only had a nano second.

We drove to Urubamba on the shores of the (wait for it) Urubamba River.  We had lunch at Sol Y Luna Restaurant.  It was nice enough to eat outside.  Awesome meal.

We had to wait a bit for them to set up our table.  We sat on some lounge chairs with this view.  Not too shabby!  A great meal where we decided that there was not enough time to go the the final Inca ruin today.  So, Helen has agreed to come a bit earlier today to go to Ollantaytambo first thing tomorrow and see the other 2 ruins as well.  Ollantaytambo is a pretty amazing site - I am glad we didn't try to rush it.

Headed about a mile back to our hotel for the next two nights.  The Urubamba "Hollywood" letters are up on the mountain.

View of the mountains from the courtyard of Tambo Del Inka Hotel.  We are back in the top shelf zone!  Another amazing hotel.  Well done Señor Rediker!!!!!  There is a snow capped mountain in the background.  We will be trekking up near another mountain about that size in a few.

Connie on the sofa before we mess up the room.  Not too shabby.  AND, 2 nights here.  Whoo hoo!

We walked around the hotel for a while after we checked in and the ladies went to the hot tub tonight while we watched the replay of the Patriots game o Rich's computer.  He recorded the game in Mass. and watched it via Slingbox.  Patriots won 30-7 and the Packers won 31-24.  We are both happy.  And, the Bears are losing at halftime as well.  Watching right now.  

I will have to take some pictures of this hotel over the next couple of days.  Big and wonderful.