Day 16 - Sacred Valley Tour

This morning we got picked up by coach early and set off to visit the sacred valley of the Inca's. This valley was used by the Incas mainly for agriculture and the reason it is sacred is because it follows the directions of the stars. The Incas were very good astronomers.



On the journey into the sacred valley we stopped off at some viewing points which had spectacular views.



We then travelled down into the valley into a small village for an hour stop at the local market (much to Adrian's joy !). The market was very busy with local people trying to sell you stuff for about three times the amount it was worth. We both got pretty good at bartering the price down.



Once back on the coach, we were attempting to take more sneaky pictures of the local people but obviously not very discreetly as we got seen and bombarded by three local kids and their scary parents for money again.



We then stopped off for some lunch at a restaurant in the sacred valley. We were both pleased to see that it was an all you can eat buffet so we got to it! The price for our three course lunch was 35 soles each, in English £7 each.



After lunch we went to view the fortress in Ollantayambo, this is a large Inca ruin set in the side of a large mountain, with a traditional Inca village at its base. The village is still in full use mainly serving the large quantities of tourists that pass through each day. We had a guided tour around the fortress which was very interesting. The views from the top were pretty good as you can see...




The way back was via an alternative route were we stopped once again at another market village. The terrain around this area was rolling hills with snow capped peaks in the background which were very impressive to see. We where treated by a clear sky in the evening, for the first time in Peru, which made for a perfect sun set over the mountains. It had got very cold by now and dark so we all got back on the coach and headed back to Cuzco.






WARNING: PICTURES OF COOKED GUINEA PIG BELOW !!!

Once we arrived back in Cuzco we headed out for some dinner. So we made it our mission to find a restaurant that served up Guinea pig whole and we thought that we had succeeded !! Adrian's guinea pig was bought out much to his disappointment with no head and crispy ears :( (unlike the picture displayed on the menu!) it also looked as if it had been boiled for a little to long and barely had any meat on it (it had obviously belonged to one of the more under-privileged kids in the area) Strangely enough it tasted like chicken with very chewy skin, unlike crackling. The rest of the meal was just as disappointing when my pizza was bought out with raw bacon on the top and barely cooked. Considering we were the only two people in the restaurant we thought this was pretty poor!


Fig 1: My Dinner


Fig 2: What my dinner should have been like :(

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