Sacred Valley
I would say that the Sacred Valley around Cusco, Peru is one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited. Jillian and I enjoyed a day seeing half of the valley and I definitely wanted to see the other half when Mark and I got to Cusco after leaving Arequipa. We hired a driver which costs about $50-60 for the day. I could not handle the idea of doing a bus group tour and given that the private car option is only about $15 more per person based on two of us, it suited us well. Cusco had become half gringo land between my first visit with Jillian during February when the Inca Trail is closed and March when it had reopened. It’s still a great place, but the solitude we enjoyed in February was fading quickly. I can’t imagine being there in June-August. It looks like I will be there again in late April or early May and I bet it will be even crazier. The same goes for the day trips to Sacred Valley.
We started the day with a drive to Pisac to visit the market and go to its ruins. The market was a madhouse which was too bad since I was hoping it would be as nice as when Jill and I were there. I wanted a couple of things since I was mailing a box the next day and we did a quick hour through the area. We then headed up the hill to the ruins which are on the side of the mountain overlooking the town and the valley. Being that it is still rainy season, the hills and mountains are green with many wildflowers. The mountains are rocky and topped with snow. The most incredible thing in this valley is the ancient terraces carved out by the Incas and probably pre-Incas for farming that are still used today. These terraces go up the mountainsides to heights that make you dizzy. You spend half the time staring at them with your jaw dropped. The terraces at the Pisac ruins are huge extending for hundreds of meters and each terrace is dozens of meters wide separated by 3-4 meter high walls. The walls are so high that some of the rocks extend outwards to form staircases.
The ruins are built into the rock cliffs on top and included religious, housing and military buildings. We hiked out to one outcropping and then up to the top. As with all of the Inca sites, this one had an extensive irrigation system fed by a reservoir thousands meters above in the surrounding mountains. The Incas were true masters of farming in the mountains and building irrigation systems. When we first arrived at this site the bus loads of people had arrived, too. The herds were moving through the site to see the cemetary that is built into the cliff caves. We immediately went the opposite direction from the groups that stuck to the same routine. By time we got back to the main site, every single bus was gone. They were apparently on a mad dash to see more. The biggest benefit to having the private car is that we set our own agenda and pace.
We drove along the river to Urubamba where we planned to have lunch. When we got to the restaurant where the driver wanted us to eat, there was a line of hundreds that had poured out of buses. No way were we hanging out there. We went down the street to a local dive and lunch was pretty damn good for a couple of dollars each. And it was quiet with just Peruvians. During the drive, we passed many great sites through this idyllic valley. I realized that the real way to see this area is to take a local bus to Pisac or another town and stay there for a day or two and then catch another ride to another town. Doing day trips from Cusco works, but Sacred Valley is worth a lot more time.
After lunch we headed to Ollantaytambo to see its ruins. This is a really funky town totally overridden by tourists because it is close to the start of the Inca Trail and has a stop for the Cusco to Machupicchu train. By time we got there, the throngs were out. We spent no time exploring the town, but I would like to stay there to see it before and after the buses leave. It should have been on our list of things to do in February, but I just did not understand how much busier things would get once the trail is open. The central part of the ruins was crazy with groups. We headed above that part to find solitude. The groups were once again on a set path which did not include the climbing that we did. We cut across the mountain to another section perched on a cliff over the town and we were the only ones there. We looked out to other sites above the town on different mountains and they were empty, too. As with Pisac’s ruins, we could have spent a couple of days exploring these and we would have seen very few people. The attraction at these ruins is two-fold – 1) the Incas were master masons building huge temples with very large stone blocks using no mortar and 2) the views of the surrounding valley and villages is breathtaking. We had seen the sun move along the valley all day and it became apparent by this time that the Sacred Valley’s east/west direction near the equator is the perfect place to grow the crops needed to support a large population. We had to tear ourselves away from this site in order to try and get to the last place called Maras.
Unfortunately, the day was late, we were tired and rain was starting to form. We told the driver to head back to Cusco. The drive back was as mind-boggling as it gets with storms moving in and out of the snow-capped mountains creating wonderful shadows on the valley and hillsides as well as rainbows. By time we got near Maras, it was pouring so it made sense to just keep going home. Having spent two days in the Sacred Valley, I feel like I barely scratched the surface. There is no doubt in my mind that a fulfilling vacation could be created staying between Cusco and Machupicchu. If there are more beautiful mountain valleys in this world, I can’t wait to see them.
I have become pretty skeptical about the Inca Trail. I’m sure it is a wonderful trekking experience, but I also hear how many gringos one encounters. It does not sound peaceful to me. There is another trail system through the Lares Valley that I believe to be a much better experience. It takes you through a valley with glacier lakes and villages where you get to see real locals. And you don’t see a bunch of gringos. I met one person that did it and she said it was a fantastic experience. It is on my list of possible to-dos when I get back to Cusco.
Tags: peru, south america, Travel
vagabondrick
This was real fascinating Rick. Say on another subject – we had a hot sauce contest. I went to a Latino store and got a bottle of hot sauce quarateed to make a gringo cry – and all the macho men in the contest did! Kathy