The Sacred Valley Located between Cuzco and Machu Picchu, the ‘Sacred Valley’ of Peru contains many amazing places to visit. Our hotel – Sol y Luna - located in the middle of valley, housed us in individual huts of sorts where we stayed for two nights. We arrived in the afternoon on our first day and walked to the Wayra restaurant for some lunch while we watched a traditional Peruvian horse show. We were told to eat light meals in order for our bodies to adjust to the altitude properly. After lunch, we returned to our rooms for a quick nap, after a long day. Although exhausted from a day of traveling, we made our way to the other (gourmet) restaurant to celebrate Christmas as a family. The dinner was delicious; menu items included guinea pig legs (yes, I know…), alpaca beef, and the classic Peruvian ceviche (yum!) We took some family photos quickly before returning to our room for bed. The following morning, we awoke for a wonderful breakfast, accompanied by Coca tea; made from the Coca leaf, indigenous to Peru, designed to help adjust to altitude and give you energy. (Unfortunately, the Coca leaf is used in many parts of the world to make Cocaine). We left breakfast and met with our guide for the day, Miguel, who would show us around the Sacred Valley for the remainder of the day. We hopped on the van and headed to Ollantaytambo, located on the Urubamba River amidst a traditional Incan village. The van dropped us directly in front of what is known as ‘Mama Pacha’, or ‘Mother Earth’; a ruins built thousands of years ago. We hiked the ruins as our guide told us many stories of the town and its rich history. Notably, the story of the Condor (the largest flying bird in the world) and how it is a ritual for it to eat the remains of buried locals, as they are considered to have everlasting life. Each part of the ruins was incredible; from the way they put the stone together, to the sheer height, to even the aqueducts they had created from the mountain top. Whilst in the village, we visited a local house where the family kindly welcomed us in to visit their home. In a small area lived a young girl with about 30 guinea pigs, 2 cats, a few beds, a small kitchen, and even a stall where she was able to sell Peruvian merchandise. The way the home was organized was quite incredible, with skulls of family members laid out, as well as dead fish, alpaca, llama and deer hanging from the ceiling. Once our active adventure was complete, we drove about 40 minutes away to a wonderful mountain top house where we had lunch. The drive was the most interesting part, taking about 20 minutes to reach the top through a narrow and winding gravel path amongst jungle-like trees. The restaurant was called Huayoccari, owned by one man. We walked through the small museum full of hundreds of artifacts and enjoyed Pisco Sours and fresh lemonade. The view was remarkable, as we sat down for our 3-course meal with our guide. The food was delicious and offered traditional, as well as well-known food. We returned to the van to descend the mountain top after lunch. Our final stop was another small village called Pisaq, where we mainly did some shopping. However, Miguel showed us to this one store where one of the owners showed us the process of how silver is made into jewelry and how to tell the difference between real and fake. We spent some time in the store buying Alpaca made slippers, scarves, socks and sweaters as gifts to take home. We spent about 30 more minutes walking through the stalls, buying occasional bits and bobs to take home, before driving about an hour back to the hotel. Once home, we came back to our rooms to freshen up before dinner once more. After such a large lunch, we opted for lighter options at dinner and returned to our rooms for an early night before a big day tomorrow. Machu Picchu Our journey to Machu Picchu began as we boarded the local train at Ollantaytambo, the local Incan village we visited yesterday. A very civilized process of boarding the train and a great view of the surroundings with large windows surrounding us. The journey took about one and half hours where we traveled past the Incan trail, a large river and plenty of mountainous surroundings. The journey to Machu Picchu can only be done by train or foot (along the Incan trail in 4 days and 3 nights). Upon arrival to the village, we disembarked with our belongings and walked through the market, across the train tracks, and down the hill to our hotel – Sumaq. As we walked into the hotel with our guide Miguel, they welcomed us with ginger tea and amuse bouche as they checked us in. We dropped our bags and walked a few feet back up the road to board the bus up to Machu Picchu. The bus journey took about 20 minutes from the local village and took many sharp turns up a mountain road (if you’ve ever been to France or Switzerland, you’ll know what I’m talking about). We reached the site, had some lunch and began our trek through the ruins. The beginning of the hike took us up and over Machu Picchu, which we took very slowly as we weren’t quite used to the altitude. We rounded a corner, and there before us was one of the most amazing sites I have ever seen. It may sound dramatic, but in my years of traveling this was one of the most incredible things I have ever visited. Clearly one of the Seven Wonders of the World and without fail, an amazing and worthwhile experience. We spent about 3 hours hiking up and down through the ruins and seeing it from multiple different viewpoints while capturing many photographs. The history of the ruins is unbelievable and like other Peruvian ruins, the architecture is brilliant dating back thousands of years ago. Every monument had a meaning; either relating to the sun, the milky way or one of many gods. One important part of Machu Picchu is Wayna Picchu, the large mountain behind the ruins which is available to hike for the brave individuals…we were planning on taking the chance the following day. We returned to our hotel; showered, napped and got ready for dinner. Again, we fell asleep early after a busy day and awoke for breakfast the next morning. We opened the blinds to find a lot of cloud coverage near the mountain. However, my brother was determined to make the hike up Wayna Picchu and took the bus up with my dad. My sister, mum and I decided to take the day off and take a cooking class where we learned how to make traditional Pisco Sours and Ceviche. Afterwards, we wandered through the massive village market and picked up a few souvenirs to take back to friends and family. On our return, we met up with my brother and dad who informed us the the Wayna Picchu hike was closed due to inclement weather and that we were all so lucky to have visited yesterday when the weather was sunny. We had a few hours to kill before our train ride home, so we waited in the hotel lobby until it was time to walk back to the station. At around 5pm, we made our way up the road before boarding the famous Hiram Bingham train, owned by the Belmond Hotel chain. We hopped on board what felt like the Polar Express and were escorted to our seats where we were later served a four course meal whilst listening to Michael Buble Christmas. Our journey back took us all the way from Machu Picchu to Cuzco, totaling about 4 hours. We arrived late at night and were driven to our hotel in the main square. Cuzco We decided to start slightly later this morning as we had arrived late into Cuzco last night and wanted an extra hour of rest before we took another tour. We met with Miguel at 10am and began our half day city tour of Cuzco, his home town. Our first stop was Saqsaywaman (and yes, it does sound like Sexy Woman, we’re all thinking it) another ruin site, similar to others visited in Peru. Each part had a deeper and meaning and was relevant to current day. Beyond that, similarities showed in the architecture and structure of the ruins, proving the ability and intelligence of the human race years ago. We spent about 30 minutes walking around the ruins before jumping in the van quickly down the road to La Vicuñita, a Alpaca wool factory where we were shown the difference between real and fake Alpaca and shopped around for more gifts for friends such as an Alpaca sweater, scarves and blankets. After single handedly helping the Cuzconian economy, we left with our bags onto the next stop. Our next stop was another ruin site called Q’enko, nearby the other ruins. Similar to the other sites, with important meaning behind the infrastructure. After we were done visiting the ruins, we went into the city square to visit two of the many churches in the area – Santo Domingo and Cuzco Cathedral. Each had their own touches that were amazing to walk around and learn about. One of the most interesting features of these locations was the Peruvian take on Catholic stories. The nativity scene had Mary and Joseph in traditional Peruvian dress and the Last Supper painting had a Guinea Pig for them to feast on, as opposed to the traditional paintings we are all used to seeing. After our visits, we said goodbye to our wonderful guide, Miguel and set off for some lunch as Chicha (a great restaurant in the city center) before returning back to our hotel Arwana for a nap before dinner. We ate early and came back from a game of (what we thought was a traditional Peruvian game) Perudo. We went to bed early before our flight the following day back to Lima. Lima
The final leg of our trip ended in Lima, Peru; where it all started. We landed in the afternoon and spent the day relaxing before heading out to a dinner hot spot called “Astrid & Gaston”. Dinner was amazing and delicious…highly recommend! We went home before our day of touring the next day. At 9am we met with our guide before going on our half day tour around Lima. We began at a famous Catholic church (where we weren’t allowed to take photographs) and visited famous catacombs where we walked through hundreds and thousands of dead skulls and bones (creepy, I know). Right after, we walked to the main square of Lima surrounded by beautiful government buildings and greenery. Afterwards, we visited another famous church in the area which allowed us to take photographs. The interior was similar to the first and showed a lot of similarities; including beautiful architecture, paintings and gardens. Our final stop on the day tour was the architectural museum of Lima – Museo Rafael Larco Herrera that offered many pieces of famous architecture and craftwork from many centuries ago. Attached to the museum was an Erotic Museum that featured hundreds of carved pots with a variety of sexual imagery…not for the faint of heart lol. By the time we had finished our tour, we returned to the hotel, relaxed for a few hours and walked to dinner at Amaz, 5 blocks away for a lovely New Years Eve dinner. Our trip home was later that evening and we ended up spending New Years at midnight in the airport lounge with our champagne and beer. Without a doubt, one of the best trips and experiences I have ever had. Although not so much a relaxing holiday, worth the trip and highly recommend it to anyone looking for a rewarding travel experience, thank you Dad!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorLover of travel, fashion and beauty. Archives
March 2017
Categories |