Sacred Valley DIY
All trips were made with Ayni Tours in Cusco, Porta 177 Plaza de Armas, front of the Cathedral.
The prices and the services offered are similar in all agencies
City tour
Qenqo Sacsayhuaman Tambomachay Pukapukara
Afternoon from 14.00 to 19.30
Cost 20 PEN
Sacred valley
Pisac (ruins and market on some days) – Ollantaytambo – Chinchero
Cost 13 USD, from 9.00 to 19.30
Salt mines of Maras and Moray
Cost 30 PEN – From 9.00 to 14.30
7 PEN entrance in Maras
All entrance fees to the specified places, except Maras, are included in the “boleto turistico”
The downside of these tours is that you go all trooped like sheep, and there are considerable time limitations in staying in the various places, whereas no rush during stops at the shops .
The positive side is that, if only briefly, you can see everything. If you had to go by yourself, unless with a fast and expensive taxi, you would waste a lot of time with colectivos, not to mention that they, for example, do not reach the ruins at Pisac.
Lunch is not included, you stop at a nearby location, where you can eat buffet at a cost about 20-25 PEN. The time available is always very small and therefore, choosing other restaurants, you risk to be late. So, better to bring along your own food.
August 31
Maras e Moray
Our bus stops first at Chinchero, in a textile center, where coca tea and a show of carpet manufacturing with traditional looms are offered. Women wear traditional costumes, with the curious round and flat hat. I think that, though evocative and colorful, the ones I see the in Far East look much more elegant, if only because these skirts made of heavy fabric are not very graceful and certainly do not slender bodies.. .
We go on, and we get to Moray.
I buy here my boleto turistico, while others who already have it only get a stamp
Moray is an Incan site shaped as an amphitheater, yet built for agricultural purposes, and not for entertainment. The particular composition of the soil has allowed the cultivation of plants that otherwise would suffer the cold at these heights. Between the first and the last circle, also, there is a difference of up to 15 degrees!
At the site exit, walking along the top edges of the basin, we admire a beautiful mountainous landscape. Last stop are the Maras salt mines, reached zigzagging among the bends of a spectacular road that runs along a scary precipice, in a kind of gorge. The contrasts between colors are amazing, however we are left only 10 minutes for pictures and for strolling
After 10 minutes, I, obediently, albeit reluctantly, return to the bus, following the guide who is shouting to call all of us.
I start to experience the fame of latecomer for which South American people are well know.
In the various tours I noticed that Italians are always grouped with Spaniards and South Americans, mainly Chileans, Argentines and Brazilians. I think for a a matter of language. Argentines go around with flasks and their traditional wooden and pewter cup to sip their mate everywhere. It’s very hard to find South Americans in Asia, where I usually hang out, and then it almost never happened to me to meet them before. I really like them, they are outgoing and affectionate, but always late!! In fact, while I’m already at the bus, and meantime I could eat a second breakfast, and go to toilet, they slowly arrive, and the guide does not even reproach them!!! Ah si??? Well, then I will do the same!! Actually I had already thought to disobey, but I was afraid of being abandoned. Since it does not seem this will happen, then I will follow the South Americans, and mind my own business.
9/1
Sacred Valley
Theoretically we should leave at 9.00 but we delay, because some people are late. Which nationality? Guess !!
At first we stop in a kind of market in the middle of nowhere, this is not a traditional market, as I thought, but rather a jumble of souvenir stalls, separated by sheet metal walls. Prices are cheaper than Cusco.
Then we reach Pisac, where we stop at first in a lab where silver is worked. I would to disappear already now, and immediately go the market, but then I decide to stay, a bit because I don’t want to be rude, a bit because I am intrigued by the explanation on how to distinguish the true silver from the fake one .
30 minutes are left to explore this market, the bus will not wait for the latecomers, which will be picked up later, when it is back from the ruins. This mean that, if I want to stay longer at the market, I will miss the ruins! Here too there are many souvenirs stalls but I do not even look at them, and immediately run in the area where the locals people buy their products
The day is clear, an exceptional light illuminates the colorful fruit and vegetable heaps, and containers of pigments used to dye fabrics
Many women wear the traditional headgear, a sort of small scarf, lying on the head
The visit to the ruins, on the top of a hill divided into various sectors, is a tour de force. After an explanation about the site origins, we are generously given 30 minutes to climb to the top, to the temple of the sun, watching in the meantime everything else. It’s obvious that one might not even go up there, and stay happyly in the sun, but most of the people want to see as much as possible, not considering the path is a bit mazy, and well …. it’s a race against time …
Here too the hillsides are terraced, like in Moray, and the sky is wonderful.
We have lunch in Urubamba. My group goes to a buffet lunch. I’ve brought some sandwiches.
Ollantaytambo is the most charming place, its attractions justify an overnight stay, and in fact there are several bed and breakfasts. We visit the ruins in a hurry, plodding behind our guide on the terraces up to the temple of the sun, a series of monoliths arranged vertically.
I notice on the front mountain some particular construction. They are grain stores
Besides them, an outcrop of rock takes a human form.
http://www.ollantaytambo.org/en/
I go back reluctantly, but not too much, since tomorrow I plan to come here again
The visit at Chinchero takes place that it is already night. The square is lit, and we dedicate the most of the time at the church interior, I am a little sorry for all this rush
9/2
I reach Ollantaytambo by minivan (45 PEN return), this afternoon at 16:39 I have a train to Aguascalientes.
The minivan stops at the railway ticket offices. Peru Rail is the biggest company, it has a ticket office worthy of the name, a store for luggage, waiting benches. Inca Rail has only a small booth, and no one inside. After a while, the clerk, who was at lunch, arrives and allows me to leave my luggage in the office until the departure of the train. I am so free to go around without any weights (I left the big backpack in my hotel in Cusco). The road next to the river is lined with flower beds with beautiful flowers
I suggest to visit the ruins at lunch time, because there are very few people. I can not get inside again, because my boleto was stamped yesterday, so I’m happy to peek and take some pictures, then I tour through the narrow streets where there is none…
… apart children playing, and I stop for lunch at Restaurant Sumac Mijuna Wasi, 7 PEN. I ask around where is the path which takes to the Pinkujlluna grain stores, which are those buildings that I noticed yesterday. A sign at the entrance warns that this is a dangerous ascent
It’s free, but after a few steps I meet a guy who claims to be a guide, and asks for money, after my refusal, warns me to be careful. After a while, I realize he was not exaggerating
I reach the first group of buildings, indicated by the black arrow in the below picture, I see that the most direct route to the grain stores is narrow, steep, without banks or other to cling
Taking into account that I’m alone, I think it’s best not to overdo. I decide to get to other buildings on the opposite side (red arrow). I am alone, how nice! These wonders are all for me
While I rest, I see some women who descend from the grain stores along a longer and smoother away, which I you could not see before (green arrow)
But now it’s too late, I don’t want to miss the train. So I go back to the village, and walk in the main square
Then calmly go to collect my luggage, and sit at the train station. I think it’s worthwhile to sleep in Ollataytambo, and I highly recommend it !
The station has two bars and two large restrooms, which are the most beautiful and cleanest I’ve ever seen. The train arrives and leaves on time. On board we are offered hot drinks. There are people who carry all their luggage, so the racks placed at the beginning of the wagon are not enough, and the excess is placed wherever under the seats. Even the seats are quite narrow.
For Aguascalientes and Machu Picchu look here
9/5
Sacsayhuaman Tambomachay Pukapukara Qenqo
The tour would include Corichanka as well, but since I have already visited it on my own the day before (admission fee 10 PEN, go there, it really is worth it, as I say in the Cusco section), I skip it and I join later the rest of the group. This guide and group are the nicest, most cheerful and funny that I have met so far.
The Ayni Tours assistant waits for the bus with me to make sure I get collected, and in the meantime we talk about the crisis which is gripping the EU. This makes me sad for a while but as soon as I get on board the bus I get happy again. Shame about the weather, a stunning sunny in the early afternoon gradually turns into cloudy, and when we reach Sacsayhuaman, which is just outside the city, I am grateful to myself for having thought to bring with me the jacket. The site is very extensive, but our visit is as fast as a lightning.
Sacsayhuaman was primarily a ceremonial center, even if the conquistadores thought it was a fortress because of the thick walls.
The boulders are gigantic, and perfectly matching one with each other, so that not even a knife blade could be insterted.
We go on to Tambomachay, a number of water springs and channels which flow from one terracing to another.
Puka Pukara is a kind fortress from where I see a beautiful sunset
And finally Qenqo, which was a place dedicated to mummification. We walk in narrow passages in the midst of high monoliths, and we squeeze into a cave, the path is short and I can not see anything because it’s dark and there is a crowd in front of me
Usual stop at a handicraft centre where, instead of shopping, I get entertained by a very nice Korean guy who is touring South America, and who tells me that he was robbed of all his money in Bolivia, a country where instead my sense of security never felt even remotely threatened.
We return to Cusco around 19.30. The Korean guy, before leaving, gives me a badge with the flag of his country. I go to dinner with some people I met in the excursion.
Tomorrow unfortunately I fly to Lima