VALLE SAGRADO

So far in Cusco, our days have been fairly short. But that changed today during our visit to el Valle Sagrado, or the Sacred Valley. Abraham and Eloy took to different areas of the valley, all of them providing beautiful views of the mountains. Our first official stop was at a llama/alpaca/vicugna farm, where we were able to feed and pet the animals. Another group of American tourists must have upset one of the llamas because all of a sudden one of the girls taking selfies was covered in llama spit. One can only handle so many selfies..

Afterwards, we traveled to another agricultural cite hidden in the mountains called Pisac. There, we got to hike to the top of the village and look out over the entire valley. We even saw some wandering Northeastern parents at the ruins.

Feeling rather ravenous, we headed to an all you can eat buffet!! They had just about everything one would want to try...even alpaca! After stuffing our faces and storing a few snacks in napkins for later, we explored the creek behind the restaurant. I didn't do so much exploring, rather I lay in the sun trying to digest the 6 plates of food I had eaten.

We continued the day with a tour of the temple of Ollantaytambo. Eloy pointed out many of the figures carved into the rock faces, including an Incan man with a feathered crown. Apparently if you were to hike up to the man, you could see that the territory of Ollantaytambo was built in the shape of a llama, one of the most sacred animals that the Incas sacrificed.

For the last stop of the day, we went to a traditional weaving market. We watched women clean, weave, and dye alpaca fibers. Everything was made with very simple wooden tools, llama bones, and natural dyes. After the demonstration, we had time to explore the market. Abraham and Eloy found a conch shell and attempted to blow into it to make different sounds. Eloy picked it up very quickly but Abraham on the other hand was struggling. Curious as to how to play the conch, Rebecca and I asked for a quick lesson. Much to our surprise, we were both able to make the sound on the first try! This really cracked Abraham and Eloy up. Mostly it just made Eloy laugh because Abraham still couldn't quite make the noise.

((Pictures to come when I have better wifi))