Sacred Valley

The day before we started the trek we headed for the Sacred Valley, and the town of Ollantaytambo both of which were very interesting especially if you enjoy hearing about the history of places. On the journey we stopped off at a small cafe where we bought a nice ham and cheese pastry thing, sort of a cross between a sausage roll and a Cornish pasty. At the back of the cafe there was a very impressive guinea pig hutch, guinea pig in Peru is cuy after the sound they make, cats are called miauu , I see a theme starting here.

Yuri our guide eyeing up dinner. Actually joking apart one evening guinea pig was ordered by a 

couple of girls on the tour who were having it for one of their birthdays. It comes out looking like it is squashed flat, like a cartoon road kill which is then deep fried. 

The guinea pig hutch, at least they live well! 

On this trip we met a new guide called Max who is very well informed about Incan history. He led us on some very interesting walks, one of which was supposed to be training for the Inca trail. This first walk was lovely and led us through some Incan ruins and terraces.

If you look closely you will see some holes in the mountainside , these are tombs which have all been  raided for their silver and gold. All of the people buried in the mountainside were buried lying down. Others, particularly the wealthier ones were buried in the foetal position as they thought they would be reborn. 

Heading off on the walk through an Incan gate, still refreshed. 

Getting hot and bothered now, my top is off. In the background you can see the terraces where the incas grew their crops. Different crops were grown depending on the position on the mountain, the higher up the cooler the temperature etc. 

Heading through an Incan tunnel, the Incas only used stone as tools so this passageway was basically hacked away by stone on stone. 

In the evening we headed off for a walk in Ollantaytambo which I must admit was very daunting, the Incas like their steps, and that is all I could see stretching before me, it didn't help that I had a very sore stomach and was worried about having a gippy tummy for the trek. I plodded on though and it was worth my while, with excellent views and with Max sharing his knowledge of the history of the place. Below you can see a warehouse where the Food was stored

The Incans strongly believed in Mother Earth and part of this was water,there are fountains in all their buildings, which was vital for life.