The Sacred Valley

The bus to Urubamba, a colectivo because it collects passengers as it goes, was ridiculously cheap:8 soles for the 2 hour trip. About $8US for both of our tickets. We drove over more mountains, past small villages and miles of terraced fields. We saw lots of sheep, one tractor, and ox pulling a single plow through the rocky brown soil. Urubamba is a crossroad village, Pisaq in one direction, in the other direction Ollantaytambo and Machu Pichu beyond that. We chose to spend a few days in Urubamba because of it's slightly lower elevation and access to some Inca history we want to study. It's a small town, pop.2700. It was lower, but still more than a mile above sealevel. We asked for directions and were pointed up the hill to the hostel Los Perales. The Pear Trees. It was an enchanted garden! A wild mess of paths through vegetables and flowers and fruit trees of all kinds. Our host spoke Quechua first, Spanish second, and a few words of English. A retired chemist, he was gardening without the use of chemistry.

We spent four delightful nights here, coming "home" after a day full of exploring, to sit in the garden with a warm beer and my paper journal. No internet in the village, but much to see: women leading llamas, dressed in bright colored skirts and tall hats. I soon learned to identify their home village by the hat.
Yu
Pisaq is an hour south in the valley, home of a truly awesome citadel built in the mid-1400's. It's second in importance and grandness to Machu Pichu, and more is known about it because it's not only older, but was lived in longer than Machu Pichu. The extensive terracing covers all the hillsides surrounding the residential areas, the military areas, and the sacred temple buildings on the top of the mountains. We took a bus to the village, and then a taxi to the ruins which completely dominate the skyline above Plaza in the small village. We planned to hike down, following one of the two paths back to the village.

The Incans chose the site for this City with good thought. The hilltop is surrounded on three sides by either rivers or a river gorge, and commands a view of the valley in two directions. We hired Roosevelt to give us a tour. He pointed out things we would have missed, and explained the architecture and told us a little more of the history than we had read. In turn, we paid his small fee, and gave him a few words of english he can use with other tourists.

The beautiful hike down took more than an hour, I can't imagine hiking up! We had lunch at one of the empanda restaurants, watching while the young man cooked our lunch in the big, handmade clay, wood-fired oven. The cuy 'palace' was in the corner, the furry critters chattering in the pen. We think of them as pets, but they are a special dinner in the Sacred Valley area, and in Lima.

Cusco or Cuzco

The view of the Andes Mountains from the plane was gorgeous, unlike any mountains I've ever seen. We arrived in Cusco late afternoon. The difference between Lima and Cusco was as dramatic as the view of the mountains. Quiet, calm traffic, blueblue sky and very tiny streets. The taxi took us into the old section of town, where we had chosen a hostel listed in Lonely Planet. We hiked up a narrow, steep, cobblestone alley to the Hostel Bright. We got a room with bath, a treat! The THREE wool blankets on the be were a warning. Cusco, or Cuzco, is more than 3000 meters above sealevel, and we both have a wee head ache. Reason number 2 to move onto Urubamba tomorrow. I wanted to see the Inca story in some sort of order, and starting in the Sacred Valley not only puts the history in order, but gives us time to acclimate because most of the Sacred Valley is lower. We were lucky enough to stumble on Restaurant Marcela Batata for dinner. Wes started with my first Pisco sour drink:a grape brandy mixed with lemon juice, sugar and egg white. Delicious! The bar snack was potatoes fried crisp, served with a delicious garlic sauce. We moved onto potatoes croquantes, served with three different sauces. Yes, of course I took a photo, but photos will have to wait until i get home...too complicado to add them now. Then, we ordered papas rellenos: mashed potatoes stffed with beef and vegetables. Delicious! And, all beautifully presented. We finished our breathless evening on the rooftop, to see the lights of the city, climbing up the miuntainsides all around.

Nighty night. More Inca adventure tomorrow

Chinatown and catacombs

The Hostel 1900 is an old mansion, built with concrete and stone. Typical construction materials for both the time and place. The style is typically Spanish, too, with a central courtyard. There is nothing to absorb sound. Ohboy, every sound bounces around like a rubber ball. But, it's clean, good location, and cheap.

There is a big, beautiful park filled with fountains. Huge, over-the-top water features. With colored lights, and music. We walked several blocks along the busy avenue, bought tickets before dark, and watched the changes in the fountains as the sunlight faded and the lights came on. The park was built in the early 1900's, a gift to the city. It was fun to watch the people playing in the water, teasing themselves with the really big fountains that you could run in and out of. It was a nice spring night, a little cool, but nice. My favorite fountain was the Labrinth. No fountain, but water shooting up to form the "paths" in a typical labrinth-like way. The water changed patterns, however, catching people by surprise, and trapping them in a path, until the water changed patterns again.

Chinatown in Lima? Si! We walked through the small streets, smelling the food looking in the shops. Mostly restaurants, but meat markets and other small stores. We had lunch with Chinese businessmen, the only tourists in the place. It was very tasty, and we asked for a caja para llevar, a to-go box for our leftovers. Dinner will be at the hostel, with cheap beer.

The San Francisco Catacombs was not on my list, but we went anyway. I'm glad we did. The Convent is now in a newer (late 1700's) building, the catacombs beneath the original church. We had to take the tour, given by a Very Serious Woman, who had memorized the script, in English. We were the only native English speakers in the small group, most of the others were European. When the original catabombs were discovered in 1932, the archaologists moved the bones, and made collections of them. Leg bones in this pile, arm bones in another, and so on. Big, deep brick bins of bones. The library was far more interesting, the spanish woodwork was very grand. The monks had two huge books they used during services. The books were almost as tall as me, and sat in front of their fancy chairs in the chapel...one book for many monks to read from a distance.

The food in Lima is good, so far. One meal of ceviche was delicious: a healthy serving of ceviche mixto (different fish), with a piece of lacy seaweed garnish, a piece of sweet potato, and a pile of puffed corn kernals. The ceviche was slightly picante. The puffed corn was curious. Of course I asked how it was prepared! The kernals are soaked in water, then you put them in a hot pot, with the lid on. They sort of puff up and pop open. Not at all like popcorn, more like nuts. There are many different kinds of corn, and I'll try them all!

On to the Sacred Valley, by plane, over the Andes Mountains tomorrow. We'll spend the night in Cuzco, and move on to Urubamba in order to see the Sacred Valley in order of the history, and to get used to the high altitude.