We landed at the Cusco airport and walked into 11,152 feet above sea level. We were armed with our altitude pills and had our previous training in Ecuador so we felt ready to go. As we walked through the “airport”, we began to doubt that Thrifty Car Rental was “on site” as advertised on their website because there was absolutely nothing at the Cusco airport except six gates. We located a taxi driver and asked him to take us to Thrifty. He had never heard of Thrifty. I then told him to take us to Hertz because Hertz owns Thrifty so I figured they would know where it was located. He put us in the taxi, drove us a quarter of a mile, threw a u-turn, drove back half that distance, dropped us off at Hertz and charged us $10.00. I could have spit and hit the airport! We walked into Hertz and were informed that they handled all the bookings for Thrifty and Dollar as well. Hmm, seems like that piece of information would have been useful at some point. After filling out more paperwork than we have had in a while and putting down a $5000.00 deposit, we drove out of the lot and headed toward Ollantaytambo. The drive took us about an hour through beautiful countryside and a few worn-out towns. When we arrived in Ollantaytambo, Bill squeezed the car through the narrow streets until we arrived at the street of our Airbnb. As we stared at the street, we knew our car was not going to make the turn nor fit on the street. I hopped out of the car and walked up the street to find the Airbnb. The host greeted me and walked down the street to help Bill park the car. He gave us the choice of the “street” or his lot. We chose his lot given that we had $5000.00 riding on the line. After getting settled in our very snug room, we walked down the street to find some dinner. At the first restaurant, Bill saw alpaca on the menu and was sold. I ordered a bowl of soup because I was not feeling well. As Bill ate his slightly overcooked alpaca, I made my way over to the sink behind the bar to get sick. Luckily no one else was in the restaurant to witness my low point! I determined it must have been the altitude because I felt better immediately, cleaned up my mess and went back to our Airbnb for some rest. Our snug room had two beds which was a plus because neither bed was big enough for the two of us. So, like Lucy and Ricky, we said goodnight and slept across from each other. The next morning, we headed out to visit the ruins of Ollantaytambo. As we pulled out of the lot and hit a bump, the side mirror fell off the car! Held on only by its’ wires, it dangled precariously and all I heard was $5000.00 flowing down the drain. “How did that happen?” I yelled. Bill said the owner of the Airbnb had pulled on the mirror when he was parking the car and the mirror had come off. On closer inspection, the mirror had obviously been glued back on previously so we voted we would glue it back on as well. In the meantime, we rattled along the cobbled streets, holding our breath as the mirror bounced along with us. Since we had arrived at the ruins early, we had most of the ruins to ourselves and it was a lovely hike. Perched high up on the cliff were several pods that were somehow a hotel, though I am not sure how you would get there! After exploring Olly, we headed to find the next two sites, Maras and Moray. As we followed the signs to Maras, we found ourselves on a one lane dirt road. We passed several locals who pointed in the opposite direction so Bill did a ten point turn and we headed down the road until we ran head on into a group of horseback riders. We decided there had to be an easier route because there was no way tour buses would come down that road. We headed back out to the main road, bypassing all the incorrect signs and pulled up Google maps (which is very hit or miss in South America). Google maps routed us back to the dirt road so we vote to continue on the main road. As we approached the next town, we finally saw signs for the city of Maras. It was obvious that the route was new because the roads were well paved and easily navigated by car. We pulled into Moray which was an ancient Incan agricultural research site. The site had multiple terraces that the Incans used to experiment with which levels grew the best crops. The guide told us we could either hike the long trail that was 3 hours or the short trail that was an hour round trip. As we approached the site, Bill and I voted we could do the “no hike” version which involved standing at the top and taking stunning pictures. Feeling refreshed after our “no hike”, we continued down the road to the Maras salt mines. The salt mines had been used for hundreds of years and were still used by the locals for salt. It is hard to explain the mines in words so see the pictures below. After a long day of back roading, we pulled into the town of Pisac for the night. It was 4pm and our room at the hostel was not ready so we dropped our bags and headed over to the famous Pisac Incan market for some Christmas shopping. The market boasted handmade articles such as blankets, scarves, hats, etc and all the products were made locally. As we wandered through the endless stalls, we noticed when we stopped to look at an item, the vendor would name a price. Then, if we stared at the item for another few seconds, the vendor would drop the price. Given the way I ponder items when I shop, I swear the item would have been free by the time I decided. I explained to the vendor that the initial price was very fair but I was trying to decide if I liked the colors. At that point, items of every color available were piled in front of me, on top of me and in Bill’s arms. It was like a Saturday Night Live skit. As I finally decided on a color I liked, I asked if they accepted credit cards because our cash funds were low. We were escorted two aisles over to another vendor who pulled out a credit card machine. Bill teased that they only had one machine for the entire market but I think the teasing was pretty accurate. On our walk back to the hostel, a huge thunderstorm came and we hid in a restaurant while it passed. A woman said it had not rained for many months so they were happy we brought the rain. The next morning brought lots of sunshine and a trip to the ruins of Pisac. The Pisac ruins were huge and spread as far as we could see. We walked along the terraces and climbed to the highest point which took some effort with the altitude. The views of the valley were spectacular and difficult to capture on film. I visited Machu Picchu in 2017 so we decided to skip Machu Picchu this trip and see what else the Sacred Valley had to offer. After seeing Pisac, I think it was a wise choice. Leaving Pisac we drove down through the Valley in search of a small town called Andahuaylillas which boasted of having the Sistine Chapel of South America. As we made our way through the small village, we came to a simple church on a quiet square. The church may have been simple on the outside but the inside was incredible. We figured some Spanish priest had been exiled to Andahuaylillas so he exacted his revenge by building the most spectacular church possible. The site was well worth the detour! The next adventure involved, once again, following obscure signs to the Pikillaqta ruins. After several wrong turns down more dirt roads, we finally found the correct entrance. Pilillaqta ruins were Pre-Incan and they were in amazing condition. The ruins across the street were Rumicolca which was a Pre-Incan aqueduct. The Incans had also used the spot as a gate for their road and seeing the difference between the exacting rock work of the Incans compared to the Pre-Incans was very interesting. Our last stop for the day was at Tipon. Tipon ruins were the only Incan ruins that were not ravaged by the Spanish. Once we had driven the very narrow and winding road to the top of the mountain to find Tipon, we decided the Spanish had probably never even noticed it was there. We arrived late in the afternoon and had the entire ruin to ourselves which was amazing. While Bill’s favorite of the day was Pisac, my favorite was Tipon. It had beautiful terraces with an aqueduct flowing through the middle. After the lovely nature we had all day, driving into Cusco brought us quickly back to reality. Bill has driven in crazy situations before and we thought nothing could top the Dominican Republic but Cusco managed to be voted the worst drivers we have ever seen. Buses pulled over into traffic at random, cars stopped in the middle of the road for no reason, cars honked constantly even though there was nowhere for traffic to move. To top off the adventure, a parade was being held so we were detoured off the main road and around the main square. After a harrowing hour, we arrived at our Airbnb, parked the car and vowed not to get back in it for at least a day. We asked our host about the parade and he said it was a “we need rain” parade. Bill and I voted it was a “Sally and Bill need a beer parade!” Our Cusco tour began with the Stolen Gold Tour 2023 as we ventured to the multiple churches in town. We had planned the historic district tour on a Saturday to avoid church services. Unfortunately, the first Saturday of the month was evidently First Communion day. Children dressed in lovely dresses and suits with parents trying to corral them for pictures made for an interesting day of sightseeing. Bill finally got to see the Peruvian version of the Last Supper painting complete with Jesus serving up cuy instead of a loaf of bread. Rumor has it that the cuy was the local’s way of taking a stab at the Spaniards and their religion. Others say it was the Spaniards way of trying to relate their religion to the local culture. Regardless, we found it hilarious! If you go to Cusco, prepare for the main square. While we were there, we were offered 17 bus tours, 15 massages, multiple chances to buy cheap jewelry and two shoeshines even though we were both wearing tennis shoes! Our final day in the Sacred Valley was spent exploring the ruins of Cusco. Once again, we managed to plan poorly because the first Sunday of the month was “Peruvians visit free” day so gone was our quiet solitude we had enjoyed at the other ruins. At Saqsaywaman, we were wandering about aimlessly when an elderly gentleman approached. I thought he was asking me to take a picture of him with his family. Instead, he wanted to take a picture with us. He then told us he was seventy years old and Peruvian which was an obvious point of pride for him. Bill told him we were 58 years old and we were not Peruvian. We all had a good laugh and Bill and I decided we were featured on the man’s Facebook page that night. Our Hollywood star experience continued at Tambomachay when we ran into a group of school children. One of the boys asked where we were from and when I answered, he screamed, “United States!!” and beckoned all the children over to us. The children wanted me to take their picture and then a couple of girls called for their mother to take their picture with me. Evidently, we caused quite a stir! For our last dinner in Cusco, we went to a local “fast food” type restaurant that specialized in chicken. We ordered the chicken dinner and were surprised when the meal was accompanied by soup. Bill plunged his spoon deep into the bowl of chicken soup and got an unwelcome surprise…..a chicken foot! After further exploration, he found a chicken liver as well. Needless to say, I sipped the broth off the top of my soup and did not explore any further. Prior to bedtime, Bill superglued and zip tied the side view mirror back on the car so we could return it in the same shape it had been sold to us. I am also happy to report the rain parade worked like a charm and Cusco flooded the last night we were there! I apologize for the long blog but fitting the Sacred Valley into one page was not possible! Join us next week as we head deep into the Amazon Jungle! ***Pictures tab for additional pics
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AuthorSally Miller Archives
May 2024
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