Day #3 More Sacred Valley and a Train ride

 Day 3 was spent exploring Pisac ruins and the famous Pisac market.  Another Incan royal estate in the Sacred Valley.  Pisac has the most incredible farming terraces.  We didn't have a tour guide this day, we decided that our littlest probably couldn't tolerate another whole day of a tour guide.  So we visited this ruin that is divided into four different areas.  Easton didn't want to climb quite as much as the other boys so the last 30 minutes or so Easton and I rested while the others saw the higher areas of the ruins.

In the huge, colorful market down in the town below the ruins.

After Pisac we got back into the van and made our way back to Ollantaytambo to get our luggage and board the train to Aguas Calientes (the town just below Machu Picchu).

A courtyard in our Ollantaytambo hotel.

Getting ready for our train ride.  It was a fun trip in this train and the scenery was fantastic.  It was interesting to watch the terrain go from mountain dry to tropical humid.

Aguas Calientes

Day #2 - The Sacred Valley

Our first morning in Peru we headed to breakfast and then met our guide for the day.  We had a lot on our schedule, but it was all incredible.

We went to the Ollantaytambo Fortress for our first stair climb, I mean tour.  Our whole trip was a bit surreal, I kept having to remind myself we were really doing this, really seeing these places we had seen in the history books.  We learned of architecture, infrastructure, irrigation, planting, and religious rites.  All as we walked up in the mountains through ruins that have lasted hundreds of years through extreme weather, earthquakes, and a whole lot of tourists.  The Incan people were way ahead of there time in planning cities.  The amount of patience, strength, endurance, and connection with the land is seen in all the places we visited.

Ohmmmmm... 

The sun temple.

Ollantaytambo has both religious temples and military quarters, but on opposite sides of the fortress.  From the temple you can see faces carved into the opposite mountain, as well as storage areas for grain.  And then down into between you see the town.

After the fortress we got into the van and headed out to Moray.  These circles are for crop experimentation.  There are actually three different sized circles, all with different levels, and due to the location as you go farther down into the circle there are different micro climates.  So the Incas were finding what plants (mostly corn and potatoes) worked best for different climates and different soil types.  Amazing.

Look at what we saw on our rural dirt drive, out in the middle of no where.  And yes, we stopped and took pictures.

 From Moray we headed to Salineras, or the salt pans of Maras, over 3000 of them.  There is a little natural stream that comes out of this mountain and the Incans discovered it, made these salt pans, and then harvested the very good tasting salt.  And it is still used today to do the same.  We all really enjoyed this site.

This is where the natural spring comes out of the mountain.

The only non-bottled water we drank.  Well, not really drank, but stuck our finger in to taste the salt water.

And our last stop was 3700 meters above sea level in Chinchero, were some wonderful women taught us how all the amazing weaving and dying of alpaca and wool of Peru comes about.  We were the only ones there at the time and we felt right at home with these sweet women who weave to support their families.

Two in one - a hat scarf

Finishing up our long, but amazing day in the Sacred Valley.