Today was the longest day of our touring, we woke up around 6 and didn't get home until 6:30 pm. We walked around the property with Suzy as she promised. It was truly amazing to see these ancient Inca terraces being used in everyday life! On this solely local path we pass grazing cows and goats, orchids and wild roses, roaring water ways with original stonework. It is something totally off the beaten path! We hike back down to the car drop off to being out day after a delicious breakfast where Jesus and Lorenzo are waiting for us. Our first stop is one of the most important Inca sights called Ollantaytambo. It's one of the most important sights because the largest rocks of any Inca sight are found here, at what remains to be the Temple to the Sun. When we pull up it's a tiered system of terraces, remains of grain storage buildings and huge perfect stones facing east for the sun. We climb to the top, which requires a few breaks to catch our breath, and it's an impressive view down the entire valley. There is access to see another valley for protection as well. Jesus tells us that these huge rocks were actually carted here from across the river!! Some of these stones weigh a few tons, how could they possibly have brought these boulders halfway up a mountain side! Well Jesus told us that when it was the dry season the river was a lot lower and they would divert the river and bring the stones using Llama rope and man power! Crazy. I have to add that nowadays in each of these small towns the women and men wear distinctly different hats distinguishing themselves from different villages. Some of the hats are small with red flowers, some are stark white tophats with black ribbon and others are yellow medium sized. It's pretty cool to see all these different hats. Anyway so we leave Ollantaytambo and head up to almost 13,000 ft to the Moray circles. Theses are circular terraces that instead of going up the side of a mountain they go down into a huge crater sized area. The circles are perfectly sized and stopped me in my tracks. They're crazy. Please google them right now just to see, Moray Circles Peru. The whole area looks like the wooden Russian nesting dolls, where the one inside is smaller and they keep getting smaller. At least that's what I saw. You're able to actually climb down to the bottom of these terraces, which we did, and hear the perfect echo once fully at the bottom. My mom and I were really lucky because our guide Jesus timed it perfectly that when we were hiking down everyone was leaving so we were in this ancient spiritual sight alone! When we were at the bottom we stayed silent just listening allowing our ears absorb everything. Next was the hike back up- which was brutal at that altitude. The steps aren't normal staircases, they're rocks jutting out called a floating staircase. I like the look of these floating staircases they're very cool because when you're at the top the staircases make a perfect zigzag lines down the entire structure - just look it up in google to see what i'm talking about. I would put pictures up on this thing but I need about 200 more GB of space for all my pictures which is why none are on facebook either. My computer is full.
We left the Morays and head towards the Maras salt deposits, but we take a brief pit-stop to have a picnic on the side of the Andes no big deal. Lorenzo and Jesus work like a well oiled machine getting the table and chairs and propane tank (would have been a little more worried while driving had I known that was in the back) and we have a hot meal looking over fields of crops and in the distance enormous mountains tower over us, the clouds exposing snow caped mountains and glaciers, it was amazing. I just kept thinking, 'Yep, here we are, just having a 5 star picnic in the Andes, traveling after graduation was the bests decision ever!!' After eating we pack up the picnic and head off to Maras. Along the way we had extra food so we stopped and gave the remaining fruit and bread to this little boy and girl who were in charge of about 30 goats/sheep and cows. These kids were elated, their smiles still make me smile! We arrive at the salt mine and it is jaw dropping - again please google Maras Peru and you'll see a shallow pooled terrace covering 3/4 of the mountain. The Incas found the natural spring containing a fair amount of salt and decided to set up terrace systems to harvest and use the salt to their advantage. Each small pool had an aqueduct delivering the water and continuing onto the ones below. Sometimes just a small pebble could cut off the water supply because the aqueducts are so tiny. Jesus takes my mom and I down through the salt fields on a 45 min hike down to the bottom where the Urubamba is flowing ferociously! Once down we cross a small wobbly pedestrian bridge where Lorenzo is waiting for us to take us back to our slice if heaven. We hike back again to our oasis where the next day we're going to MachuPicchu!!!
Early wake-up and departure because we're catching the 8:30 train from Ollantaytambo to Aquascalientes- which is now renamed MachuPicchu Pueblo because too many tourists kept saying they wanted to get to MachuPicchu - but didn't want to go to Aquascalientes. . . they're the same place people! Stupid tourists not doing their research. The train is amazing, huge windows, a little snack, but one of the slowest trains i've ever been on. We arrive to a rainy Aquascalientes, so we purchase a poncho and board the bus which takes you up to the historical sight. The bus company runs about 35 buses for the short 20 min drive, but there will always be a bus waiting for tourists - it's actually a very good system, absolutely no waiting around so no unhappy tourists. As the bus ascends up the mountain face and it's magical, seriously magical. Clouds are everywhere changing the scenery every few seconds and the lush green mixed with a constant waterfall in the middle of every switch back, the place is seriously out of a hollywood film set. We reach the top and eager tourists make sure their newly purchased ponchos are going to do the trick. We get inside and Jesus lets guest zoom past us as we wait for the foot traffic to calm so we're left standing alone looking over the lost city of the Incas. It immediately a sense of calm, when we look over trying to squint through the clouds, the place is huge, with the sense that this place was a real community where people actually lived, complaired to the previous sights we've seen before. The rain and wind add for dramatic effect whipping small beads of rain at us from every-which-way. Jesus gives us a great tour and keeps us away from the blobs of bright colors (ie the poncho covered tourists) He shows us all the temples, the famous Condor, and let us wonder around. MachuPicchu is the a home to 15 Llamas and one baby! These Llamas have free range over the place and on our second day at the slight nearly mauled someone over, they had to literally jump out of the way onto another terrace!
On our second day at MachuPicchu we hiked to an old Inca bridge which is part of the Inca trail, were able to wander more throughout the sight and sit to meditate. On our second day it was also sunny which was amazing! We left for Cuzco the next day and Lima the day after then home. It was a truly amazing trip, the whole 5 weeks and I encourage EVERYONE - whoever reads this- and others to travel to Peru. It is so lush with nature and vegetation, different landscapes, and seriously wonderful people. The food is amazing and the history is so vas. Also while I was in Peru I was reading off and on Three Cups of Tea and it is seriously an amazing book! Everyone should read it!! This is my last post because I'm home right now looking for a job. I hope everyone enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it!!
xoxo
over and out
Lola
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