Valle Sagrado

Ok.. so all is planned.. the guide for the Valle Sagrado will meet me at the house at 7am.  She meets me, takes me across the street and two seconds later a bus picks me up, we head in to the center and wait for our guide and the rest of the tourists.  But Im in shock.. How slick was that? Seriously the timing could not have been better...  But the plan for the day is to take the tour of the Valle Sagrado, the Incans life source.  This is where most of their food supply came from, including over 3400+ different types of papas and I dont even know how many different types of corn they got, but lets just say this is where everything grows.  It is pretty inpressive.  SO the tour is planned and since lunch is included I didnt even think about bring money.... and guess what?  First stop... an artisian market. and Guess what?.. In Jan 2010 when Peru had an earthquake... many many people in the Valle Sagrado lost not only their houses, but their lives, and this mercado was rebuilt to help them rebuild their livelyhoods, and I just needed to use the bathroom... I felt like I could do anything.

SO I didnt even bother walking through the market to look at the things. One most items are the same from booth to booth, second the booths be in Cusco or anywhere they make and sell the same stuff and three they all would beg me to buy something and I really couldnt buy anything.. Im thinking to myself.. this could be a long day... But as I waited in the parking lot... streching my legs and trying to look busy, I began to chat with a women that was on the City Tour yesterday... she was from Brasil and didnt speak much spanish, but we shared a few words and then awkwardly smiled... She was traveling alone too and has two daughter in Brasil about my age. How nice.. to bad she wasnt 30 years younger, or I would have like to hit up the night life of Cusco with her- supposedly its rocking.. but I didnt get the chance... Being sola.. I just didnt wanna risk it. bummer.. anyway

SO our next stop after the mercado was a scenic view- mirador over looking the valley.  In the distance you can see the Incan trails that zig zang across the mountains.  These trails are still used today by the local people, neato! I also notice something curious...there are not a lot of trees and the trees that are present are Eucalpytus- yes, Koala's life source... and they are prolific.. so I ask Nico (our tour guide) whats up with that.  And you know those Spaniards, they came, and they conquested and they logged everything, so in order to stop erosion they planted the native Australian plant. And tho these plants help prevent erosion, they also prevent other plants, specifically native plants from growing.. INVASIVE SPECIES MUCH?!  UGH. So I ask....WHENNNN will people/humanity THINK before we act? I just dont have the answer, but if you do, let me know.. Id like to have an idea... Back to the treess... Nico tells me more about the plants and he is very insightful. Seriously a great guide.  He speaks 6 + lanuages; Spanish (for the tour), Italian, Portuguese, English, French, and Quechua! And sadly, he used to be an Anthropology Professor at an University in Peru, but as many of us know... education does pay every well and 25 years ago, in order to support his family and put his son through a private school he had to stop "formally teaching" and he became a Guide.. and he really knew/knows his stuff. 

Next stop.. blanking on the name (will adjust later) Ruin.  This ruin had the famous Incan Terrances and was up in between mountains. Just amazing how this culture was able to farm, let alone climb- daily- these steep mountains.  Within this ruin there is also an area that was used for ceremonies, and burials and death... okay, not to be super dramatic, but its true.  The incans did not take very kindly to stealing or other crimes and if someone disobeyed.. they were killed... But not many people disobeyed, and here is why...because if they did.... they were pushed off this cliff.. but there is another twist.. they were pushed off a cliff by someone they loved... and no one wants to put a loved one through that, soooo people didnt break the law.  Sounds extreme, but it worked.

Next Stop- Urubamba- this is were we stopped for lunch and this is were I ate by myself.  Now I really loved my little adventures in traveling, but I will be completely honest. I got lonely.  Most of the other people traveling had some 30years on my 24, so you can imagine the demographic.  Secondly I was traveling by myself, so even when I did meet people I just went through the motions.  "hi, how are you? where are you from? blah blah blah" and that was that. Soo most of the time I didnt even really get to know people, but oh well.. so with my package I had a lovely lunch buffett here the Urubamba river.  I had Ceviche made to order and I even tired Alpaca- tasted like Stewed Beef.. so it was good.

Next stop- Ollantaytambo- This was a bigger ruin, lots of steps and beautiful views once you get to the top.  Oh and the sun was out all day in the Valle so it was beautiful and it recharged my batteries.. Vitamin D is my friend, and after spending several days in rainy cloud Cusco I was ready for the sun.  After about an hour at this ruin, headed to Chinchero (photo below).  This was another Spanish Catholic Church built over an Incan temple-  It also held secret symbols of the Incan Culture in the Spanish Catholic Art.. which I just found so very fanstinating!  Most of the piece have unknown artist, but due to certain signs, historians can assume the artists were Incans.  This is very characterist in regions were the spanish came and there was a strong indigenious presence.  Other areas were art like this is present is in Mexico (Aztecs), Guatamala (Maya) and Nicaragua (I dont know the pre-spanish cultures, but the guide said you can find art of that nature there too).  Pretty darn cool.. These techinque thus allowed the native people to continue worshiping "their" gods while the spanish thought they were conforming to "their" catholic religion.  Score one for the god guys!

After a long day of hiking and learning we headed back to Cusco..And I headed to bed.. the next day I had to be up and ready by 5am... 5am ride BACK to Ollantytambo to catch the 7am train heading to Aguas Calientes- the launch pad to Machu Picchu (to be continued...)!

(again.. sorry for the spelling and grammar errors... I will try to update with time)