What an amazing day. Started with gun fire at 6am which frightened the life out of us but now we are awake we might as well start the day.
At breakfast Marcial says that the gunfire is a tradition because it's Friday and the army form in the square and fire off a few rounds. Good to know.
Today we are leaving Cusco to travel through the Sacred Valley to Urubamba. We are in our small bus but still with heaps of room and we only have backpacks for luggage for our 2 night stay away from Cusco.
We travel the same road up past Saqsaywaman, we make our first stop at Puca Pucara to take photos of the Red Fortress which is the name given by the Spanish. The actual use during Incan times would most probably have been a lodge or rest station for the messengers that were sent out by the Incan King and hierarchy to run between villages carrying messages and goods.
We travel up over the mountains and get our first views of the fertile Sacred Valley. We stop to take a few happy snaps and get some information about the area. It is mainly farmland. The farmers grow potatoes, quinoa, strawberries, barley, corn and many other fruits and vegetables.
This is also our first view of the Inca Terraces which are protected under world heritage so the local farmers cannot use them to grow crops.
We venture down in the valley through the town of Pisac and up the other side to our next stop which is a the ancient ruins of the Citadel of Pisac. The Inca people lived in the mountains and built their homes using rock,above the terraces where they grew their crops.
It was the Spanish that moved the settlements to the flat valley floor.
We spend a couple of hours exploring the largely restored area of this settlement. We see what is chronicled to be the largest Incan Cemetary in this area. The tombs have been looted so we can see the holes in the mountain where the bodies had been buried in a fetal position with some of their earthly possessions to take into the after life. The ingenuity of these ancient people is beyond belief.
Back down in the village we go to a bakery to try empanadas and the local drink made using purple corn, cinnamon, cloves and sugar. Very sweet and spicy yum!
Next door is the silversmith and we are shown how the jewelry is crafted from the Peruvian silver.
We now have free time to wander the markets and we head straight to the Blue Llama for real coffee and cake.
Out in the market place we look but don't buy.
Back on the bus we had made a group decision not to for go lunch to spend more time free at the end of the day.
On the way to Urubamba we stop at a Chicheria (bar) where the beer is brewed in a traditional Incan way using corn. The houses where this beer is brewed are identified by a bamboo pole displaying a red plastic flower(bag) if it is just a bar, a white for beer and food or a red and yellow for beer served by single ladies.
Marcial shows us the process for brewing the beer and then we taste it. The batch made with just corn is quite sour but the batch made with corn and strawberries is sweet and delicious.
Next, down the road we visit a pottery workshop and the artisan/owner demonstrated to us the process he uses to make his pottery. He is a very clever artist drawing the designs on his work all freehand.
We proceed to our hotel which is hidden away in the back blocks of Urubamba. The bus can't take us so we have to walk about 100m down a dirt lane. The Agustos hotel is a hidden oasis. The garden setting is peaceful and quiet. Our room is spacious and lovely with a view to the mountains out of our window.
We take a quick walk into the town square where we come across some sort of religious procession of drums and flutes and cymbals accompanied by fireworks.
Walking around the town square and up and down the tiny narrow streets you get an insight into this very different culture.
Back to the hotel before it gets too dark and we are in time for happy hour. 2 pisko sours for 30 sols.
We are soon joined by our other travellers and so we enjoy some great conversation.
6 of us have dinner together at the hotel restaurant. We are very lucky to have an easy going group.
Today was a very enjoyable day.