View on the way to the Sacred Valley
Another
Another
Another
Alpacas and llamas in a market
Another stop for view
Terraces
Sacred Valley
Graves
Graves
Graves
Sacred Valley
My group
Watch tower
Sacred Valley
Allyssa and me
end of sacred valley pictures
Ollantaytambo
Can you see the face of a man in the side of the mountain?
Chacana
Nikita and I woke up early, but not early enough. We rushed through getting ready and when we got downstairs to grab breakfast Señora Carola wasn't there. Thirst gripped my throat but there was no liquids in sight. Too bad we drank last night and our mouths were drier than a desert. So instead we grabbed some bread and a banana for breakfast and rushed out the door. We met up with Emily and Morgan who live a block down from us to grab a taxi to the plaza our group was meeting up at to go to our hiking destination. We actually got there early. This trip kind of reminded me of my oxford study abroad. It was a long bus ride that took many stops. We stopped a lot to take in the views. At every observation point there were children trying to sell us stuff. We went to a market, everything was really colorful and cheap. I only bought a present for Matt though. I will have plenty of opportunities to go to other markets. I saw plenty of llamas and alpachas also. After we went to the market we went to some ruins. That is where the real adventure started. We went on what felt like the most arduous hike of my life. You know the altitude here is already super high, well we were hiking up a mountain to an even higher altitude. If I didn't already feel like I had no oxygen. We started the hike and I felt fine but once the many stairs started, I felt like I was dying. The little old Peruvian man was soooo much better at hiking than me. =[ I am so out of shape and not ready for high altitudes. I kept wondering if I could hop on an alpaca and get up to the top quicker. Once we got to the top it was definitely worth it. The view was amazing. I felt like I was about to die but everything looked perfect for my death. I would stay at the top of the mountains with the souls of the Incas and my life would be fulfilled. Instead I continued on with some Peruvian spirit, for about 10 minutes than I was dying again. haha Some how the Incas made it so the trail was uphill both ways, I have no idea how they did this black magic, but I was not pleased. I finally made it to the top and felt like I defeated the mountain. While walking to the bus I also caught a group of animals being herded up the mountain and watching the little kid running along side them I realized that I still sucked. Haha Once in the bus we left for a hotel to eat a buffet. It was pretty good and it meant that I didn't have to eat the dreaded animal flesh. After that we went to Ollantaytambo which is a town with a lot of sacred temples. We had to climb up some terraces and looked at the temples. You can't even fit a piece of paper between the rocks in the walls they are so perfectly fit together. Finally we started to go home. I was exhausted, so I fell asleep on the bus. After we got home I just wanted to pass out but I was kind of hungry so I started to wait for dinner. Nikita and I watched a bootleg version of chronicle and when it hit around 10 pm I was like I just want to go to bed I don't care about food. Of course then is when Carola called for us. So I told Nikita I am going to pretend to be asleep. I know, crazy, but she thought it was a good idea. Haha When she came up she found us "sleeping" and left. We finsihed Chronicle and then went to bed. I felt like my muscles were going to run away in the night. =P
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