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An 8:20 bus pick up and we were off to the Sacred  Valley. First stop? Pisac, a set of Incan ruins and also the name of the current town they reside in.

We also spent a few minutes at a local market and stopped at a small family bakery along the way to taste homemade bread and empanadas.  

The ruins at Pisac cover a very large area and are surrounded by mountains and the Sacred Valley below. It’s also home (according to our guide) to the largest cemetery in Latin / South America with thousands upon thousands of tombs carved into the side of the mountain behind the ruins.  As we begin to explore the ruins, we hear the soft sound of a traditional Andean flute wafting through the air wherever we go. It adds a spiritual feel to the whole morning. Finally, we see where the music is coming from. 

A man in full costume is standing higher up in the ruins playing a long wooden flute. The sound carries throughout the whole valley. He looks like he stepped out of time.  We liked this set of ruins almost as much as Machu Picchu, and recommend it as a place to include on your trip to Peru.

Also, if you enjoy foreign language religions ceremonies for the cultural experience, our guide mentioned that the local church in the village conducts mass in the original native language at least once a week. From Pisac, we hit another local market and drove on to our buffet lunch stop where I tried alpaca and David tried the guinea pig goulash . . . interesting.

Next on the list was Ollantaytambo, another set of Incan ruins located in the town of the same name.    They had a temple of the sun, a purification waterfall / fountain and some interesting store houses set high up on the mountains.  They also had a very unusual face-shaped natural rock formation. 

From Ollantaytambo, it was off to Chinchero to see a wool demonstration at a local factory, and to check out a colonial church built in conjunction with another set of Incan ruins.  Oh yes . . . and some more market time.  From there it was the bus ride home with some picture taking opportunities of the local landscape.  

Posted on February 1st, 2007 by Myscha Theriault
Filed under: Trips and Destinations