Sacred Valley

Our bus for the sacred valley picked us up at 8 then picked up a bunch of other people from other hotels and hostels throughout Cuzco.

We had a guide and the bus took us over a mountain (about 12,300 feet) then down through the sacred valley.

It was so beautiful! We traveled to Pisac, Ollantaytambo, Chinchero, and a bunch of small villages and markets in the valley.

Pisac was the most beautiful view. It was terraces and mountains everywhere for miles. We climbed up to the top of one of the mountains through all the Inca ruins.

In Ollantaytambo we climbed about 300 steps up the terraces and ruins with our group. These ruins are where the Incas practiced their astronomy by watching the motion of the sun and seasonal changes.

We got to Chinchero when it was dark but we saw a beautiful, ancient church.

I pretty much bought everyone's Christmas gifts from home at the Inca markets! So everyone should prepare for colorful Peruvian presents :)

We went to a lodge buffet and it had such good food and variety! They had seafood, salads, pork, chicken, beef and alpaca! The alpaca was great! It tasted like streak and a little chewy. They had cerviche as well which Mindee and Carla loved.

They also had awesome desserts like black forest cake, rice pudding and 3 milk cakes.

We were so full! We walked down by the river where there were alpacas, llamas and vicuñas. They were just hanging out eating grass.

We got home at like 8 which was super late for us, especially since it gets dark by 6. So we all just went to bed.

So far I haven't felt any altitude sickness! Let's hope it stays that way. Tomorrow we're going to Aguas Calientes which is the town with Machu Picchu and that's only about 8,000 feet so we should be good for the rest of the trip.

Honestly, this spring break has been so amazing and we haven't even done the part I'm most excited about! I can't imagine this trip getting any better but I think it will :)