Just a few kilometres out of Ollantaytambo, Elvit stopped at a big cliff by the road so we could see the climbers' hotel. High up on the cliff, 3 pods were somehow fixed to the rock. It really is a small hotel. People have to scale the cliff to get there. Bizarre.
We made a brief stop for a photo op on the hillside above the town of Urubamba in the Sacred Valley of the Incas. There are a number of ancient farming villages in the Sacred Valley, surrounded by beautiful snow capped peaks.
Our next stop was Salinas. Thousands of years ago the indigenous people discovered a salt water spring. Below it, over time, they constructed hundreds of little terraced pools where they could evaporate the water and recover the salt. The salt pans are still in use today.
We drove on through the high valley to Moray. The Incas had built circular terraces in a natural bowl in the terrain. Apparently this was the "Inca agricultural laboratory" where they grew many different plants for seeds that they could then plant elsewhere. Each level of the terraces is claimed to have its own slightly different micro-climate. Stone steps were built into the terrace walls to provide access from one level to another.
After Moray we stopped at the village of Chinchero where there's a church built in 1650 on the foundation of an Incan temple. Elaborate religious artwork covered the walls, ceilings and beams inside the church. It was all very dark and old.
After Chinchero, Elvit drove us back to our hotel, the Casa de Mama Cusco Recoleta in Cusco, where we arrived about 2 pm. Elvit had been a very accommodating driver. We'd had a great time with him. After we got settled in again, we walked down to the Trujillo restaurant for an early Peruvian style dinner. Once again we were too tired to stay up late.
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