Day 34: Sacred Valley Tour (Pisaq & Ollyantambo)

Today was our full day tour to Pisaq (a town with a well known market) and Ollyantambo (an ancient inca town.)

The Pisaq market is a large beautiful market with vendors selling their handicrafts that they (supposedly) make them self. It's said that they sell to the souvenir shops in Lima and Cusco, so here they have the best prices. I wasn't planning on buying anything, but of course, that never happens. The only thing I really wanted were some alpaca socks. Going through the market we mostly looked at Alpaca products such as scarfs, socks, shawls etc. and jewelry because Peru is known for its gold and silver.

After the market we went to a restaurant for lunch, then headed to Ollyantambo. On our way, we saw terracing and cuy - which is roasted guinea pig on a stick (no thank you.) The ruins at Ollyantambo were a great introduction to the Inca lifestyle. The materials, architecture, and engineering used for building. Plus the layout of the area with terraces for gardening, open rooms for storing goods with large windows for ventilation, and specific windows for the sun to break through on the summer and winter solstice. Olyantambo was also an ancient Inca town with some original streets and houses. It's incredible to me that those structures are still in use.

Back at the hotel, we had a delicious dinner and packed for tomorrow. I got a beef tenderloin and dad tried alpaca. It was a great way to end the day.

Tomorrow is an early morning as we set off for Machi Picchu!

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