A lovely start to the day with sun and cloud instead of the expected rain. Our walk took us to the North West of the valley and two Inca settlements namely Ollantaytambo and Pumamarca. We started from the base at 2,400 metres and finished crawling up the mountains at 3,800 metres – more to come.
Ollantaytambo is an old Inca town built in the 15th century on a hill with the modern town now situated below it surrounded by agriculture of corn, potatoes and strawberries.
The old town is of amazing construction of shaped stones and cambered door frames, both typical of the Incas.
We went into a house in the town to see dozens and dozens of guinea pigs running around. They are a Peruvian delicacy throughout the country although we have stuck to the less contentious dishes.
We then walked another 7km up hill to the amazing ruins of Pumamarca which are situated up the valley from Ollantaytambo. We couldn’t get any photos of the ruins as the hill was so steep that at times we couldn’t see them. This was the view from the top.
We must excuse any mistakes in the blog but decided to start trying different varieties of Pisco Sours especially ginger and mandarin whilst writing the blog.
Tomorrow we go to the 5 lagoons which will take us to new heights of 4300 metres or 14100 feet. Great in a plane but tough when climbing up hills!!!
Pisco sours are definitely a hit then ?,hope you have the recipe David. Guinea pigs are too cute to even try xx