Where do I even start? What an amazing day! Both Kimberly and I slept like crap at the hotel in Cusco. Room was freezing so we had the heater on which was loud and made the air very dry so we couldn't breathe. When the alarm went off at 5 I had been awake since 2. Ug.
I got up and got ready and went downstairs for breakfast. Breakfast was ok but I had to be careful what I ate so I just had bread and tea. We left a little while later on a small private van/bus up into the Sacred Valley. The views above Cusco were amazing!
Throughout the day we stopped at some incredible places. I think one of the best being the GAP Adventures place where they are helping the local people rebuild and 100% of any of their craft items you buy go directly to them. All handmade, all alpaca and or wool and all naturally made colors done by them. Our bus was greeted by a bunch of little Peruvian boys running along side the bus and then greeting us with smiles and "Hola!". So great!! I've been taking a ton of pictures.
After that we stopped at the Sacred Valley. Just absolutely stunning. I don't know if I can even put it into words to do it justice.
We stopped at a jewelry place and got to see how the silver is made. I got to hold a big piece of turquoise which was rather neat.
We then stopped for lunch at this place called Alhambra. It was like Fantasy Island. Multicolored macaws up in the trees, llamas, and just a wonderful tropical setting. Lunch was buffet style with many things to try and just so flavorful. The bathrooms were HUGE and the best we had come across.
After lunch our next stop was at Ollantaytambo archeological site. We hiked to the top and it really was amazing. It wasn't an easy hike because of the altitude but we all did it.
After we stopped at a local woman's bar called Descanso where she makes chicha morado. I hope I spelled that right. It's a purple or other corn fermented beer. I liked the strawberry flavored one. After we played this drinking game called Tapo, I believe. You toss these big fake gold coins at this wooden box which has a frog with an open mouth. There are different holes in the box around the frog and you get points. I was pretty excited that I got top score out of all of our group. You could buy the pieces and make the wooden box yourself but the gold pieces were so heavy and I would have been over my weight limit. After that we got to our hotel, which is absolutely gorgeous. On to Agua Calientes and then Machu Picchu after!
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