The Sacred Valley, Day 1

Holly and I decided to head north to check out the Sacred Valley. This is the region north of Cuzco that was once the heart of the Inca Empire. To start our trip, Holls and I wandered down to the bus station in Cuzco, and hopped on a crowded bus that wove its way up the hillsides of Cuzco and onward to Pisac. It was crowded and tight, and of course Holly and I were the only whiteys on the bus. It started raining halfway through the 90 minute ride, so all the windows were shut and the heat and humidity increased quickly. One of the children on his way home from school wiped his boogers on the seat in front of me. We were excited to get off.

We got off in Pisac after descending into the valley of the Rio Vilcanota. It´s a small town with a large amount of Inca ruins high above in the mountains.
Holly and I found a Hostel and decided to try to hike up to some of these. As it was getting late in the day, we decided to wait for tomorrow to hike. Instead, we heard that a soccer game was about to start. We wandered around town, trying to find the field/stadium. We didn´t find it... only a family of large pigs parading down the street.


Back at the Hospedaje Bejo, we became friends with the owner, Hipaulito. He was a short round man who looked like he was a Peruvian mobster who moved to the mountains in the witness protection program. He talked our ears off, half of which we understood. Attached to the hostel was an art shop where Holly and I tried on sweaters. I put one on while Hipaulito and his friend laughed at how small the sweater was on me. It was almost a T-shirt! We think they wanted to make me one to fit, but as I´m still working on my Spanish, I couldn´t figure it out.

So we went to dinner and ate some great homemade pasta, pumpkin soup, and carrot cake until Holly could no longer move. Then she let me beat her repeatedly at Uno. We retired to the Hostel, planning on waking up early for a hike up to the ruins.