We headed off into the Sacred Valley which eventually takes you to Machu Picchu.
This valley is very green and fertile with the river Urubamba running through it and you can still see the Inca terraces on the hillsides. We stopped at the market in Pisac and bought a few things. The people are lovely but, as in Cusco, very pushy.
Our journey then took us on to Ollantaytamba which is an Inca fortress smaller than Machu Picchu but absolutely stunning, walked all the way up to the top of the steps and Ana Maria was really informative about everything to do with the architecture, way of life etc. We also visited a house in the village where the guinea pigs were racing around the floor (their life expectancy is about 6 months before they become stew!) and a cute kitten was asleep in the still warm pot on the fire!
We spent the night in a wonderful hotel in Urubamba. Our room was a round bungalow, so everything is a slight curve and 2 stained glass windows showing the sun and the moon (very important to the Incas). The grounds were absolutely beautiful, full of flowers and birds and we were surrounded by mountains.
We visited an animal sanctuary on the way there where we saw for the first time Peruvian dogs (no hair and with a body temperature of 40 degrees!). Apparently people take them to bed as a hot water bottle! They also had a couple of condors and so we were able to see them at close quarters on the ground, having already seen them in the air. They can live as long as 60 years, but, apparently, they choose the timing of their end by deliberately crashing into the ground or the mountainside.
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