Sacred Valley of the Incas

Did a full day bus tour to the Sacred Valley of the Incas, or Urubamba Valley. Our guide very honestly told us that no one visited it when it was just called Urubamba Valley, so they renamed it Sacred Valley of the Incas and they ow get over 100,000 visitora a year through it 🙂

On the way out of Cusco we noticed the riot police near out hotel. It seems a demonstration was planned for later that day and they sometimes get out of hand.

A view of the valley as we get close.

An Inca agricultural terrace. These were used to grow potatoes and corn. The valley is very well suited for corn, and it grows very large there.

A couple of birds at our lunch stop.

The view from part of the way up the temple at Ollantaytambo.

Note again the great architecture with each stone fitting the ones around it. Also they use male and female grooves to make them an even tighter fit.

Some of these blocks weigh 80 tonnes or so and required 1,600 people to drag them up a 8 degree slope to the top of the temple.

Me at the top.

The following day went to a free (as part of your tour tickets) performance at a theatre demonstrating Peruvian costumes and songs.

The show lasts a bit over an hour and is very entertaining.