Sacred Valley

A place we would LOVE to live. There are gigantic mountains everywhere, you are always completely surrounded. The sunsets and sunrises are always exquisite due to these mountains.  It’s green and lush with a roaring river running right through the valley.

Fun but annoying: Everywhere you go in Cusco you are mobbed by salesmen/women trying to sell you anything from finger puppets to batteries.  At first it’s kinda fun because you get to see what they have to offer and the prices but after the second day of getting attacked basically every second you are outside it gets very annoying. Travelers beware in Cusco when they see gringos all they really see is dollar signs.

Advice: There was a couple we met in the city center who had gotten their camera stolen from out of their pocket. They were in extreme distress because they had all of their pictures from Machu Piccu and their trip on the camera. Pick pocketers in Cusco are professional and could be anyone; a kid, an elderly lady, a mom, a guy, anyone so beware.
 
Tip 1: Always put your valuables in a secure location like a backpack with zippers and a lock and wear your backpack on your front not your back. If you get out your camera to take a picture put it back in the backpack and lock it, yes it is a hassle and takes a bit of time but it’s worth it. Tip 2: As soon as possible back up your pictures daily on a chip or hard drive so if anything does happen to your camera at least you have copies of all your memories. 

On a happier note, we LOVE the sacred valley!!!

Mountains, Mountains, Mountains

Cusco is rich in minerals, mainly silver. They make beautiful original jewelery and on one of our tours we got the privilege of seeing how they do it first hand.

The raw silver before they melt it down and shape it

Once they form the silver into a pendant, ring, or something then they take different stones and sand/shape them to fit into the design. Each piece of jewelery is one of a kind.

Agriculture to acclimatize the crops. They start out with the crops on the lowest level and over time plant them on higher and higher levels eventually acclimatizing them for Peru's weather. Genius!

Urubamba, amazing ruins! The Incas always built their cities on hill sides, this way protecting themselves against intruders.

Can you see the face?

Our AWESOME tour guide, seriously he was amazing!!

Cusco

Cusco, the capital of the Inca Empire, is the gateway to the legendary Machu Picchu. The stone streets and building foundations were laid by the Incas more than 500 years ago, and were originally in the shape of a puma. The architecture of this city is amazing.

We arrived to Cusco at 5:00 a.m. hungry, tired and nowhere to go. We had emailed a hostel but they still had not responded, so we gave them a call and had them come pick us up from the bus terminal. One thing we have learned while traveling in country’s whose native language is not English is not to trust what their English translation of their websites says. 

For example: On the hostal in Cusco’s website it said “pick up at bus station provided by hostel”. So we assumed that the hostal provided the transportation from the bus station to the hostel, WRONG. If you called them and asked about the pick-up service first, they would act like they had no clue as to what you were talking about and second, they would finally organize a taxi for you and then make you pay once you arrived at the hostel. So we learned the word, “provided by hostel” does not mean that they provide you with anything it’s just a phrase they use to mean, “if you want something (like a ride) then you need to organize and pay for it yourself”. Thank you Cusco lessoned learned. 

Typical lunch $1.50 - some type of soup (usually just random stuff mixed together), chicken, rice, and a salad.

Great value for great price

Inca Cola, only in Cusco :)

So far on our trip we haven’t done too many organized tours; we have enjoyed meandering through towns at our own pace and making our own explorations. With Cusco it’s been a completely different story, we have LOVED tours! There is so much history and archeology in Cusco and we have found that the best way to learn about it all is on a professional tour. We have been blessed to have had two amazing tour guides whose knowledge and insights about this city have been worth every cent. The Incas civilization was seriously AMAZING, smart, and extremely intelligent. 

The first place we went to: Qorikancha (meaning “Place surrounded by gold”)

Qorikancha was Incan temples whose protective surrounding walls were covered in gold. The  Incans were a very religious and symbolic civilization. The stones in these temples were perfectly cut, they sat on top of each other. The Incas had a strong interest in astrology and a lot of what they did had ties to the stars. They had a room and door dedicated to astrologist who would predict the seasons and the amount of rainfall, whether it was going to be a good season or bad. They also had a huge bowl in the middle of the court yard that would be filled with chicha, a fermented beverage, which they would give to Sun God as an offering. 

Unfortunately, when the Spaniards came and took over Cusco more than 70% of Qorikancaha got destroyed. The Spaniards just knocked down and built on top what the Incas had built. In the temple they also found a huge golden wall with symbols of their God and the things pertaining to life. They don’t know what happened to the huge slate of gold (people speculate that the Spaniards melted the gold down) so they have a smaller replica on display, unfortunately it’s not gold. 

Everything in the temples had meanings. For example, the shape to every door and window was trapezoidal meaning eternity. Everything was symbolic.

This temple was once filled with gold, this is a small replica of a wall of gold the Incas created to represent the creation of the world

This is the court yard; behind us is a huge well shaped cup which they would fill with wine for the gods. The colonial pillars were built by the Spaniards. Honestly, such a shame how they destroyed this once huge beautiful temple.

You can see where the temple walls were torn down and the Spaniards built on, sad.

Next place we went to was saxywoman which sounds like sexy women but we were reminded multiple times that that is NOT how you should pronounce it lol. Saxywoman is one of Cuscos biggest archeological parks and is known for its massive rocks used in building this city. Seriously, check these things out. How on earth did they move these, build with them, and make this beautiful place? Mind boggling. 

The third place we visited was the fountain of youth; supposedly if you wash your face in the water you were blessed with looking youthful for the rest of your life. Not only did I wash my face I practically dunked my head in the water to absorb as much of that magical stuff as possible. Youthful face here I come :)

Copacabana & Isla del Sol

There are so many beautiful cities and towns and this one makes my top 10. This Bolivian city is nestled between two hills and is perched right on the edge of Lake Titicaca, supposedly the highest navigable lake in the world. Copacabana was for centuries the site of religious pilgrimages, and today the pilgrims flock to fiestas – the locals LOVE to party. Today it’s a small tourist and fishing town with loads of fresh fish restaurants lining the water’s edge and a tourist agency on every corner.

We spent one night here before heading out to isla del sol (island of the sun).

Isla Del Sol

Isla Del Sol is the legendary Inca creation site and is the birthplace of the sun in Inca Mythology. It was here that the bearded white god Viracocha and the first Incas, Manco Capa and his sister-wife Mama Hucaca made their mystical appearances. Isla del Sol has a population of around 5,000 and is dotted with serveral villages around the island. There are three main sections of the island; the north, the middle, and the south. As a visitor you have to pay between 5-10 soles to enter each section of the island. 

On the north part of the island, where we got dropped off, is the site of the sacred rock where the Inca creation legend began. The ruins are incredible, there used to be a whole civilization living here.

On the north side of the island there is a city buried underwater just off the coast where divers have found many Inca artifacts including gold statues and figurines. They are still currently diving to uncover more artifacts and to learn more about the civilization that inhabited this island.

After the ruins we walked 3 hours along the ridgeline to Yumani, the southernmost village. There we found a beautiful hostel that had the most exquisite view of Lake Titicaca.  We spent the evening relaxing, eating mangos, and absorbing the atmosphere. 

This funny random sheep just chilling on the ridge line munching on some grass.

This hostel has one of the most beautiful views in the world!

Fresh mango's, can't get enough of the amazing fruit down here.

We enjoyed a candlelit dinner while watching the sun set, romantic ;)

Map of the islands