Chinchero

Here is an interesting thing that we did not know before we got here - you cannot take suitcases with you on any of the trains that go to Machu Picchu. In particular, you can't bring more than 5 KG (11 pounds) with you per person

We didn't know that before we got down here, but learned about it when we picked up our tickets from the PeruRail people. We were not very happy. Most people won't have a problem with that because they usually go back to Cuzco from Machu Picchu, and you just leave your luggage at the hotel.

But we were going to a different hotel, in Urubamba, so we had to figure out a way to get out luggage there. 

The Sacred Valley has many sites to visit, and Urubama is IN the Sacred Valley, so we decided to make a day of it. We hired a car, and he drove us to Chinchero, Moray, the Salt Pans, Urubamba, and then Pisca to round out the day.

This is about Chinchero, a little site not that far from Cuzco.

It was on this drive that we first saw snow on the mountains:

It was very pretty:

We had a good view of it all around. We have had generally good weather here, and this day was no exception.

Here are more of the little bulls (toritos) that you see on many of the houses:

Chinchero is a pretty small, but interesting site. They have many terraces, and the church (a sweet, small church) is built on Inca ruins

They were drying potatoes in the sun:

These are blue:

  These look like our potatoes:

The terraces went on a ways:

And you could see old terraces across the valley

This is the church I mentioned above

and the ladies spreading out their potatoes to dry:

 A couple more views of the mountains

That is the Urubamba river below

The Andes:

And me!

I will write about the other sites as well.