Friday 26 January
We woke up to the news that the riots up at Machu Picchu had escalated and that Perurail had suspended all trains to Aguas Calientes. Our guide was hopeful that by afternoon things would be back to normal so we continued our tour of the Sacred Valley as planned. The Andes are amazing mountains.
The sacred valley is beautiful even if the towns are very shabby.
We visited the Inca settlement of Pisac.
We drove through Lamay; this town specialises cuy (guinea pig) restaurants.
Maras Salt Mine has been operating since Inca times.
The Inca ruins at Ollantaytambo are amazing. How they managed to transport such huge rocks across the valley and up the mountain is incredible.
We crossed the picket line to enter the deserted station - did you see us on the news?- for our lunch at El Alberge restaurant on the platform.
No train service today so we checked into Hotel Pakaritampu in case the trains would run in the morning but by 6pm we heard no trains would run on Saturday.
So we wouldn't see Machu Picchu. We didn't feel that disappointed. We aren't tick box tourists. We're having a good time, meeting great people, eating good food, learning so much. And we can come again! Neil had already decided he'd like to come back to Peru on a self-drive trip including the south, the Amazon and the wine/pisco region. You'd better put your hands up quickly if you'd like to join us...
So we wouldn't see Machu Picchu. We didn't feel that disappointed. We aren't tick box tourists. We're having a good time, meeting great people, eating good food, learning so much. And we can come again! Neil had already decided he'd like to come back to Peru on a self-drive trip including the south, the Amazon and the wine/pisco region. You'd better put your hands up quickly if you'd like to join us...
The culinary adventure continues...Chicha Morada is a red cooldrink made from black corn. Inca Cola is as popular as Coca Cola here.
Quinoa - yellow, red or black- is delicious.
Chicha is a fresh, fermented beer made from giant yellow corn.I liked the version flavoured with strawberry.
We tried Alpaca Skewers- tender meat something like veal.
