Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Hike til you drop in the Sacred Valley











After a well deserved rest, we decided to trash our legs some more by seeing the ruins along the Sacred Valley. The stay in Ollantaytambo was short lived. After a quick breakfast, including shitty coffee, we hiked all around the ruins outside the city. It was nice and relaxed like all sight seeing tours should be. We then jumped on a collectivo for a short ride to Urubamba. Jane had this great plan to hike to the surrounding locations to check out the salinas and ruins the next day. I knew the next day was going to be long, but I didn´t think my body would hurt as bad as it did. It turns out that our route was nearly uphill the entire way. In all, I think we covered over 20 K! The salinas was the highlight of the hike. Moray was impressive as well, bit I was just too tired to appreciate the immense size of the place. Thank god we would have one chill out day in Cusco before heading to Huaraz.

Most tour companies travel the entire sacred valley in one day. I think the way we did it over two was the best way to see everything. The folks doing the one day tour always look like cattle being herded from one place to another without any time to relax and enjoy the view. Jane and I are looking forward to our last trek in the Cordilleras. The Santas Cruz trek is going to be four days. With a couple days rest, I should be good to go!

1 comment:

Darrell said...

So far I've liked the snow stories better. It sounds like I'd have liked Europe better, but could afford S.America.