Machu Picchu - part four - The Sacred Valley

Near Cuzco is the Sacred Valley where we spent a day, it is full of history and most interesting. Here we actually did some 'real' walking.

Here I am resting after a very hairy ascent...I don´t have a head for heights! The tiny white dots behind me along the road in the valley are houses.

 Some colourful local ladies in Pisaq.

 A typical home in Ollantaytambo.

A look inside. The guinea pigs running about underfoot are food, not pets, rather like free-range chickens I suppose. Although I hadn´t become a vegetarian at that time, this was a step too far for me and I never tried eating one despite their appearing on restaurant menus several times. I must admit I tried llama steak once but even that made me uncomfortable.

Finally the time arrived for us to start the Inca Trail. Not all the group were going, some had decided it would be too strenuous and demanding and were happy to continue sightseeing in the local area, then meeting up in Machu Picchu after four days. We went by coach to the trail-head and met our porters and local guide. Everything is strictly controlled nowadays and you each need a permit and go through check points, the group has to be escorted and the porters' burdens are weighed as they are not allowed to carry more than twenty kilos each. In earlier unregulated times they had been overloaded and overworked. We each had a small day-pack and had been allowed to take two kilos of clothes etc to be carried for us. The rest of our things stayed at the hotel for later transportation. Since you have to camp you need a fair number of porters as they have to carry tents, sleeping bags, our loads, all the food and cooking equipment, a gas cylinder (!), table and chairs etc. For six of us we had about ten, I think. They never stood still long enough to be counted. 

These men worked exceedingly hard. We´d be served breakfast and then set off walking, they´d break camp, overtake us at a jog on the trail,  prepare and serve lunch in a tent, break camp and overtake us again to prepare our camp for the night and feed us. When we staggered in we were always received with a bowl of warm water and a towel to freshen ourselves up! They were amazing.

Part of our intrepid group. I´m in the middle.

To be continued...