We had booked three spots on a Sacred Valley tour, but Molly had some stomach issues so opted to stay home, and it turned out no one else had booked for that day, so we had a tour to ourselves! Sonia, our guide, was knowledgeable and genial, and we can wholeheartedly endorse Cusi Travel who in no way paid us to say this. Really! They didn't! 

We stopped at an animal sanctuary, three Inca sites, and a woman's textile cooperative on our full day tour, and couldn't possibly convey it all here, but we will try. It's worth explicitly stating what should be put on the banner head of this blog: all facts are as best as we can remember, sometimes supplemented with minimal research on the internet, apologies for any historical or general fact inaccuracies. 

Animal Sanctuary: 

From spectacled bears rescued from being sold oversees, to coati saved from the coffee trade, to an Andean goose with nothing wrong with her that just found the sanctuary and liked the free food, most of the animals here had a story. Many of them were animals that you would only see in the jungle (and even then they would do their best to avoid you), and we were lucky to see the efforts to rehabilitate these animals where they could. I especially liked that for each animal Benjamin showed us, he said how long until they expected to release it or if they couldn't (if it was too injured to survive in the wild, if it was over conditioned to humans, or if it just kept coming back to the sanctuary like Bambi the Andean deer). 

Pisac:

An Inca settlement that was built close to the jungle to exert influence over conquered jungle lands, it is best known for its beautiful terraces today. Here, Sonia told us more about the function of these terraces in farming, and why they extend most of the height of the mountain. When couples were married they were given land by the local government that was only theirs, not for their children to inherit, and was parceled as a vertical slice of the mountain. The warmer, lower terraces could be used for corn, quinoa, and other cereals, while the upper are more ideal for potatoes. Pisac also 

Ollantaytambo:

With it's name coming from "tambo" from "tampu" meaning resting place, and "Ollanta" the Incan general who was in love with the daughter of Pachacuteq's (the most important Inca ruler who started the expansion of the Inca empire). Their forbidden love prompted a small civil war (that we would have learned about in the play on the train to Machu Picchu if we spoke more Spanish!). Ollantaytambo is built in shape of llama, with the head of the llama containing the sun temple (so deduced by the impressive stonework, alignment, and stone decorations). 

- protuberances left on rocks for all sun temples - scholars disagree why this is. some think that shadow cast or shape has astrological significance, others think just used to move the stones

An interesting feature of this site was it contained both pre Inca walls as well as Inca walls. This allowed direct comparison of the rustic Incan walls with the pre-Incan walls (there was no comparison with the fancier Incan walls). While both had similar structure, the Incan walls were all made from a single type of stone. Among the many lines we place in space and time to divide ourselves from our fellow humans, this difference struck me for how important it was to them then, and how insignificant it is to us now. 

Chinchero:

Chinchero was a temple of much significance and nearby to Cusco, so of course Spanish completely destroyed and put a church on top of it. The imagery in said church shows the melding of Inca and Catholic beliefs (praying to Jesus, but at traditional offering places in mountains). Even today, many Cusquenos have a blend of Catholic religion and Inca traditions in their life. 

Women's textile cooperative:

Our final stop featured a interesting short demonstration of some of the textile techniques that have been used for generations in the Sacred Valley. It focused on the colors (likely because it is the most exciting). The Inca had many options for adding colors to their clothes that are still in use today: blues, pinks, greens from local plants, blacks and purples from corn, and variations of red from beetles that live on cactuses. They achieved deep red alone by crushing the beetles, lighter red/orange by adding lime juice, and a light purple,  by rubbing what looked like quartz on the beetle paste.