The Sacred Valley

We have started to feel a lot more comfortable getting around Cusco! We have been spending time at the local markets shopping...lots of shopping! We found an awesome painting at one of the shops and we are planning on buying it soon, we hope it makes it back to the states in one piece!

We booked our trip to Machu Picchu!!!! We are doing the Salkantay trek which is a 4 nights 5 day hike over the mountains and into the jungle and then ending at Machu Picchu! We could not be more excited! We stay in tents along the way and get to enjoy some of the hot springs, or "hoota springas" as Henry the trip coordinator would say, that are in the jungle! Nick and I both have been using our International Student ID cards and are amazed at the discounts we are getting. The entire trek is only 150$, and we have heard really good things from some of our housemates that did it. Don't worry Mom and Dad.. this trip is legit.
We have also planned a trip to Volunteer in the jungle for a week!!

Some of our housemates took us out to a music bar called 7 Angelitos and we listened to a raggae cover band and danced all night!


Our first big adventure was out to the Sacred Valley. We found a guy that would take us to the different places we wanted to see for a good price.. so we hopping in his van and off we went! We cruised through the outskirts of Cusco and towards the mountains. The landscape is incredible.

We went to Moray to visit the terraced amphitheater that is really hard to explain so hopefully the pictures will help you understand. It was crazy, as we walked down it just got hotter and hotter! The steps, if you can see in the picture, were like stones jutting out from the different layered walls.

Next, we went to Salineras.This was one of the coolest things either of us have ever seen. First of all the drive there was like a dance with death. We thought we were going to die like 40 times. Our driver, who must not be afraid of dying, was cruising a long the edge of this cliff which was only wide enough for one car and it was winding down to the valley. When another car was coming from the opposite direction you would have to stop and basically inch your way past each other hoping that you wouldn't hit the rock cliff on the one side or fall hundreds of feet on the other side. Anyways, what we came there to see was the salt platforms! There are hundreds of these platforms lining the bottom of the valley and they are all used for collecting salt! There is a river or spring that flows down from the mountain that is salt water (we tried to ask why this happened.. but there was some misunderstanding and he told us it was not sugar and that it was salt... which we knew) We walked around the salt platforms for 45 minutes amazed and confused! It's just something you have see.. and hopefully the pictures help!

After leaving Salineras, we were ready for our driver to take us back to Cusco, or so we thought. He stopped outside of Moray at a bus stop and told us the previously negotiated price did not include the return to Cusco. Since the driver did not speak English, I made sure multiple times while negotiating that the price included the return trip to Cusco. Now he was asking we pay another 50soles (17 dollars) to get back home... Although this doesn't seem like much, it was a matter of him trying to rip us off. So we initially agreed, as he picked up 2 guys from France to the nearby town of Urubamba, which is a popular byway for buses. On our way there we decided to just pay him what we negotiated before and take the bus home. I (Nick) wasn't too happy and did my best to tell him we didn't appreciate what he was doing, in spanish. So we hopped on a bus, with our pride intact, and had a lovely busride for 90 minutes back to Cusco for only 3 soles (1 dollar!)

Lesson learned.

We have our orientation tomorrow for our project! exciting! :)

We hope all is well back home and feel free to comment on our posts, we would love to hear from you! xoxo

All the best,
Nick and Christine