After breakfast, we went out to the first set of ruins: the unfinished Temple of the Sun. In this area are also old living quarters. We're still not sure why these people chose to live on the side of a mountain when there was a perfectly good valley right there. I'm sure there was a reason. Anyway, there is a path that connects the two sections, but it was closed off. And there was some kind of celebration or ceremony, so we could not get to the other side from the bottom either. But it was kind of cool seeing all the people in their Inca wear. There was a parade, but we were on top at the temple, do we didn't get a great view. Still, really beautiful here, awesome walking where the Incans were, and yes, a challenging climb, but worth it!
We ate lunch at a great little restaurant called Heart's Cafe, which is also part of a larger nonprofit called Living Heart. It was started by a 76 year old woman from the UK who moved to Peru and fell in love with the people of Sacred Valley. It provides many services, including preschool education for children of the area (a service previously not available), an orphan home for abandoned children, education and training for organic farming and greenhouses, medical care particularly for women (including education on sexual health and available contraceptives), and much more. It's a pretty rad thing. The whole thing is really about empowering the people to bring them out of poverty.
Also, the alpaca burger was delicious.
We rested for a bit after our big climb before moving on to the other ruins. During our little break, the parade came right past our hostel, so I got a quick shot of them in their garb, playing music, dancing down the street.
We then made our way over to Pinkuylluna, which is also right on town. Again, up a mountain, so lots of stairs and climbing. We first went to the left toward the house looking stones. The "easy" path went only so far, and then it got pretty nuts. And I didn't want to climb back down that rocky slanted thing. Not today. Still a cool climb.
We then took the path to the right toward the larger ruins. Lots and lots of steps, but it was kind of fun cruising up a mountain face. Those Incans were insane fit. This area is where they stored their food, but the other mountain is where they lived. That's right, across the valley, one side is home, the other is the pantry. The reason really is temperature. There is more wind on the food mountain, so it stays cooler. In contrast, the other mountain stays a bit warmer. Anyway, awesome being up there! There really are no words. It's just awesome. Everything about it: how they built it, how they used it every day, the fact that it's still here. Awesome.
We walked a bit through town, then noticed a game on. So we sat and watched the intense ending of the Greece - Costa Rica game. Go Costa Rica! Great keeper, that one.
We hung out for a bit before heading out to a bar that our guide book said is a must visit. Ganso. They are right. Very interesting interior, and the pizza was good, too. Also, we made a little friend there. She was so cute!
I'll say it again, Ollanta is a must stop on your journey through Sacred Valley. But you can probably guess what is coming up. More fun to come!
