Peru_2025 - Sacred Valley Tour

In the Footsteps of the Incas

Today, we were able to sleep in until 05:00, and we started the Sacred Valley Tour in the old town of Cusco at 06:30. Stop No. 1 was in Chinchero. There, we learned a lot about the architecture and agriculture of the Incas. Among other things, we learned that a large number of potatoes are grown, with over 2,000 different varieties existing in Peru. The second stop included a very illustrative and entertaining demonstration of how alpaca wool is cleaned (with a root), dyed (for example, with various plants), and processed further. Of course, there was also the opportunity to purchase all the products right there. We continued to our third stop at the salt mine of Maras, with a later stop at a shop (what a surprise). The next stop was in Moray, which was very impressive. There, we saw round terraced fields where the Incas “experimented” with agriculture and tried to alter genetics (what can grow where). Afterward, we had lunch at the Fresh Temple and continued on to our last stop on this tour in Ollantaytambo. Here, too, one could be amazed at what the Incas built and created and what they had in mind. We exchanged the last stop of the tour in Pisaq for the trip from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes/Machu Picchu. In the afternoon, we took the train to Aguas Calientes. Fortunately, we were able to change our later train for USD 13.00 per person to an earlier one, so we didn’t have to kill almost three hours in Ollantaytambo. The boarding of the train was a spectacle in itself. You were escorted by letter girls from the waiting area to the platform and to the assigned carriage.