Moray and The Salt Flats (Maras)

About Moray (info anyway). Moray was a bit of a pain in the ass to get to. We took a bus almost to Urubamba, got off at this little dirt road where a taxi (thankfully called by the bus company) was waiting. 4 of us got into the taxi and we sped off over maybe the worst dirt roads I've been on since I got to Peru. A half hour later, we arrived at Moray. Now, Moray is a really cool ruin site in photographs (and also in theory, the Incas knew their shit when it came to plant cultivation). However, in reality, it was a lot of stone stairs down into the basin (each about a foot drop from the one above it) and you get there and you're like "Cool, I'm here, lets take a few pictures and go." And then when you're ready to go you have to climb allllll those stairs (and then a hill) back out of the basin. So you've seriously earned your pictures once you've made it back to the top.













Crazy Beautiful Sacred Mountain


Las Salinas de Maras (the salt flats) are currently tied with the desert around Ica as my favorite places in Peru.





It was another 20min from Moray to get there, past some GORGEOUS snow capped mountains, over more awful roads. However, once we were there, it was totally worth it. Took us about 3.5 hours to hike through the flats (so amazing and awesome), down the mountain, across a river and a few fields, to get back to the paved road so we could catch a combvie back to Urubamba. Picked up some beautiful salt crystals on the way.





















Found some snail shells on our way down the mountain, after the flats... The first ones we saw were hanging off a bunch of spines on a cactus, and then we began seeing them all over the ground! So we picked up a bunch, because, well, how curious?



Almost got trampled by a cow on the way to the road and were chased by some chickens. Very good adventure.

Pisac

About Pisac! So Pisac is one of the Inca ruins sites. Was a crossroads location on the Inca trail, as well as a burial site. And Atticus & I hiked it in the rain!

Sacred Valley mountains.


Urubamba river & river valley.


Market in Pisac


500 year old Colonial oven! we bought a half a chicken & left it to roast here while we went hiking! Mmmmm delicious (the kitties there agreed)






Pisac Ruins!

Ollantaytambo

I love wikipedia, it's like instant encyclopedia.... About Ollantaytambo!

At the base of the ruins...


The city of Ollantaytambo, in the Urubamba River Valley


Finally reached the top and now it's time to chill....


Standing in front of the 90 ton sun stones, hauled 8 miles over a mountain....


Ruins as we hiked around the mountain.


Canals that run through the entire city, still working.


The ruins once we got back to the bottom