Our tour guide for the day, Tomas, took us to some incredibly picturesque places in between our scheduled stops for the day. Beginning a long tour with a few stops for pictures of the incredible views of the Andes mountains isn’t a bad way to go!
During our time in Peru, we have been incredibly lucky with the weather. No rain, lots of sun, no humidity and minimal clouds.
Our first official stop of the day took us to a little market where we were able to browse around, use the bathroom, take pictures of the donkeys and play with the llamas and alpacas.
After my last travel post, I gathered that a few of you are big-time alpaca fans, so I am a little too excited to share the picture below with you.
Best alpaca ever! For some reason that alpaca absolutely cracked all of us up. Since the alpaca’s eyes were completely covered in fur, it couldn’t see, so when you’d talk to it, the alpaca would just turn its head searching for the voice. It was adorable and hilarious and it is now my desktop background.
Next, Tomas took us to see Inca ruins that were quite impressive.
(Yes, Ryan and Ross are wearing the same shirt. They both packed the same shirt and when they realized this, they planned to wear it on the same days for the rest of the trip. They were quite a sight!)
At one point, Tomas asked our group to look around the area and locate the Inca graveyard. We all pointed to varying places, but no one guessed that the Inca burial site was in the mountain. In the picture below, you can see small holes where the Incas buried the dead.
They were buried in the fetal position, surrounded by treasures. The holes are there now because grave robbers learned that the bodies were buried with valuable possessions and robbed the graves, leaving only the holes remaining.
After spending some time at the ruins, we boarded the bus again and drove to my favorite stop of the day, Pisac Market, a local market that featured produce, meat, fish, jewelry, clothing and crafts. Though the crafty areas felt a bit touristy, the produce, meat and fish market seemed to attract many locals and I loved meandering around and looking at all of the amazing food.
The fruits and vegetables looked so succulent and fresh and I was dying to make a big bowl of the most fantastic fruit salad.
We walked around the market as Tomas pointed out fruits and vegetables that I’ve never seen in the United States before.
One vegetable that amused our group was a certain kind of potato that the Incas used to eat before they went off to battle.
Apparently it has the opposite effect of an aphrodisiac and made it easier for the Inca men to concentrate on fighting rather than foxy ladies.
The market also included lots of jewelry, clothing and crafts. I bought three little bracelets for $5.
Following our time at the market, we drove into Urubamba for lunch before we were off to Ollantaytambo Temple to climb some stairs!
Thankfully we had a 30-minute drive to digest before we arrived and started climbing.
The 200 stairs took us up to the top of the unfinished Temple of the Sun. (It was unfinished because the Spaniards arrived when the Incas were in the middle of constructing the temple.)
The Temple of the Sun is considered a masterpiece of Inca stonework and the views from the top were breathtaking.
And windy!
In the picture above, if you look above Ross’s head and slightly to the left, you can see the Cachicata quarry where the Incas found the rocks they used to construct the temple. They dragged boulders weighing up to 52 tons down the mountain, across the Rio Urubamba (the river that eventually becomes the Amazon) and up a steep ramp. Talk about impressive!
We spent a little less than an hour at the Ollantaytambo Temple before it was time to say goodbye to Tomas and our tour group. We had a train to catch!
The 90-minute train ride took us to Aguas Calientes where we ate an amazing dinner before falling into bed for a good night’s sleep.
At dinner we all made sure to try pisco sour, a liquor we heard a lot about from locals.
The drinks with three colors (my drink and my mom’s drink) featured a layering of flavors and included pisco sour. Those drinks were intense!
After dinner, we all headed to bed because we knew we needed rest since we had plans to head to Machu Picchu before 6 a.m. the following day.
Machu Picchu recap to come!
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Fun! I’ve had pisco before-pisco is the actual name of the liquor, and sour just refers to the way you can mix it into a drink.
I was just writing to say this! My husband is Peruvian, these were our “specialty” drinks at our wedding! So delicious 🙂
Love these pics! I’m so excited to hear more! Machu Picchu is definitely on my bucket list!
Ahh I love Pisco sours! You absolutely have one when you go to Peru. Did you eat guinea pig?
please, please, please stop blogging on your vacation – relax and enjoy the damn places you’re going to instead of taking “blog pics” and taking mental notes while you’re visiting different places. we can hear about it when you get back.
LOVE the alpaca! He’s hilarious!
Also, all of these views are so gorgeous. I have serious travel envy right now. Machu Picchu is one of the places I’ve always wanted to go, so I’m looking forward to your next post!
Those are the most amazing pictures!!
Love the alpaca 🙂
Wow, looks like an amazing trip so far! I can’t believe they actually robbed people in their graves, how awful. The tour sounds like its very informative though and such beautiful scenery!!
Those pictures came out gorgeous with the mountains in the back. That alpaca is so funny looking!!
OMG that alpaca is amazing!There is an alpaca farm right behind my parents’ house, but none of them look that awesome! They make strange noises at night, though.
yay for pictures! thanks for posting!
your pictures came out amazing!! I love going to markets in different countries, they always have such unique things there.
Your trip looks INCREDIBLE. You mentioned that your hubby has flight anxiety– I’d love to hear how he manages it because I want to go to all these places, but I’m terrified to fly!!
Wow it looks stunning there!!
What a beautiful trip. It sounds like such a great experience, I love travelling to different places and experiencing how truly unique every place really is.
The pictures are stunning! Looks like such a great vacation and adventure! I would love to visit there someday.
Aww, that alpaca picture is hilarious!! I feel bad for it since it cannot see! 🙁
Reminds me of an alpaca picture I saw on Pinterest… “Wanna go on a picnic? Alpaca lunch” cracks me up EVERY time!
That alpaca is amazing!!!!! The cutest little thing I’ve ever seen. Ryan and Ross’ shirts are hilarious… glad to see you’re having such a great time with your family! What an incredible trip!
I LOVE pisco sours! So glad your trip turned out well. I have spent a lot of time volunteering in rural areas of Peru in the North of the country and love it there!
I would love to go exploring there! The pictures are fantastic!
This looks so awesome!!! I want to go! Looks like you had a great time!
This looks amazing!! Mark and I went to Mayan ruins on our honeymoon that were amazing, but Peru has been on my dream vacation list for forever!
Great photos! What kind of camera do you use?
Wow your picks are amazing and you really are striking lucky with the weather. I love markets when I’m away you so should have picked up a bundle of fresh fruit it looks gorgeous!
Where did you get that cute red sweatshirt you’re wearing?? It looks like a cowl neck sweatshirt of some sort. Adorable!!
Julie- Did your family use a tour or travel agency to plan this trip to Ecuador, Peru and Galapagos? Can you share the name of tour? Were airlines included in cost? This would be an excellent trip to propose to my family!!
Wow, it’s absolutely beautiful there. What a fun day – so much history, too.
I think that it’s SUPER cute that Ryan and Ross plan to wear the shirt on the same days for the rest of the trip!! It’s not something that just any two guys would do together. lol They sound like they get along great!
Super amazing! I am so jealous right now!!! Love the pictures, love the boys wearing the same shirts, love that you are having such an incredible trip with your family and love the “hippie” alpaca! Can’t wait to read more about your trip.
What a wonderful excursion! I just returned after studying abroad in Costa Rica and Nicaragua. A lot of the mountainous vistas look quite familiar. I already miss it- so savor your vacation down there! Also- Just curious- have you had any interesting moments of “culture shock” or challenges with the language? I know this was true for me throughout my stay, but now it seems that coming back to the United States has been even more of a culture shock! 🙂 Buen Viaje!
Pisco sours YUM! Your trip looks SO amazing! I bet you loved the bazaar so much fun to see handmade stuff! Sending you more exciting adventures! Love + Shine CourtStar
lol the alpaca is hilarious!! how does it see?!?
Oooh, I love markets — especially in other countries! It’s so fun to look through all of the merchandise!
Looks like you’ve had a great time so far!
OMG what a fun trip!! These pictures are GORGEOUS and that windy picture of you and Lesley is one for the frame! So cute 🙂
That alpaca is hilarious!!
Looks like an awesome trip. What beautiful landscape. Great Alpaca, why didn’t someone give it a trim?
Seriously, what a once in a lifetime trip! And whenever I think of South America I always think of alpacas! Okay, llamas, but close.
Hm, alpacas and fresh fruit. I gotta get to Peru! 😉
These pictures are gorgeous! I laughed out loud at the alpaca. Love it.
Looks like you guys are having a blast! Your pictures from this trip look exceptionally great, did you get a new camera? Could you tell us more about what you’ve been using? The photos are so crisp and clear and professional looking. I’m in the market for a new “adult’ camera and would love to know what you’re using.
Thanks so much for this post! I gotta be honest…I usually skim past guest posts, but I really enjoyed this one. My husband and I are planning to try to have a baby in the next year or so, so I’m always wondering how being pregnant will affect my activity level. Looking forward to reading more from Jess over on her blog!
….oops … meant this for the previos post! haha
That alpaca is too cute and so fluffy!
Those pisci sours looked good. Glad you guys are having such a great time and having good weather.
Peru is wonderful. I love Pisco Sours!
L love your pictures, really cute.I’m so glad you came to Peru, I’m from Peru! Hope you’re loving it here! Some of the fruits we have that the US doesn’t are lucuma, maracuya, sauco, chirimoya, camu camu, aguaymanto, carambola and aguaje. Try lucuma ice cream it’s deliicious(my favorite :))!
wowww those are some beautifully scenic locations!!! It looks glorious. And omgshhhh that alpaca and llama are killing me–they’re so cute and funny looking! 😛
It is so beautiful there! I’d love to take a trip down there – definitely on my ‘bucket list’. 🙂
What glorious landscapes! Whoever did the pics (I assume your dad), they are amazing! It really changes the look to the whole trip! Now I want a new camera 🙂
Btw, congrats for discovering Piscos, our Peruvian friends introdouced us to them 3 years ago and I must say that they belong to top 5 of my favorite coctails!
Oh my gosh, it’s so beautiful there! Love the alpaca!!
Happy Birthday on Saturday Julie!!!!
Wow, all of these pictures are beautiful!