Maria’s Andean Adventure-Day 1: Camelid Center, Pisac Market, and Inca Trail Section
Camelid Center, Pisac Market, and Inca Trail Section
Maria Price is Andean Discovery’s Program Manager. Over the next few days she will be travelling to some of our destinations experiencing our tours first-hand. Follow our blog to keep updated on her day to day adventures!
This morning was my first full day in South America. It was an early start; our group departed Lima at 7:45am for the flight to Cusco. We met our Andean Discovery guide, Celinda, and our driver, Wilbert, and began our journey through the city of Cusco and towards the Sacred Valley. Surrounding our vehicle the whole time were giant Andean peaks. The colors and shadows of the mountains made for incredible scenery during our drive.
We were able to stop along the mountain road to take pictures of some scenic views, and along the way Celinda shared knowledge about Cusco and the surrounding areas. The highest point on our drive was 12,500 feet.
Fun fact I learned today: There were decorations above almost every household we passed. They looked similar to a coat of arms. Celinda explained that these took a few different forms, but they were usually in the form of a cross, with two livestock animals such as cattle on either side of the cross. This was meant to bring prosperity to the household.
During the morning hours, we visited a camelid center, where Celinda gave us information about the different types of camelids in the Andean region (llamas, alpacas, vicunas, and guanacos. We were able to get up close to lots of friendly camelids, and we were also able to see the wools hanging up, both natural colors and dyed versions.
Our group stopped for lunch in the city of Pisac, where we had our first group meal at Cuchara de Palo. The food was fresh, healthy, and delicious. At this point, I was definitely starting to feel the altitude, which came in the form of a slightly dizzy feeling. It was nothing extreme, but it definitely made slight exercise (walking, hiking) feel much more vigorous.
We perused the market at Pisac, where locals sold handcrafted items, but shortly had to be on our way to fit in a small hike on a section of the Inca Trail. Celinda pointed out the Incan ruins as we went.
I had to stop and catch my breath a little in the afternoon, as I was still feeling pretty dizzy, but the moderate hike definitely felt good after a few long flights yesterday.
It was a little over an hour drive before we arrived at our gorgeous hotel for the night, Sol y Luna in the Urubamba region. The hotel was situated in a beautiful garden, again with a stunning view of the mountains in the background. Waiting in our rooms for us were several amenities, including local fresh fruit.
All of us were pretty tired after today, still recovering from traveling and getting used to the altitude. We called it an early night, getting ready for the Clean Stove Project tomorrow.
