The Sacred Valley, Peru

After visiting Cusco, don't rush to Aguas Calientes, the base for visiting Macchu Picchu, because you'll miss the Secret Valley, the magic place for exploring and understanding the life of one of the world's oldest empires.

You'll be amazed by the beauty of the Secret Valley that offers a tremendous variety of things to see: archeological sites, historical villages, impressive deep agriculture terraces, markets, majestic mountains and Inca citadels.

Even if there are a lot of agencies who offer one-day tours from Cusco with 2 or 3 stops at some of these attractions, I suggest you visit Sacred Valley on your own by local bus, mini van or taxi (you can hire a guide in the market area for S/.20) and spend as much time as you need to see them. I took an organized trip to Pisac, Ollantaytambo and Chinchero and other one to Maras, Moray and Salinas and in both cases I did not have enough time to enjoy the sites. All the organized tours are normally from 10am to 4pm and you stop one hour for lunch, so you get to spend less than an hour at every stop on the excursion list. Trust me, this was not enough!

The impressive archeological site and the agricultural terraces at Pisac offer a good glimpse of what was a long time ago a skillful civilization. It was the first place were I saw the agricultural terraces built by Inca. They used them to cultivate various types of vegetables such as corn, quinoa and potatoes, and they constructed all these terraces at a certain height one from another so there would be a large temperature difference from the bottom to the top. That way, they discovered exactly where to grow the vegetables, according to its needs. The best part is that the terraces are still used nowadays! 

In Ollantaytambo, spend some time, at first, to visit the old town who is known to have some of the oldest continuously inhabited dwellings in South America and then go see the archeological site. Ollantaytambo is the place where the Incas retreated after the Spanish occupied Cusco, and later on, the place where the Spanish conquistadors lost a major battle.

To be continued...