11-16-21 – Trip to Cusco and Drive to the Sacred Valley of the Incas

We were up extremely early to catch our ride to the airport.  The drive took us directly through Lima and, as it was a Monday morning, the traffic was rather bad.  However, we made it in plenty of time for our flight.

Upon arrival we were met by our guide, Margot, and we piled all of our luggage into our tour vehicle and headed off through Cusco. We did stop for lunch as it was early afternoon. 

Then it was off through the countryside.  We saw a lot of roadside stands set up along the road.

We also had great views of the mountains.

And some interesting small buildings with great mountain backdrops.

And there were a few alpacas tied up by the side of the road…what a treat.

We stopped at a lookout that gave us great views of the Sacred Valley. 

There were also people there with their goods for sale.  So we checked them out and found a cute, warm hat to buy.

High on some of the hills you could see long buildings on what appeared to be terraces.  These buildings actually date from the Inca’s and were used to store food.  They appear to be in pretty good shape.

Our hotel for the next few nights is the Aranwai…and it is beautiful with lush grounds, pools, a chapel and many other amenities…none of which we will likely be able to enjoy as we will be sightseeing most of the time we are here.