After four nights in the Sacred Valley, this morning we packed up and left for the city of Cusco. We had a few stops on the way however.
This time we were heading out of the Sacred Valley a different way than where we have been traveling all week. Our first stop was the town of Pisaq and the Pisac Market. This was an open air market set up in town. There are some things I won’t tell you about our trip and one of the specifics of the market will remain a mystery until you go on this adventure yourself! We had about 1 ½ hours to shop. Many of the goods were the same from one vendor to the next so you really had to just find the exact one you wanted. There were scarves, sweaters and throws made from alpaca wool, some musical instruments, and other knick knacks.
I have a difficult time at these kinds of markets because I don’t negotiate on these things well. I was able to pick up a few gifts for friends and my husband while here. I found a mandolin like instrument to get for my husband. The vendors would prefer cash, but they also will work with some of the shops around to take credit cards. Be prepared though when using a credit card, there will be some sort of “service fee” from the shop. Even with the service fee, I felt like I got a good price so it was all good.
We left Pisac Market and went up into the hills. We reached 11,000 feet and stopped at a farm with llamas, alpacas and vicunas. We found out the difference between the llama and alpacas. Basically, if they have a face like a camel’s, it is a llama. If their face looks more like a sheep, they are alpacas. I was warned by a friend to watch out because they spit. I made sure I got a picture of myself with an alpaca just for him. One of the guys in our group though did experience the spitting! Though the alpaca did miss him, it was funny!.
We were given some time to shop here. There were some beautiful sweaters, hats and other various goods in the shop. I wasn’t in the market for alpaca wool though so I just sat out in the beautiful weather while we waited for others.
After this, we drove over the mountain range and then down into the city of Cusco. We drove by the ruins we would tour tomorrow and then into the center of town. The town square was beautiful! We made our way over to a restaurant for a buffet lunch with some local dishes. This was another very good meal.
From here we did a walking tour of the town square and some areas adjacent. We ended the tour at our home for the next two nights. We had a little time to rest then had a site tour of another hotel in the area that Disney has used before. We then walked to another restaurant for dinner.
While this day seemed much more relaxed and less active than other days this week, it really was quite busy looking back! We have a couple days left of our adventure. Tomorrow will have much more free time than we have had all week. We will tour ruins in the morning with an optional walk back to town. The afternoon is ours then we will meet for our final dinner in the mountains.
