Ollantaytambo and magical horse trail through the sacred valley

Russell and I decided to go to the ancient ruins at Ollantaytambo for a day. Its about an hour's drive from Cusco. On the way there, seeing the magnificent mountains and beautiful valley, (not to mention the quiet after the bustle of Cusco!) we spontaneously decided to stay over. We walked around, found ourselves a cheap room for the night (with a view that a king would envy) and explored the town and the ruins.

The view from our room

The famous face of (I think it's supposed to be) Viracocha

A very unimpressed Elsje

Initially we were put off by the sheer volume of tourists at the site. We discovered, however, that the more effort it takes to explore a place, the less people there are. And so we walked and puffed to all the nooks and crannies that we could find and had quite a unique experience of the site.

The next day, we decided to do a full day horse back trail through the sacred valley and over parts of the Andes. An absolutely MAGICAL experience! We did not see a single tourist. It was just us, the horses and our guide. We went on dangerous little mountain paths which made my stomach clench, but the views were spectacular. We saw the salt mines of Maras, the ruins of Moray and South America at its most rural. Our behinds were so sore afterwards that we couldn't sit down! But we both agree that it was an experience unrivaled by any other and was absolutely worth it.

Next adventure....Inka trail! We should arrive at Machu Picchu on Thursday. As far as we know the spot where we are staying has internet, so will update as soon as we can!