With a guide we set off on a quad bike adventure through the stunnngly beautiful Sacred Valley or Urubamba Valley, located between Cusco and Machu Picchu.
Our day trip took us through Moray and Moras.
"The Sacred Valley of the Incas (Spanish: Valle Sagrado de los Incas; Quechua: Willka Qhichwa) or the Urubamba Valley is a valley in the Andes of Peru, 20 kilometres (12 mi) at its closest north of the Inca capital of Cusco. It is located in the present-day Peruvian region of Cusco. In colonial documents it was referred to as the "Valley of Yucay." The Sacred Valley was incorporated slowly into the incipient Inca Empire during the period from 1000 to 1400 CE.[1]." Wikipedia
Lunch break with our friends.
Delicious and hearty Peruvian potato and quinoa soup.
Workers harvesting salt from their family ponds.
Our friend Sandi. Sadly Duane wasn't well enough to join us for the day.
On the road again.
Typical mamitas in the small town of Moras.
Through the streets of Moras.
Locals
The end of a long day.
We passed throug small villages along the way.
Tiobamba at Maras was apparently the first Catholic Church built in the sacred valley. Now it is abandoned as there isn't enough water to support the former population.
Although not used as a church it is evidently well maintained as a historical site.
Alex the biker.
Traveling through such a large and spectacular landscape felt amazing.
Lunch break with our friends.
Delicious and hearty Peruvian potato and quinoa soup.
Another fascinating and awesome site was the Maras Salt Ponds where the locals still work to extract salt.
"Since pre-Inca times, salt has been obtained in Maras by evaporating salty water from a local subterranean stream. The highly salty water emerges at a spring, a natural outlet of the underground stream. The flow is directed into an intricate system of tiny channels constructed so that the water runs gradually down onto the several hundred ancient terraced ponds. Almost all the ponds are less than four meters square in area, and none exceeds thirty centimetres in depth. All are necessarily shaped into polygons with the flow of water carefully controlled and monitored by the workers. The altitude of the ponds slowly decreases, so that the water may flow through the myriad branches of the water-supply channels and be introduced slowly through a notch in one sidewall of each pond." Wikipedia
Workers harvesting salt from their family ponds.
Our friend Sandi. Sadly Duane wasn't well enough to join us for the day.
A channel directs the salty water to each pond.
As the sun evaporates the water, salt crystals form ready for harvesting.
Two of our traveling companions, Loraine and Scott from Washington State.
On the road again.
Typical mamitas in the small town of Moras.
Through the streets of Moras.
Moray (Agricultural terraces)
"Datinag to the late 15th century, some of the oldest continuously occupied Agricultural site consisting of several terraced circular depressions, the largest approximately 30 m deep. Their depth, design, and orientation with respect to wind and sun creates a temperature difference of as much as 15 °C between the top and the bottom." Wikipedia
Marion and Randy, a missionary couple who have been in Peru for 18 years and are serving on the circuit.
Locals
The end of a long day.
Lloydnalex
I love this day so much!!! I want to do that quad bike tour!!
ReplyDeleteAlso, nice shades Aunty Lloyd. Miss you 2