Gallavanting around PeruToday we are off to the Sacred Valley. We have been given Adventure Life duffel bags, which we pack with the clothing, sleeping bags, etc., we'll be using for the next few days on the Inca Trail. The rest of our luggage is placed in a locked storage room at the Del Prado Inn. We pile back into the now-familiar van and make our way out of the city toward Pisac. Marco tells us that instead of going to many different sites today, we are going to one site and exploring it more thoroughly. We all approve. The van weaves along the mountain roads for a couple of hours, and we stop briefly at a llama/alpaca farm, where we learn how the wool is dyed and woven.
Our next stop is the Pisac ruins. We hike around a high green mountain, while Marco points out the terraces on the steep hillsides, the bromeliads hanging off of rock outcrops, and various bits of Incan architecture. Sheep graze on some of the terraces, while we look down from above. We stop at one of Marco's favorite places, a narrow ledge of rock that juts out 70 meters above the valley. One at a time, with Marco holding us steady, we stand on the precipice, eyes closed, imagining ourselves to be a condor soaring above the valley.
We stop for a late but sumptuous picnic lunch by a splashing stream. Sunlight reflects off the water while we dig into big helpings of chicken, mashed potatoes, passion fruit, cake, and tea. Marco tells us more about the Sacred Valley, which has rich soil and a climate capable of growing almost anything--1500 varieties of corn. Coffee. Tomatoes. Avocados. Fava beans. Amaranth. Quinoa. Potatoes. We pile back into the van, driving through this lush, verdant valley on our way to Ollantaytambo, which we reach at 4:30. The Hotel Sauce may be my favorite hotel of all those I stay at--small, friendly, comfortable. To someone accustomed to staying in hostels when she travels in foreign countries, three-star hotels are a luxury.
We spend the last hour of daylight climbing up the ruins at the edge of town. At the top are more of the enormous blocks of stone, so huge and heavy that I can't imagine how the Incans wrestled them up the steep hillside. Apparently not all of the stones made it to their destinations; so-called 'lazy stones' are scattered on hillsides in this area, stones that were too large or unwieldy to be hauled to the mountaintops.
Before heading to bed, Marco gives us a briefing of what to expect on our days on the trail, and we go to bed early in preparation for a long day tomorrow.
We've used Adventure Life for several trips in the past and have always been very pleased with them. The staff is personable and professional at the same time. Erin put this trip together for us in just a few days, and it has everything we were looking for! I recommend them without hesitation.
benn
1 month ago
I served as the person responsible for planning a trip to Galapagos and Machu Picchu for a group of 14 people. Jane with Adventure Life was very helpful throughout the process. Making suggestions, offering insight, and in the end helped me overhaul an initial plan into something even better. Also, Jane makes all the plans including the flights within and between Peru and Ecuador. Thanks to her this is going to be a stress-free adventure. After making the final decision about the trip, Jane gathered the contact information for all the travelers and sent out the details to each traveler individually with links to pay deposits, upload passport info, and personal preferences. She also ensured a group email was sent out to the entire group welcoming us to the trip preparation process. Our trip is a year from now and we are excited to make this once in a life time trek. I am happy to have organized things through Adventure Life. However, two small issues came up that were a little off putting. First, Adventure Life adds $50 per person to the cost for each traveler as a donation to a Galapagos conservation fund. I think this should he offered as something that can be added at each traveler’s discretion. Instead, it is automatically added, and each person must ask to have it removed if they do not want it included. Second, although the trip deposit may be paid with a credit card without incurring an additional fee, the balance must be paid in another way to avoid a 3% credit card fee. Maybe this is standard with all travel agencies. In the end I would definitely go through Adventure Life for the next big trip.
Brenda Nielsen
2 months ago
I think it was very helpful that Franny and I spoke on the phone. I think she had a better idea of what we were looking for, and she planned a great itinerary for us!
Elizabeth
3 months ago
My representative Kevin was very responsive generally and in crafting our itinerary to our specific priorities.
Rocco Labella
3 months ago
Easy.
Great work on the follow up and details by Waru.