Last March Terry and I had the privilege of being able to spend a week in Peru. The purpose of the trip was to be part of his youngest son's wedding, which took place in Lima. Terry didn't want to go (he is not fond of traveling by plane), but there was no way I was going to miss the opportunity of life time. I bought him a plane ticket that was non refundable and non transferable so he pretty much had to come with me, despite his very vocal protests. In the end he was glad I forced him to come. The trip was not without several hardships, but the beauty of Peru far outweighed all the inconveniences we experienced.
For me, the highlight of the trip was a spending a few hours in the mountains overlooking the
Sacred Valley of the Incas in the
Andes Mountains.
Our tour guide was in a big hurry when we got to the sacred valley. He informed us that usually it takes three hours to tour the ruins and mountains overlooking the valley, but that since we were running late we were going to do it in an hour. A year later, I still have to laugh that such a notion as rushing through these mountains could even occur to anyone.
This is a place that is so beautiful and so awe inspiring that you cannot rush through it. You could spend days just sitting in one spot drinking in all the beauty that surrounds you. Besides, the terrain is steep and rough in many places and unless you are used to climbing mountains on at regular basis, attempting to turn 3 hour hike into a one hour hike isn't very feasible.
Ruins of Inca homes built into the mountainside.
In spite of his best efforts to make us all keep up with him, Terry and I quickly fell at least a quarter of a mile behind and enjoyed the scenery, the fresh mountain breeze and millions of wild flowers without being constantly harassed to keep up and pay attention.
The Sacred Valley is the one of the major agricultural areas of Peru, and was considered sacred by the Incas because of the fertile soil and the abundance of the food that could be easily grown there.
A view of the sacred valley showing the ancient ruins and terracing overing looking the river Urubamba and the town of Pesac. Thousands of years ago they carved terraces from the mountains and used them to grown crops. Many of these terraces are still being used today. We passed many small farms during our bus ride. The farmers that I saw were using primitive hand tools and and lived in small adobe buildings. I would have loved to stop and be able to spend some time visiting with the farmers, observing their gardens, and learning about how they live. I loved the way the gardens and grain fields blended in with the mountain scape. It appeared that farming was not about conquering the mountains, it was about working with them. Regrettable, I was unable to see any of the gardens or fields up close except through the bus windows, and the only photo I got, does not do them justice.
Peruvian corn and adobe huts.
The farmers seemed to quite impoverished. Their homes were small, simple adobe buildings, and often the doors and windows were simply open frames with nothing to keep out the elements. I would occasionally see someone working in the fields with a donkey. Cows, llamas, and chickens where common. From what I could observe, tractors, and other gasoline operated farm equipment seemed to be nonexistent in this part of Peru.
Close up of an adobe brick building.
More fields in the distance outside of the town of Pesac. There is a lot of history in a place like this. Unfortunately Terry and missed 95% of what the tour guide had to say. We did learn that that one of the mountain sides is an ancient burial place. If you click this next photo to enlarge it, you can see the many holes carved out of the rock where the dead where placed.
Sadly, many of these graves have since been robbed. Even though this mountain side looks pretty impassible, we could see cows grazing up on the cliffs.
The
ruins of the Inca city which included a temple of the Incas' sun god was a highlight of the tour.
The Sun Temple. 
One of the aqueducts in the ruins. The mountain sides are like one vast wild flower garden.
There were hundreds of different species of plants, from tiny plants and cactus growing in crevices in the rocks...
to bold bright flowers...
and tiny delicate ones.
All in all, this was one of the best two and half hours I have ever had and this alone would have made the whole trip to Peru completely worth it. (Yes, to the great frustration of our tour guide, we didn't complete the hike in an hour!) Terry and I both want to go back to Peru and spend more time there-next time on our own schedule, though!
