Jordy and Em South America Trip!

From Cusco we did two day trips to explore the surrounding valleys and archaeological sites.

The first day trip was into the Sacred Valley, including several Inca archaeological sites. Pisac, the first site we visited, was an agricultural site in Incan times with lots of farming terraces.

We visited Maras Salt Mines, which is an active salt production site and was also used in Incan times! Close to the salt mines was another former agricultural site, Moray. Moray has very distinctive farming terraces in a round pattern. Interestingly, the soil is different temperatures at different levels on the terrace, so are believed to have been used to farm different things!

The last stop was Ollantaytambo, a small town in a valley with a large Inca site within the town!

We loved the first tour so much we decided to do a second day tour into South Cusco Valley the following day! The first stop was Tipon, another Incan archeological site. The water features seen here were built in the 1400s, and still to this day water flows (from an unknown primary source in the mountains) at a constant rate/pressure regardless of the season!

Our second stop was a pre-Incan archaeological site, Piquillacta! The town/city was build before 1100AC when it was found by the Incans.

Our final stop was Andahuaylillas, a small town nearby with a beautiful church considered the “Sistine Chapel of the Andes”. The church was built by the Spanish, but has an interesting mix of Inca/Peruvian influence as well.