The hotel we stayed at last night was a former monastery. The grounds are beautiful and the buildings look authentic, but have been updated for the hotel . While we were eating breakfast, we watched one of the local women setting up her outdoor shop selling blankets, hats, and other handicrafts. Before she opened for business, she took branches, dipped them in water and tapped them on all the things she was selling. It looked like a way of blessing her sales.

Edwin and Edison picked us up for the day's touring. We drove through the Urubamba Valley, the Sacred Valley of the Incas. We visited Ollantaytambo, another fortress in ruins, and climbed 200 steps up and down it--not as much climbing as in Machu Picchu, but the ruins were built in a similar way. We stopped at Pisac where the Incas built an observatory. There were very few other tourists at both Ollantaytambo and Pisac . Evidently it is more common to visit Pisac in the morning since the market is busier then, and see Ollantaytambo in the afternoon. We didn't have much interest in the market, but there were a few stalls open and we looked for a few minutes. We found a spoon for Erin's collection there and bought some earrings from one of the vendors. They both had 950 or 925 on them indicating the pureness of the silver, but I wonder if they are really that much silver. We were happy with the price, so the silver content doesn't really matter.

Today we reached the highest elevation we will on this trip at about 11,800 feet. Interestingly enough that high point was in the Sacred Valley. We have been pretty lucky, and we prepared for the elevation. The only symptoms of altitude sickness that either of us has had has been the loss of appetite we've both had and the tingly fingers and toes that I have had. We are fine with the lack of appetite, although we have not yet gotten accustomed to ordering the right amount of food. There is always a lot left on the plates that we can't finish. My tingly fingers and toes are only slightly bothersome; most of the time I forget about them.

We returned to Cusco for another night at the Monesterio. They held most of our luggage while we were gone for two nights. When we got back to the hotel, all our luggage was in the room waiting for us.