Started our morning with breakfast at our B&B then said our goodbyes to Christophe. We walked up to the train. Was actually more like a hobble. My legs are not happy after the hike and they are very sore and stiff. Totally worth it though. We took the train back to Ollantaytambo. This time we were on the side of the train where we could see the river and some villages. In the middle of no where there would be old ladies walking along with big loads of something on their backs. At one point we stopped and these children came out to the train and the young one, maybe two was waving and blowing kisses. Was so cute!

Mario met us at the train station and off we bumped out of town. The drive through the sacred valley is beautiful. The mountains are so green and you can see random ruins up in the hills. The villages never really seemed to have a break, there were houses and stores most of the way. Today is Sunday, so lots of what appeared to be family gatherings. Any green space along the way had families having pinics. I am surprised by the amount of people mainly women who still dress traditionally. At one point along the way there was a couple roadside food places, basically women with a barbecue and guinea pigs cooked on these skewers. I guess it is a delicious but I have yet to try.

We headed up to Maras where we visited a salt mine. We drove through fields of quinoa to get there. Different families own portions of the mine. It is these layers of squares and they fill these squares with water and as the water evaporates it pulls the salt out of the earth which is like a red clay. We were able to walk all along the top of the mine and check it out. Was so cool.

After the salt mines we visited the Pisac Market. It was a huge market for tourists but also attached was a local food market so that was neat to see. We made a few purchases, trying to only get a few things at each market. Mario walked us through and took us in to this place where we had Empanadas baked in a big wood oven. Mario headed back to his car and we were able to wander through. It was nice as the people were not pushy and they would barter. The market was very colourful but was a very quiet day.

From there we headed to Cusco. Mario randomly stopped and asked if we wanted to visit an animal sanctuary. We said sure! The sanctuary was a non profit organization that rescued hurt animals. Some they would release and some they just were not able to. They had llamas, alpacas, macaras, Pumas, condors, monkeys and a few other animals. We were able to pet one of the llamas. There was a 5 month old puma. We sat in the condor enclosure and the condor flew from the top of the enclosure and landed right beside us. We were able to take pictures. Apparently the feathers are worth thousands of dollars so they are killed for their feathers, making them an endangered species. Shamans also kill them for the feathers as the condors fly so high they are closest to the gods in the sky. The reason for the ruins being so high as well, close the gods.

We continued on towards to Cusco where we stopped before heading to the city where there is a huge white statue of Jesus that looks over the city with open arms. You can see this statue from the main square in the city and it is lit up at night.

We arrived in the city and pulled up to these stairs and Mario pointed up and said hotel! I think my legs cried! We said goodbye to Mario and put our packs on and climbed the stairs. We walked down a path through the buildings and found the gate to our hotel and buzzed. We were let in and made our way down a hallway into a very neat courtyard with rooms around it. We checked in. No one seems to concerned about us paying....no worries Señorita you pay tomorrow...,relax relax....enjoy! We got settled in our room and headed down to the main square for dinner. We found a great place called Inca Grill. Nat had alpaca and I tried it. Tastes like deer, had a very gamey taste to it. I settled for a chicken quinotta, which was a risotto made from local quinoa.

Both very tired and I was feeling the altitude, we headed back to our hotel which is about 10 minutes from the main square. We are looking forward to exploring the area tomorrow. The people selling goods on the street seem a little more pushy here in Cusco.

Off to sleep with sore legs and a happy heart!