After a shockingly sleepless night for Rory we dragged ourselves out of bed and down to the square to go on a tour of the Sacred Valley

First stop was a small craft market where we bought a wall hanging, follwed shortly after by Pisac market where I bought an Inca vs Conquistadors chess set carved out of stone.

After Pisac market, clearly a major tourist staple, we proceeded up to view the Pisac Inca remains which entailed a long walk along steep mountain trails and steps with no safety barriers. As always it was safety first in South America. We arrived at the ruins and got another dose of how crazy the Incans really were as we were told that the whole thing was built from rock from the other side of the valley and up a mountain! The ruins were impressive none the less!

After a distinctly average buffet lunch we proceeded on to Ollantaytambo, a continuously inhabited Inca village (unlike most settlements which were destroyed). The remains have some particularly impressive terracing as well as some typical Inca moutain top observatory features.

Final stop of a rather whistlestop day was Chninchero, again perched high up. This time the feature was a Spanish colonial church built atop an older Inca temple. The inside was a mass of frescos, paintings and typical Catholic iconography but with a few Inca features thown in for good measure, all in a massive building out of all proportion to the settlement it now served. Outside the church was the now very familiar array of craftwork for purchase. The visit was rounded off with some grilled alpaca and potato on a stick from a street vendor.

The bus journey was an opportunity to catch up on sleep and after a dinner together with the family we went back to the hostel and tested out the new chess set!