Sacred Valley Tour

So the 2nd day we were in Peru we took a tour of the Sacred Valley. We got on a bus with about 20 other people and our guide, Lilliana. She spoke English and Spanish and was amazing at switching back and forth between the two, quickly.
We drove out of Cusco and up through some other towns. The Sacred Valley is all of the surrounding area around Cusco through the hills and mountains around the Andes. In the distance, you can see the snow-capped Andes.
On the tour, we went to the city of Pisac and did some shopping at a little market. Many of the people there had pet llamas that were specifically for tourists to take pictures of and give the little farmer people money (Soles). After shopping, we drove past the Rio Urubamba and visited the town of Ollantaytambo. Most of the cities were very touristy and welcomed us as soon as we got off of the bus. They were selling giant ears of corn, very cool alpaca wool sweaters and hats and all sorts of jewelery.
We stopped in the town of Urubamba to do some hiking in some ruins. This was our first real experience with hiking in the elevation and I'm not going to lie, it was a little rough. Luckily, a lot of the people we were with were certainly not hard-core in anyway so we had no problem going nice and slow. There were a lot of steps...but we made it. We learned that you can tell if a building was made during Inca time, if its windows and doors are shaped like trapezoids. We also learned a lot about the Incan cross: It is a three-stepped cross representing the southern cross (a big deal in Inca astronomy) and symbolizing the three tiers of Inca life. The lower world (the snake), this world (the puma) and the higher world (the condor).
We hiked some more in Ollantaytambo and visited a sun temple built into the side of the mountain. We finished our tour, about 10 hours after we started, with a visit to the town of Chinchero. Again lots of locals trying to sell us things. We climbed to the top of the town and visited a church. Lilliana explained the history of the Spanish taking over the area and bringing their religion with them. Many of the people did take on the new religion, but several of the old Inca traditions and beliefs were able to sustain.

When we finished in Chinchero, we returned to Cuscoand got some grub at the Irish Pub! In my opinion, a must for all back-packing towns!