I had gotten to bed around 6 pm last night hoping to ward of the symptoms of altitude sickness. I did fall asleep right away but was woken by Ron around 2 am. He had a splitting headache, was having problems breathing and his heart was racing. I wanted to get some oxygen up to the room but he was too stubborn. I guess it took a while for him to be affected by the altitude. After some deep breathing he seemed better and then got some sleep.
We were both feeling better by 8 am so had a light , dry breakfast and went off on our tour. Kelly and Patrick seemed to be feeling OK so that was good.Our tour would bring us to a lower elevation and Alan, our guide, thought we would feel better.
Our first stop was at a llama farm where we got to feed and pet the llama. They were quite funny and we enjoyed feeding them,
The llama family tree:
This is not a zoom in. The llama was that close to me trying to get his bite of barley. LOL
Kelly and I up close and personal.
Patrick – Not so much. LOL
Unfortunately Ron was not able to participate in feeding the llamas because he was sick in the bathroom.
Peruvian women weaving . The patterns are passed down by word of mouth and then done by memory. Quite amazing!
The beautiful mountain ranges with snow capped peaks and hanging glaciers.
The lower in altitude we traveled the better Ronnie was feeling. He really did not want to miss out on the rest of this tour.
We stopped at the Indian Artisan Market in Pisca where a variety of goods were being sold. The children were carrying sheep and the little one in front a puppy. The little girl to the left was carrying a stuffed toy. Once you took a picture with them you had to pay them. They were really cute and happy to get some money.
The elderly lady was following Ron around and the little girl caught Ron trying to sneak a picture. He then had to take an official picture and pay the both of them . LOL
The meat market!!!!
Guinea pigs (cuy) are a delicacy in Peru and on Sundays families cook them as a treat. We saw some people cooking by the roadside and Alan stopped so we could get a look. Ron has been having nightmares about guinea pigs and here they were!!!! LOL
Alan said that the guinea pigs are really delicious and was very impressed at how crisp they looked. He even commented that the guinea pig was even smiling. Sick or what?
This is the sign at the roadside stand. Notice the cute little guinea pig drawn on the bottom right of the sign.
We stopped at a great hotel in the middle of nowhere and had a lovely buffet lunch.
After lunch we drove to the town where the fortress of Ollantaytambo is located and the home town of our guide in the Sacred Valley of the Incas.
The walk up to the fortress was a little bit of a struggle for me in the beginning but once I got going it was fine. Our guide was wonderful and he took very good care of the “old lady”. Everyone was doing fine and enjoying the history and beauty of the area.
On our way back to Cusco we stopped at at overlook to catch more of the Andes beauty.
When we arrived back in Cusco we had all pretty much acclimated to the high altitude so we decided to go out for dinner and walk around Cusco. It was very pretty at night and we enjoyed a very good dinner at a local restaurant.
We decided to turn in early for our train ride to Machu Picchu the next morning. All in all it was a very busy but great day.
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