Visit the Sacred Valley in Peru – DAY 12

Route map to visit the Sacred Valley

What to visit in the Sacred Valley in Peru?

Here are the most interesting sites to visit in the Sacred Valley in Peru: Chinchero, Moray, the Maras salt flats, Ollantaytambo and Aguas Calientes

The Sacred Valley in Peru

Sacred valley, these two words have always made me dream without really imagining what they defined precisely.

In fact, I learned while preparing my trip that this valley was a privileged place for the Incas to develop their agriculture. It has been nicknamed “the granary of the Incas”.

This region, located around 3 m above sea level, stretches from Pisac in the east to Ollantaytambo in the west. It is made up of vestiges of terraced cultures, ruins of villages and Inca temples ...

How long to visit the Sacred Valley in Peru?

Knowing that we had already visited Pisac, we took a whole day to discover the main sites. Leaving early in the morning is tiring but sufficient.

For my part, we decided to leave at 7:30 am from Cusco with a private driver in the direction of the Sacred Valley.

How to visit the Sacred Valley in Peru?

There are colectivos buses but too complicated to link up for me. But if you decide to give it a go, go to Avenue Grau in Cuzco to take the 1er bus (5 soles) in the direction of Chinchero (50 minutes). From there, I don't have any more information on the following buses to coordinate.

A Cusco you have a multitude of tour operators who will offer you a complete tour for 100 soles, or around 20 Euros without entry to the sites.

Boleto turistico

To visit all the sites in the valley, you will have to buy the famous boleto turistico. It costs 130 soles or around 35 euros and gives you access to 16 sites in the valley for 10 days.

Otherwise you can only pay the tickets directly on the sites (it's up to you to see if the Boleto will be profitable in relation to the number of visits envisaged).

Note that there is also the partial boleto at 70 soles or around 18 Euros which gives access to the sites we visited: THE WRITER, CHINCHERO, MORAY et OLLANTAYTAMBO.

Sacred Valley Circuit - Chinchero

CHINCHERO village in the SACRED VALLEY CIRCUIT in PERU

What to see in Chinchero?

In this pretty, typical village that I adored, there is a craft market in the main square. It is therefore necessary to take a tour and also get lost in the small alleys of the village.

Of course, we hiked to go to the Inca ruins passing in superb circular terraces but also rectilinear with the mountains in superb wallpapers!

SACRED VALLEY CIRCUIT and its Inca site of CHINCHERO

How long in Chinchero?

We spent 2 hours there and it was good. This allowed us to take the time it takes to hike and quietly enjoy the village and the market.

Sacred Valley Circuit - Moray

MORAY site in the SACRED VALLEY CIRCUIT

Site Moray is surprising. When you arrive there, you discover huge terraces in a circle forming a well-designed and deep circus (150 m).

It was an experimental laboratory of agricultural cultures developed by the Incas. Each level was different by its altitude, its exposure to the sun, its humidity, and made it possible to test the development of one crop or another ...

How long in Moray?

We spent 50 minutes there, enough time to walk around the terraces and take some pictures. No need to stay there longer if not for a contemplative and meditative break ...

Circuit Sacred Valley - The salt flats of Maras

(10 soles not included in the Botelo)

Salt carriers in the salt maras of the SACRED VALLEY CIRCUIT

After a winding road bordered by precipices with landscapes all always more beautiful than the others, we arrive at 3 m on a viewpoint above the famous saltworks of Maras.

These salines would result from a stream saturated with sodium chloride and are completely natural. The Indians continue to exploit them (about 200 tons of salt per year) according to ancestral methods perpetrated from generation to generation.

I am amazed to discover this canvas of ocher, pink, orange colors unfolding before our eyes ...

How long at the saltworks of Maras?

1 hour of visit is more than enough because we quickly made the tour. In addition, there are a lot of tourists there which forces us to move quickly in the salt pans (so that everyone can access them).

Sacred Valley Circuit - Ollantaytambo

Inca site of OLLANTAYTAMBO in the SACRED VALLEY CIRCUIT

This village (obligatory passage for the access to Machu Picchu) is really very nice even if it is very very frequented by tourists. You can stroll through its small streets, shop in its artisanal market or visit the Inca ruins.

About this Inca site, I was poorly organized and could not find a French speaking guide on site to explain the when and the why and how… I think that a guide is needed to make the visit more interesting .

We therefore climbed from floor to floor admiring these huge blocks of stones but without any information on the place. It was a great shame and disappointing.

After 2 hours, we were tired of the ruins and decided to go to the station to wait for the train to  Cheap flights from Aguas Calientes (departure at 16:36 p.m. for an expected arrival around 18:10 p.m.). We will be met by a member of the hotel staff who will accompany us on foot and give us a debriefing for our departure very early tomorrow morning.

How to get to AGUAS CALIENTES?

Unless you are an adventurer with the courage to do a tiring trek (with backpacks), the only other way to goOllantaytambo à Cheap flights from Aguas Calientes and the TRAIN. And I highly recommend that you book your return ticket in advance.

Below is the internet link that I used to make my reservation a few months before. The round trip will cost you 123 USD and yes!  https://incarail.com/

Important: When you buy your tickets on the Internet, you will have tickets that are only reservations. You will have to remember the day before going to CUSCO at the INCA RAIL agency to validate and print your tickets.

Here is the address where you will need to go: INCA RAIL SAC train - Portal de Panes 105, Plaza de Armas - CUSCO - e-Mail: consultas@incarail.com.pe -Tel: (084) 233-030, 581-860

Train to Machu Picchu

But what would a trip without surprises be? and this one was big! Me who always say that I love the unexpected ... Since 16:18 pm that we waited very wisely, we see time passing by without any train arriving at the station. XNUMXpm, we are now worried like the majority of tourists who wait like us ...

Nobody knows what is going on and we wait again and again ... Night begins to fall and rumors circulate that there is a strike movement ... The strikers have placed tree branches on the railroad tracks to prevent trains to run.

It is 22pm, fatigue is there and a little icy wind caresses our ears ...

Finally the train will arrive at 23:10 pm with more than 6:30 am late. We will be in Aguas Caliente at 1am but no one is expecting us… We must therefore walk in the dark in an unknown village to find our hotel.

We will finally go to bed at 2 am to get up at 3:30 am (very early night !!!). We plan to wait for the bus at 4 am for a departure at 5:30 am… and yes you have to be brave if you want to be the first on Machu Picchu!

Cheap hotel in AGUAS CALIENTES

El Mistico Machupicchu at 29 Euros per night without breakfast. Very well located but difficult to judge from the rest because we only slept there for 1h30!

https://www.booking.com/hotel/pe/el-mistico-machupicchu.fr.html

And on the following article, find out how to visit the MACCHU PICCHU and HUAYNA PICCHU:

DAY 13 MACHU PICCHU AND HUAYNA PICCHU

3 thoughts on “Visiting the Sacred Valley in Peru – DAY 12”

    1. Hello,
      For the organization of our trip and for the Sacred Valley part, we got in touch with Arnaud ALAGADEC. This Frenchman has been living in CUZCO for several years and offers rooms for rent as well as his tourist agent services. He was the one who provided us with the private driver. If you want to contact him: alagadec@yahoo.com Fixe: 23-22-32 Portable: 984-47-52-05

  1. Ping: PERU itinerary in 15 days: Map and details of the stages of the circuit

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