Peru - Chincero/Yucay (Day 4)

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3

Another early wake up. After breakfast and check out, we had an hour long drive on the bus to the city of Urubamba, the Sacred Valley of the Incas. We stopped on the way there to take some pictures.

Everywhere we went, there were local people trying to sell us stuff

We visited a local home where we were able to watch some of the local women demonstrate the weaving process. It's truly amazing that everything they do, from washing the wool to the dye they use is truly 100% natural. Of course, we then had to buy things from them. I got A an adorable hat... with llamas on it.

Women's bathroom

We walked a bit around the town and visited another church. The scenery of Chinchero is just amazing.

Next up on the schedule... our four mile run. This was pretty much all downhill, and not quite as technical a run as the day before. I was still the slowest, but I didn't have quite as hard a time keeping up. It really is amazing how much more difficult it is to run at 12,000+ feet. The trail was quite nice and the views were spectacular. We ran by the salt mines of Maras and then finished along the Urubamba river. Some of the group wanted to run an additional 2 miles, but I figured 4 a few days before the marathon were more than enough. Luckily a few others felt the same as me. We took the bus and met the rest of the group 15 minutes later.

It was just a short bus ride to the hotel that we were staying at in Yucay. The place was super fancy and we were treated to yet another buffet meal. I swear it will be a miracle if I'm not a size bigger when I get back to the states.

We had a few hours free, so Josh, Rachel, Fernando and I decided to go into town for the low, low taxi price of 7 soles (for a 10 minute or so drive, that's about $4). We wandered around the city and visited some of the local shops.

We couldn't seem to find a taxI on the way back. Instead (after some difficulties), we flagged down one of these bad boys. For only FOUR soles (less than $2). Super bouncy and pretty loud, but bet I'll never ride in one of them again.

Still hadn't had any luck finding a coca cola zero, so when we returned to the hotel, we walked around there to try and find one. Came across a tiny "parade." At least that's what we assume it was considering most of the people had drums.

Dinner was at the hotel, but sadly, it was not a buffet. Not exactly sure what I got, but it was pretty good.

After dinner, we had to pack our different bags. Most of our stuff would be returning to Cuzco, but we had to pack a trail/race bag and then a separate bag for the day we would be in Machu Picchu. I had a hard time falling asleep thanks to a dog that literally barked for HOURS AND HOURS AND HOURS.