From Urubamba, we embarked on a day trip to two very impressive and unusual sites two days ago. The first was to the Inca ruins at Moray which impress mainly due to their deep circular bowl-like design. These were agricultural terraces and it is said that a different microclimate exists within each row depending on how deep into the bowl it is. It is theorized that the Incas may have therefore used these terraces as a laboratory of sorts to determine what crops could be grown where. We also made note of the flagstone stairs, which are diagonally set into and protrude out of the terrace walls rather than breaking through the walls thereby eliminating excessive maintenance and erosion, and of the indentation for drainage carved into the stone.

We then made our way to Salinas, a truly surreal place where thousands of salt pans were designed and built by the Incas in a gorge and are still in use to collect salt water draining down from a hot spring at the top of the valley . The water is evaporated and salt is extracted and used for cattle licks. After admiring the view from above, we hiked down to the salt pans and then, for 45 minutes or so, along the salt water canals which feed the pans, and then down to the little pueblo of Tarabamba where we caught a combi back to Urubamba.

We moved on from Urubamba at 7:00 AM on Sunday morning, climbing out of the valley for a couple of days to Chinchero, a pueblo that's about 45 minutes away by bus and that sits at 3,762 meters above sea level. Chinchero is off the beaten path a bit as significantly fewer travellers make it here and most of those who do pass through very quickly on a tour bus. It is a very pleasant and authentic indigenous Andean village with adobe style mud house construction where weaving is a huge part of the culture. It is also well known for its colourful Sunday market and its Sunday church service which takes place in a gorgeous little colonial church built on ancient Inca stone foundations. The church’s interior is completely adorned with beautiful organic hand painted naïf frescoes, crimson red being the dominant colour (we were not allowed to take pictures inside the church). The service attracts residents from many different mountain communities who come all dressed up for the occasion in their very colourful traditional outfits. Chinchero also has its set of wonderful Inca ruins, mainly terraces, which we hiked through this morning, before heading off to Ollantaytambo (otherwise referred to as Ollanta).