Whilst Cusco was a bit of a culture shock for us (after the relatively chilled out attitude to tourism in Bolivia), the Sacred Valley was much more relaxed. We stayed in Ollantaytambo for a few days and enjoyed free ruins, cute cafes and delicious food as well as side trips to the salineras and Moray agricultural terraces. It was a lovely respite from the crowds at Machu Picchu and the touts in Cusco.
See also our photos from Machu Picchu and visitors’ guide.
Strolling South America 
I loved the Sacred Valley. We stayed four days in Ollantaytambo and explored Pisac, Maras, and Ollantaytambo before heading to Cusco. It was beautiful and wonderful! Thanks for the lovely pictures.
Glad you enjoyed the post 🙂 I loved Ollantaytambo – one of my favourite places in all of South America in fact! I wish we’d had time to visit Pisac too, but our trip was cut short when our two travel companions got sick.
I actually got altitude sickness in Ollantaytambo and missed Machu Picchu 😦 BUT, I, too, loved Ollantaytambo! Pisac is great, but it’s become overly touristy and not so authentic. The market there was cool, but prices were steep due to so many tourists being there 😛
Yes, I remember reading your post about that. It’s so hard to predict if you’ll get sick, plus any little illness at that altitude makes you feel worse too 😦
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