Peru Day 3: Sacred Valley

We did a day trip to the Sacred Valley. I guess it didn't quite help in our acclimatization, since the Sacred Valley is at a considerably lower altitude than Cusco, but it was definitely worth the trip all the same. Our guide, Roger (Ro-yare), gave us the Incan history 101, taught us little Quechua phrases, and laughed obligingly at our silly jokes.

Ultimately, guide or no guide, the sites of the Sacred Valley simply speak for themselves. Each site, each viewpoint, each glance of ancient ruins, simply took our breath away. The sheer scale and sophistication far surpassed anything we'd been expecting. And sitting there on the mountain tops, watching the ruins drift in and out of view through the clouds, it was easy to see how the Incans had considered the valley to be sacred.

On the adventurous food front, Croc has been dying to try cuy (guinea pig) for two days now, but has somewhat lost some of his bravado since none of us are willing to share in the adventure with him. I was open to trying the cuy in concept, but it only comes in one form, roasted whole, complete with head, feet and tail. There's no way I can behead the little fella on my plate, even if he is already toast and all. I don't get why they haven't progressed to roast shredded cuy sandwishes. Now that, I'd give it a shot.

Both Bobbis and Croc tried alpaca, but both their alpacas tasted so significantly different from each other, I was kind of wondering what meat they were actually serving up anyway. Needless to say, I wasn't going to be in a hurry to try that one either.

On a separate subject, everyone in the group was still feeling alarmingly breathless every time we climbed even the slightest incline. I was beginning to get my doubts about this altitude thing, but then we went to the local Irish Pub (Paddy's), where it boasted the sign: "The highest Irish Pub in the World". And suddenly the whole altitude thing seemed rather cool all over again.