South America In Style: The Sacred Valley, Peru

Waking up feeling refreshed and rejuvenated last Tuesday morning from our wonderful stay at Eco Inn, we were met by our Personal Guide Ivan who transferred us to the Puno Bus Depot, so that we could catch our ¨VIP¨ Inca Express bus to Cusco in Peru. I must reiterate that the luxury bus services in South America are like nothing I´ve seen in Australia. In this case we had a Tour Guide named Herly who gave very funny commentary over the course of the approximate 10 hour trip, a Hostess named Denise who provided continual beverage service (including cocoa tea on demand!), an all inclusive lunch at an authentic Peruvian restaurant overlooking the Andes, and an extremely scenic route with five notable stops in and amongst endless mountain views.

The first stop was the Museo Litiro Pukera, a museum which captures the city of terraces in the Pukera times, where the Inca people were conquered by the Pukera people. While photos are not allowed in the museum due to strict artefact preservation rules, unlimited photos are allowed outside. The most important things to note from the museum were the historical aspects, architecture and artefacts such as discovered stone carvings from the Pukera times.

Following more of a scenic mountain upon mountain drive, one of my favourite interludes was the second, which was a lookout at an altitude of over 4,000 metres above sea level overseeing the highest snow-capped mountain in Peru. While it seems there are markets everywhere in Peru, creating an almost saturated market so to speak, I couldn´t believe that they had a market here in such freezing cold conditions!

We´d been on the bus for a few hours now and the third stop, lunch, couldn´t have come at a better time. Out of nowhere appeared this authentic Peruvian restaurant complemented by a signature market. In typical buffet style, we enjoyed unlimited access to beautiful rice, potato, root vegetable (similar to sweet potato), chicken, alpaca (I´m unable to consume alpaca meat due to how cute I find alpacas, but Nige says alpaca meat is a cross between beef and lamb!) and dessert dishes. The setting and cuisine were so amazing, that I could have stayed here all day.

Alas, we boarded the bus and after a few more hours reached the fourth stop Raqchi which was well worth the wait. Raqchi is one of the less known ruins which has architecturally impressive and unique buildings, some of the best scenery I´ve ever seen and yes, markets! I was very proud of myself here for negotiating the price of some lovely earrings down to about AUD$3.00.

After a few more hours on the road, we arrived at our fifth and final stop before Cusco, St Pedro´s Cathedral and the obligatory market. Currently under construction, beautiful St Pedro´s Cathedral is baroque in style with 22 carat gold trimmings. When we were there, we were lucky enough to see the artists painting ornate pieces on the walls.

When we arrived at the Cusco Bus Depot, we were greeted by our Personal Guide Ericson, who transferred us to our stunning hotel in The Sacred Valley La Casona de Yucay. The Sacred Valley also known as ¨El Valle Sagrado de los Incas¨or The Sacred Valley of the Incas, is a laidback valley not too far from Cusco. On the way to our hotel, we learnt some valuable things from Ericson about The Sacred Valley including that recommended places to see are the Machu Picchu (of course!), Pisac Market, San Pedro Market and Handicraft Centre Market, and that recommended local delicacies include guinea pig and alpaca meats, lomo saltado (been with onions, tomatoes, chilli, rice and potato chips), arroz con leche and arroz sambito (rice puddings), Blancos de Blancos branded wines, pisco sour (liqueur derived from grapes), ¨Machu Picchu¨(otherwise known as ¨three colours¨, a drink combining beans, passionfruit and strawberry), arroz con pollo (chicken with rice), ¨mojito from Cusco¨ (mojito using mint from the Andes), chicha morada (post-lunch beverage combining cinnamon, pineapple, apple and lemon), ceviche (especially with sweet corn, sweet potato, lettuce, chilli and salmon), quinoa (good substitute for rice with more iron and protein), barley, wheat and baby corn. Given my culinary interests, Peru and I would appear to be a match made in heaven! As such, the perfect end to the perfect day was a scrumptious dinner at the hotel restaurant. On Ericson´s recommendation, I enjoyed a lomo saltado de res or chopped beef tenderloin sautéed with onion, chilli, tomatoes and French fries, served with rice, for about AUD$11.00.

Last Wednesday, I was a lady of leisure at the hotel whilst Nige explored the Ollantaytambo Ruins, a side treat along the Machu Picchu route. I strolled through the vast hotel grounds set in a picturesque Andean valley, did a spot of shopping at another market for something a little different, watched Sex and the City: The Movie on the laptop (yes, I did!) and had a fabulous lunch at the hotel restaurant of Cremas de Chuno or a traditional Incan soup made with dehydrated potato, for about AUD$6.00. On Nige’s return in the late afternoon, we worked up our appetites by going for a sunset walk through The Sacred Valley and enjoyed dinner at the hotel restaurant complete with live entertainment of a musician playing the traditional Peruvian pan pipes. He was so good I just had to buy one of his CDs.

After a much needed day of rest and relaxation, I was ready and rearing to go last Thursday for our visits to the ruin and market in Pisac. There’s definitely no need for the gym in Peru with the steps, terraces and fortresses of the Pisac Ruins as a case in point. While the breathtaking views made it all worthwhile, I was much more in my element at the Pisac Market which is more than Nige can say. We both found it amusing that while the stalls were never ending, the same products repeated themselves: Jewellery, bags, alpaca rugs, fossils, little Inca dolls, “Cocoa Cola” and “Inca Kola” t-shirts and table runners to name a few. This however, didn’t stop the vendors from selling, up-selling and cross-selling their merchandise at every opportunity. An ideal target for them is someone like me who looks like a “Gringo” (foreigner) and looks at the goods! As such, we left the Pisac Market with some bits and pieces including a beautiful pair of earrings, a CD of Peruvian pipe music, an alpaca poncho and pashmina, a fossil and an “Inca Kola” t-shirt.

I’ve said once and will say again that the level of customer service in South America is unbelievable. For only AUD$40.00, we had a Personal Driver for the entire day who drove us to the Pisac Ruins, had a siesta in the car while we explored the ruins for a couple of hours, drove us to the Pisac Market, had another siesta in the car while we shopped for a few more hours and then drove us back to the hotel!

After an eventful day in the township of Pisac, Nige and I wound down over dinner at the hotel restaurant. For about AUD$10.00, I enjoyed a divine Filete de Trucha a La Menier or grilled Andean trout fillet in a butter and caper sauce served with vegetarian wheat risotto.

It was like Christmas morning once again for Nige last Friday, with our impending visit to the much anticipated Machu Picchu. While I was of course interested in what all the Machu Picchu fuss was about, the thought of how many steps I would have to climb at this famous ruin, did indeed cross my mind. After “Mr Nigel Kaduthodil” was sought in the hotel reception, we were transferred by our trusty Personal Driver to the Ollayantambo Train Station, where we boarded a PeruRail train destined for the township of Agua Calliente at the foot of Machu Picchu. True to form, this train was like a South American Orient Express complete with leather chairs, stunning mountain views, soothing Peruvian pan pipe music playing in the background and food and beverage service (where I discovered Inca Kola for the first time, a green-gold South American soft drink which has a sarsaparilla flavour about it).

How the mighty could have fallen literally however, when we reached Agua Calliente and took a bus with our tour group to Machu Picchu. All I’ll say is that driving a bus to Machu Picchu is an acquired skill with the navigation of narrow, windy and spiralling dirt roads not to mention the overtaking of other buses on such roads with millimetres to spare on cliff tops with very steep drops.

Machu Picchu far exceeded my expectations and is more beautiful and serene than words can describe. After an approximate two hour trek through the ruins via steps upon steps at about 2,500 metres in altitude, it took my breath away, literally. In any event, the talk about the llamas on site maintaining the lawns by eating the grass made us hungry and we enjoyed a fabulous and well deserved buffet lunch at the one and only eatery at Machu Picchu, Tinku Y. After lunch, we took the bus back down the mountain and checked into our hotel for the evening, El Santuario. The location of this hotel is stunning with our room overlooking a waterfall, which provided a sound at night more soothing than that of rain on a tin roof.

Just when we thought this day couldn't get any better, we indulged in a sunset hot springs spa overlooking the Andes, and a sublime dinner at Pueblo Viejo Restaurante and Bar. For about AUD$10.00, I enjoyed perfectly prepared spaghetti bolognese and live Peruvian entertainment.

My highlights of The Sacred Valley include, but are not limited to:

The scenic Inca Express bus trip and in particular, the market in the mountains and the authentic Peruvian restaurant;
The beautiful Andean setting of our Casonay de Yucay hotel;
The diversity and flavour of the local cuisine and the passion that the locals have for it;
The tenacity and passion of the market vendors and their "handmade" merchandise;
Traditional Peruvian pan flute music;
The high level of customer service everywhere;
The picturesque PeruRail journey to Agua Callientes, Machu Picchu and sunset hot springs overlooking the Andes;
The scary rides otherwise known as taking buses to and from Machu Picchu; and
Inca Kola!