The Sacred Valley - Part one.

Rather than explore all the sights around Cusco in our vans we decided to stay put at Quinta Lala camp site and organise the tours we wanted thru one of the many tour agencies in town. After extensive research by Mo (and some haggling by Clive) we settled on Plaza Tours, Calle Triunfo, just off Plaza de Armes. Phone: Cusco 249738.

What we wanted was three tours. For the first two tours we just wanted to hire our own mini-bus and a sane driver to take us to the sights of our choice, at our pace, without a guide and without being taken to endless "craft markets" or expensive restaurants en-route.

Our third tour is a two day trip to Machu Picchu by train with one night in a hotel in Aguas Calientes. For all three tours we wanted to be picked up at Quinta Lala and returned there in the evening. The total cost for all three tours for six people was $1110.00 USA ($185USA each). This includes train tickets, entrance to Machu Picchu and the hotel Gringo-Bill in Aguas Calientes. In addition to this we each had to buy a Boleta Touristica for about $22.00USA

Our first mini-bus tour was to Chinchero, Moray, Salineras de Maras and Ollantaytambo. So far so good (but see here). Our mini-bus, whilst not new was quite adequate, our driver (Geronimo! - honest) was sane, and helpful without being pushy. We left at 09:00 and returned at 18:30.

If you want to know about each site in detail, that is what Lonely Planet and the Internet are for.

They were all very well worth visiting!

Chinchero.

Moray - Inca Experimental Agriculture Project.

Salineras de Maras - Inca Salt Pans.

Ollantaytambo.