Day 3 – Thursday, November 24 2016

Our Urubamba hotel, Amaru Valle was adorable because it composed of small yellow houses contained in fenced area. It felt like a smurf village. We enjoyed our free breakfast and started our journey to the next town with sightseeing stops. 

The first stop was Salinas de Maras, these salt evaporation ponds on a side of an mountain. I’ve never seen a site like this.

It was a remarkable natural sight and I loved that we could get close and walk through the ponds. On this second day, we were still acclimatizing because we continued to feel extra exhausted during our uphill climbs. 

The second stop was the Moray archaeological site, which were agricultural terraces in circular depressions. It was interesting to see and wander around. Each level was designed to farm different crops because the temperate drops as much as 15°C between the top and the bottom.

The final stop was at Kamma Guest House in Ollantaytambo. This town was a very touristy as the train to Machu Picchu departs from here. However, it felt cozy, clean and safe to walk around. We met Gayannan, the final member of our trekking team here.

Together we went to the Ollantaytambo ruins, a massive Inca fortress on a hillside. It was very tiring to climb the 200 steps, tougher with high altitude effects but the view was worthwhile. 

We enjoyed some free time wandering the markets and streets before heading out to a nice dinner at El Albergue.