July 26, 2018 - Flew to Cusco, Sacred Valley in the Afternoon

We flew to Cusco early in the morning and arrived at Cusco around 11am.  Then, we had a bus ride to Sacred Valley.  Cusco has 2 seasons of dry and wet with 6 months each.  We were in Cusco in the dry season and the weather was pretty good.  Cusco was the capital of Inca Empire with altitude of about 11,000 ft above sea level.  

We rode the bus all the way to the town of Ollantaytambo (or simply Ollanta to locals) which is one of the most popular departure points for Inca Trail. The steep terraces guarding the fortress (which features a ceremonial platform worthy of witnessing after tough steps walking to the top) is one of the few places where Spanish conquistadors experienced defeat in a major battles against the Inca.

Ollantaytambo protected the strategic entrance to the lower Urubamba Valley which also known as the Sacred Valley. The temple area is at the top of a series of steep terraces which helped provide excellent defenses. Stone used for these buildings was brought in from a quarry high up on the opposite side of the Urubamba River, an incredible achievement involving the efforts of thousands of workers. 

Then, we rode the bus to Urubamba to check into the 'Casa Andina Private Collection Sacred Valley' hotel.  For the whole afternoon, some of us were worried about where we were going to stay for the night.  Since we had not spotted any reasonable accommodations along the way, it was to our surprise to check into such a wonderful hotel out of nowhere.  It reminded some of us about lodging accommodations we had when we visited Serengeti National Park in Tanzania.