Day 2: Chinchero, Ollantaytambo and Pisac

Our second day in Peru was an acclimatisation day, so we thankfully didn't have too much walking. We booked onto a bus tour of some historical sites surrounding Cusco (the capital of the Inca Empire).

We went to see a traditional Inca weaving demonstration in Chinchero. They explained the different materials that go into dyeing the alpaca wool and how they go on to weave it all together. I bought an alpaca sweater (see below) to keep me warm on the rest of the trek.  


Next, we visited Ollantaytambo, an old Inca town. We saw the terraces and Guido (our guide) explained the dovetail technique used by the Incas in their terraces to stop them falling down during earthquakes. He also showed us the quarry that the rock came from, it was over 5km away!


Our final visit was Pisac, another historic Inca town. This town had been completely destroyed by the Spanish and so was entirely rebuilt (included thatched roofs). The terraces were mainly for agriculture.

Comments

  1. MikeOctober 1, 2025 at 3:31 AM

    Wow - looks amazing Matthew! Love the blue sky. The terraces going up the mountain are fascinating - it looks like a staircase for a BFG. Love the sweater - you'll have to show it to me. Not sure why you passed up on the Dora the Explorer one though....?

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Landed in Bogota!

Image
 I'm well on my way to Peru! We landed in Bogota at around 3am local time and I was able to get a bit of sleep on the plane. I'm on my 30 mins of free airport WiFi 😂 We're gonna take off for Cusco at 7:40am to get in around 11 and I'll have another update once we get there!
Read more

Day 1: We Arrived in Cusco!

Image
We landed safe and sound in a very sunny Peru! (Altitude 3,399m). I just wanted to thank everyone who contributed to, and supported my fundraising effort. I really appreciate your support! I'm so happy to support the Meningitis Research Foundation in the great work that they do. I've had a great first day! We checked into our hotel and it has an amazing mosaic wall! I tried some coca tea and enjoyed the brilliant views from the Cusco main square! We played some card games and then went out for dinner to finish off the first day of our trip!
Read more

Back in the UK!!

Image
Thank you everyone for your support and interest in my adventure, I'm back in the UK alive and well! Unfortunately, I very quickly realised that trying to post to a blog while dealing with a packed schedule and long stretches without internet access wasn't a great idea.... But now I'm back home, I'll create some posts so you can see what an absolutely brilliant time I had in Peru!
Read more