Pisac Market. Photo by Brian Ralphs, licensed Creative Commons Attribution.
Peru’s most famous crafts market takes place in Pisac on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays. This ancient Inca village is nestled in the shadow of an imposing Inca fortress and temple.
What’s unique about Pisac’s ruins, apart from their extraordinary beauty, is their range. Here you will find not only religious Inca architecture, but also residential, agricultural, and military.
This six-hour downhill hike is a gorgeous introduction to the Sacred Valley. Start at Moray, a complex of concentric agricultural terraces, and then head downhill past Salineras, a centuries-old salt mine still in operation today.
Second in importance only to Machu Picchu, Ollantaytambo includes some of the Incas’ best stonework, including a series of ceremonial baths, elegant trapezoidal doorways, and a sun temple that faces the rising sun.
This moderate, 1.5-hour hike will give you a spectacular view of Ollantaytambo, its gleaming sun temple, and interesting grain storehouses, known in Quechua as colcas.
Excerpted from the Third Edition of Moon Peru.
