Peru Part 3 Sacred Valley

Maras Salt Pools in the Sacred Valley 

My theory is that you should fly for free and stay for free and then spend that money on experiences. After spending a few days in Cuzco to adjust to the altitude, we hired a private guide to take us on a day tour through the Sacred Valley. I highly recommend a private tour since there are many small towns, ruins and markets in the area and you can customize the tour. We found Percy on TripAdvisor.com. He had lots of great reviews and answered emails promptly. I felt totally comfortable wiring him an $800 deposit. We included in the private van, 1/2 day tour of Cuzco and Sacsayhuaman tour, 1 day of the Sacred Valley (Maras Salt Pools, Chincheros Inca Town, Native Church, Moray experimental farming terraces and Ollantaytambo), all train, bus and entrance tickets plus a guide for Machu Picchu, return pick up from the Poroy train station outside of Cuzco. We paid approximately $1500 for this tour for 5 people. When I priced it out separately, I wouldn't have saved much so I decided to let someone else do it and avoid the headache. We still needed to pay for park entrance tickets, overnight in Aquas Caliente and food. Found the Killa Inn in Aguas Calientes which had decent prices and included breakfast. For a family of 5, breakfast included is key. They also held our luggage for us while we visited Machu Picchu. 

Chincheros Inca Town 

Inca ruins near Ollantaytambo

Percy was able to tell us lots of personal stories and theories about the Incas. He answered all of our questions honestly and we really enjoyed spending two days with him. For kids, the Maras Salt Pools were a huge hit! The farming terraces and ruins were interesting and held the kids attention, but it is a long day. We ate dinner and took a walk around Ollantaytambo and then boarded the train to Aquas Calientes.

Next post: The trek to Machu Picchu