Monday July 9

I don't know what happened to my original post from yesterday, but it disappeared into cyberspace, never to return. So, we flew to Cusco, hopped in the van and headed out to the Sacred Valley. First stop was to watch the local people preserving potatoes the Inca way. They spread them out in the sun, they freeze at night, then dry out. The women skin them with their feet. This way, they will stay without refrigeration forever. Then we went to see the llamas and alpacas. The baby alpacas have such soft fur! They are greedy little devils when you have timothy to feed them. We went to an old hacienda for lunch: causa (this time tuna salad between two slabs of mashed potatoes), cream of corn soup and grilled trout. Later we went to Ollototomba an amazing old Inca ruin. All the running on the treadmill paid off as i was the only one in our group who made it to the top. Our hotel is beautiful, lot of flowers and individual little casitas. Pizza and beer for dinner. The weather is very cold at night and clear blue skies and warm during the day. Perfect.