My dad has taken a million great photos but doesn't know how to post them, so he's invited everyone to our house (that's what he wanted me to write)

We luckily got to sleep in a bit this morning since we did not leave until 9am.  We then boarded a van and started our drive to a local town.  The roads are windy like Greece, but add in 12,000 feet above sea level, and not only goats and sheep in the road, but also pigs, dogs, donkeys and an occasional alpaca.   The scenery was great and in the distance you could see the snow covered parts of the Andes.

We arrived in the village of Chinchero.  He we learned about the dying and weaving process the Inca have used for many years.  They showed us the various roots, flowers and bugs used to dye the wool (either sheep or alpaca).  Then they showed us how they turn it into yarn and then use it to weave various textiles.   After that we had the chance to look at some of the work the women had done (there are 13 different communities represented).

We next went on a walking tour of the city and saw the Incan foundation walls and a church where we continued to learn about how the Inca adapted Christianity to their own beliefs.  We also had the chance to see some locals drying potatoes on the hillside and the preservation of the terrace walls.

Next we did some driving on really bumpy gravel roads, which then turned into really bumpy dirt roads as we drove through a valley and saw people working in fields.   We ended up at the archaeological site of Moray.  There we got to see some great examples of terrace farming and also learned about how the Inca dug down into the hills to essentially block out the wind and create greenhouses that allowed them to adapt different plants to the climate.  We learned about the whole process and it was pretty cool.

Next, a bit more time on the dirt road and then a real road to the town of Urubamba where we stopped for lunch.  They had this delicious dessert that was like tiny funnel cakes, but made with a delicious pumpkin dough.... Amazing.

After lunch we headed toward Ollantaytambo.  Here we saw some fabulous ruins of what was something tied to religion...  The sun hits a certain point during solstice and probably led people to build there.   "tambo" means storage and on the mountainside across from the religious ruins were ruins of storehouses.  The masonry work on the Inca at this site (and the other sites we've visited) is amazing!!  The stones fit together almost seamlessly and they're huge!!  They were brought from a quarry up further in the mountain, down to Ollantaytambo and up the hill to the site.

It seemed like a long day, so we went to dinner (nothing exciting) and are now getting packed for the train ride to Machu Picchu and the hike up!