Day 6
Tonight we would stay at a small hotel in Urubamba. The reasons we chose this hotel were:
#1. Urubamba is a convenient stop for visiting Sacred Valley.
#2. The hotel had really good reviews, and they helped guests to arrange taxi for sightseeing.

I contacted the hotel through booking.com before the trip, asking if they could arrange a taxi to pick us up at our Cusco hotel and go through Saqsaywaman to Pisac for sightseeing before driving us to Urubamba. The owner of the hotel, Carlos, replied yes, it would cost $55 (cash), and he would come to Cusco to pick us up himself.

So this morning Carlos came to pick us up. He is a really nice guy, speaks enough English to communicate, and would use Google Translate to translate whatever he couldn't say. He drove us to Saqsaywaman, then Q'enqo, Puka Pukara, Tambomachay, and finally Pisac before driving us to his home / hotel in Urubamba.

1. Cusco from Saqsaywaman.

2. Saqsaywaman.

3. We didn't plan to hire a guide at Saqsaywaman. But this man came to us and said he had been a guide for a long time, and his English seemed not too hard to understand, so we hired him for 60 Soles. It was worth it (last about an hour). He showed us things we wouldn't have noticed, answered questions and helped us taking pictures.

4. Our guide said there used to be three buildings here, but now only the foundation stones too large to be easily moved remain. The smaller stones were used for building Cuzco by the Spaniards in the 16th century.

5. Cusco from Saqsaywaman.

6. Saqsaywaman.

7. Saqsaywaman.

8. Saqsaywaman.

9. Saqsaywaman.

10. The largest stone in Saqsaywaman.

11. 11-angled stone, Saqsaywaman.

12. Puma paw, Saqsaywaman.

13. Saqsaywaman.

14. Saqsaywaman.

15. Saqsaywaman.

16. Q'enqo.

17. Q'enqo.

18. Puka Pukara.

19. Puka Pukara.

20. Puka Pukara.

21. Tambomachay.

22. Tambomachay.

23. Sacred Valley.

24. Pisac Ruins.

25. Pisac Ruins.

26. Hiking at Pisac Ruins.

27. Pisac Ruins.

28. Pisac Ruins.

29. Pisac Ruins.

30. Pisac Ruins.

31. Tuk tuk parked at Pisac Ruins parking lot.

32. Eating a late lunch at Pisac main square.

33. We had alpaca ribs and alpaca skewers. They tasted good, but boy alpaca meat is tough, my jaw was tired after eating these.

We finally arrived in Urubamba around 5 pm. Carlos's wife greeted us when we arrived at the hotel. She was really nice too. Their hotel is a 2-story building with 8 rooms total. We were the only guests that night. Carlos said April to October is the high season. November is the low season which is why we came at this time.

34. Carlos's kitchen and dining room from the hotel building. Carlos and his wife live in a house behind the kitchen.

35. Carlos's yard.

(To be continued)