Top of the agenda this morning was a visit to Pisac archaeological site. I didn’t want to take an organised tour and had read online that one can easily reach Pisac independently by using one of the many collectivos (shared minibus services) that operate between Cusco and Pisac. So straight after breakfast I headed out to Puputi Street where I understood the collectivos depart from. As I turned into the street I could see loads of minibuses and a woman was shouting “Pisac Pisac Pisac” so I had no trouble figuring out which one to take. I approached her and confirmed I wanted to go to Pisac and she told me it would cost 5 soles (about £1.10). I went to give her the money but she indicated I needed to pay at the end. So on I got and waited for more people to arrive – the collectivos don’t operate to a fixed schedule but tend to leave when full.

In the event I didn’t have long to wait – we set off, just under half full, within 5 minutes, and the empty seats were soon filled by people who flagged the minibus down along the route.

It’s a very scenic 45 minute drive to Pisac, with stunning mountain backdrop and numerous smaller archaeological sites along the way.

The bus was actually continuing on beyond Pisac so I had to clamber over a couple of people to get out when we arrived at the bridge which is the entrance to the town. I was immediately offered a taxi – most tourists take a taxi either from Pisac town or directly from Cusco, to the top of the archaeological site, which is otherwise a 4km hike from the town, climbing 500 meters in the process. Of course I had already decided I wanted to hike it!

I stopped in the town to buy a few snacks as I wasn’t sure how long I would take to explore the site. Pisac town is small but has a lovely market square and is situated at the bottom of a valley surrounded by mountains, so the scenery is quite spectacular.

I started to follow the very clear path up the hill and was gratified to find that, apart from the already strong early morning sun, I wasn’t having too much trouble with the uphill slog. I bought myself a sun hat yesterday as I find I need it in this heat just to keep the sun off my face – it also did a pretty decent job of keeping the very annoying midge-like insects away from my face!

The entire site is built into the hillside and so it’s not a case of having to hike all the way to the top before seeing anything – the lower part of the hike is alongside the lower terraces, and within about 30 minutes I had reached some of the key ruins. I then spent another hour slowly making my way past the various ruins to the top.

I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves – all I can say is wow! Apparently the site is much larger than Machu Picchu, and as so few people choose to hike either up or down, I encountered virtually nobody else until I got close to the top where suddenly a number of school groups and a large group of American tourists appeared. Because the hillside is so steep, any kind of exploration involves going up and down lots of steps, and most people seem to stick to the upper sector rather than dropping too low and having to climb back up.

Eventually I decided it was time to head back down, and as I got to the main street I could already see a waiting collectivo with the driver shouting “Cusco Cusco Cusco”. I had read that it’s possible to get the collectivo to drop you at Sachsaywaman on the way back, and then walk back down hill to Cusco from there – it’s only actually just over a kilometre outside Cusco but that kilometre is all uphill if approaching from Cusco.

The driver agreed he could drop me at Sachsaywaman and advised me to sit by the door directly behind him so he could easily let me out. We waited for about 15 minutes for the other seats to be filled and then were off.

I found, once I got out at Sachsaywaman, that I was suddenly knackered. It was 1.45 by this time and I’d done a huge amount of hiking up and down hill on just a few snacks. So my enthusiasm for the site was nowhere near what it had been for Pisac. Thankfully it’s a much smaller site, albeit still with plenty of ups and downs. I had a slow trudge around all the key areas, particularly enjoying the wonderful view over Cusco from one of the viewpoints.

I also walked up to the Cristo Blanco statue next to the archaeological site because I felt it had to be done.

Then it was straight down the many steps on the steep hill down to Cusco, feeling very sympathetic towards the poor souls I passed looking hot and sweaty as they slogged up it!

More exploration of the Sacred Valley tomorrow