A few days ago I took the quick flight from Lima to Cusco, going from sea level to 3,400 meters (a bit over 11,000 feet). Cusco was the capital of the Incan empire and is the gateway to Machu Picchu.

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The next morning, I decided to go for a little walk to get to know the city. About sixty seconds after I shut the hostel door, I heard a marching band’s blaring horns. I decided to investigate. It turned out that there was a huge celebration underway, so I followed the parade (which included four people blowing on giant conch shells) for a few blocks. We all stopped in front of the main cathedral in la Plaza de Armas. After visiting the cathedral (no pictures allowed), I took my leave.

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Yesterday, the real fun began. I took a full day tour of the Valle Sagrado (Sacred Valley). It was my favorite type of tour: bilingual with the Spanish going first. If anything gets past me, I can resort to the mother tongue. Our first stop was at a beautiful lake.

After the lake, we were given a demonstration showing how the Incas made clothing out of alpaca wool. It turns out the red color was made by smashing parasites that live on cacti and mixing them with various agents (such as lemon juice) to get specific shades.

After purchasing my only souvenir of the trip so far (a rainbow alpaca blanket which I intend to use on my trek to Machu Picchu), we headed to the first of the ruins.

We saw a small cathedral built by the Spanish (or, more accurately, directed by the Spanish but built by the natives…a common theme). Many cactus-dwelling parasites were sacrificed to color the paintings on the inside.

Next up, we made our way to the second ruins site. At the entrance, the group’s Mexican contingent and I had a good laugh about the prohibitions: no fire, livestock, ATVs, or drones. What a world we live in.

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Next, we descended into the salt mines. The mines were invented by the Incas but are still in production today. Salty spring water is directed into one third of the pools each day. Each pool is allowed to evaporate for two days, and then they are filled again. This process continues for a month, after which the salt is harvested.

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We stopped for lunch in the town of donkeys, so named because burros outnumber humans by a ratio of 3:1. There was even a giant statute of a donkey in the center square. Perhaps we should rename the white house the house of burros. I would venture to guess that the ratio exceeds 3:1.

With politics now in the rear-view, let’s continue to the next site. We arrived in a beautiful valley and were directed to start climbing. After some huffing and puffing (as well as losing some of the Brazilians), we made it to the top of the hill and were rewarded with stunning views. We were informed that the Incas elected to build in the mountains because the valleys flood frequently.

Finally, we arrived at the last ruins site, which was definitely my favorite. It was one of those places where you immediately feel the magic as you start retracing the footsteps of the ancients. It was obvious why the Incas built here. It was is sacred ground.

The layered terraces were used to create micro-climates for agriculture. The Incas had over five thousand types of potatoes, along with grains like quinoa.

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After soaking it all in, we returned to Cusco.

This morning (a sacred day in my culture’s calendar–Katie Huseby’s day of birth), I decided to climb as many steps and walk uphill as much as possible in order to get a good view of the city. Up I went, periodically looking backwards to asses the view. Eventually I realized that it had been a solid twenty minutes since I’d seen another tourist. After walking along some railroad tracks, receiving some questionable looks from locals, and running through the street in a hysterical fashion while being chased by a growling dog, I made the executive decision that the view was sufficient.

On Thursday I start a five-day trek through the Andes. Stay tuned.