Hiking Down the Patacancha Valley in Peru

After visiting the ruins in Ollantaytambo our driver brought us to the Pumamarca ruins where we started our hike down into the Patacancha Valley.

At the beginning of our hike, there was a woman selling crafts. Her adorable daughter was running around playing with baby llamas. We asked permission to take pictures of her daughter and offered her some soles. While doing my research on Peru, I continually came across ‘warnings’ of woman and children in Peru badgering tourists to take their pictures in exchange for some soles. This was never our experience. It is true that they were walking on the streets, usually with llamas, hoping to exchange a picture for a few soles, but they never were rude or invasive in any way.

At the beginning of the hike, there is a ‘rustic’ bathroom that is available. My research also informed me, repeatedly, to bring toilet paper with you throughout Peru. My sister and I both packed toilet paper for the trip and then forgot to bring any with us on this outing. This was the only location we were at where there was no toilet paper. Luckily, my sister had two pieces of kleenex and very graciously shared a piece with me. If you are a Seinfeld fan, it was truly a moment of “Can you spare a square?”

The trail follows irrigation canals that were built over a half century ago and are still in use today. The altitude at the beginning of the hike is 11,122 feet. The entire hike is downhill so the altitude did not inhibit our ability to complete the hike.

We saw a few homes of farmers scattered on the mountainside. There are still many remote areas in the mountains where there is no electricity.

All of the farming terraces are still in use today. Our visit coincided with the end of the dry season, so the terraces had no crops.

The scenery was a little drab at the beginning but it became more and more impressive during the hike.

We thought we left giant insects behind in the Amazon Rainforest, but the Andes Mountains had some impressively large insects of their own.

The slopes of the mountains contain the green mineral, olivene. The only other time we have seen olivine was at the Green Sand Beach in Hawaii. When the sun shines on it, the color is stunning. Unfortunately, I was not able to capture it with my camera.

We stopped quite a few times just to soak it all in and admire the view. Our hike ended in Ollantaytambo where we enjoyed a late lunch before returning to our hotel for the remainder of the day. Our next day had us taking the Vistadome train to Aguas Calientes where we were staying for the night. It was also the day I had been anticipating the most, our first visit to Machu Picchu.

As always, wishing you happy travels and fantastic adventures in this thing called life.

(All pictures are available for purchase as Fine Art or Digital Downloads at full resolution through Savor the Moment Photography Shop. If you see something you like, click on the link. If you are unable to find it, use the Contact Me page and I will make sure the image is available.)

Some of My Favorite Hikes

Hiking to the Summit of Huayna Picchu

Hiking the Pipiwai Trail to the Waimoku Falls in Maui

Hiking Across the Kilaeua Crater in Hawaii

Hiking Cathedral Rock in Sedona, Arizona

Hiking in Saguaro National Park

Hiking in Joshua Tree National Park, California

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