MY BIRTHDAY!!

What a wonderful way to celebrate my birthday.. in the mountain valleys of Peru, and not just any valley, the Sacred Valley of the Incas. The only downside of the whole day is that we had to get up at 4:30 a.m. in order to be to the train station by 5:25 a.m. Ugh. Oh well, we're getting used to early mornings.

Once we were back in Ollantaytambo, we hit the KB Restaurant for the largest breakfast either of had seen in ages. We had french toast and pancakes with honey. We also got a large mug of Chocolate con Leche (Hot chocolate with Milk) and some juice. It was awesome. We then hunted down a guide to go for a horseback ride of the valley. We were quickly on our way with Mario to see the Puramaca ruins. The ruins were a combination of the Incas and the people conquered by the Incas.

The horse ride was absolutely wonderful. It was Kevin's first time on horse back and I told him he would never get a ride like that in the States. YOu'd have to sign your life away for such an incredible ride. We rode up the mountain sides, sometimes in some pretty sketchy areas. I tried not to look down. Kevin's horse was always testing him as he tried to eat grass most of the way up. I had to constantly heel my horse and smack him on his rump to get him to keep up. Once we reached the ruins, Mario gave us the low down on the rooms uses (or what their speculated use is!).

Mario's dog, Negra, was not the dog you want to have in a huge stone ruin from the Incas. She LOVES to play with rocks, large rocks. SHe kept trying to pull the rocks out of the stone walls. Negra was a sweet dog and would have loved to play with ASpen. She was so comical, playing with the rocks and barking at them if they didn't move the way she wanted to. She also ran all over the mountain side chasing the birds and calves.

Before heading back to town. Mario told us to tell the caretaker that we didn't have any money. Apparently, he has a bad habit of asking for money as a "fee" to see the ruins. There really isn't a fee, he just tries to sucker tourists into paying him. Sillly man. The ride down was pretty nice. ONce we got back to the road, we trotted-galloped most of the way down. I have NEVER been on a ride in the States where they actually let you run your horse. WE had so much fun. The horse I was on often times had to lead in order to get the other horses to run. It was grand!

We ended the day by having a wonderful meal at the same restaurant we had breakfast. Two glasses of wine, two meals, two great brownies, and great garlic bread for a whopping $15!

I had a wonderful birthday, thanks to Kevin! :)