Sanctuary lodge, not all that it is cracked up to be.

Perhaps the most sought after hotel in Peru. The closest to Machu Picchu and walkable in the early morning to catch the sunrise.  Concept sounds good,in fact the concept sound down right romantic and over the top,... BUT...the 30  rooms are tiny, the restaurant is over crowded, the area is dead quite at night as anyone who is not staying here has been shepherded onto the buses, Rooms are way over priced, and in the morning to see the sunrise you need to be out and about by 5am to beat the buses loaded with hikers coming up the mountain .Having prepared yourself for the best experience at a vast cost  no one can do anything about those clouds that obliterate the views.      

The Ultimate. Start and end of Machu Picchu Trail

The start of the trail as you cross the Urubamba River. 

Pointing to Sungate, where the Ica trail ends with views of Machu Picchu ruins.    

Highlights of the sacred valley , Urubamba

Hacienda Sarapampa; a gem of a place in the middle of the Sacred Valley.

Here the owners grow the largest kernels of corn in the country known as the Giant White Corn Fields. Here, in the USA, these kernels are sold  at Trader Joe's.

The Three Sisters Companion planting methods as used by the Incas were plant the corn first, then the beans that need a stake to climb up and then the squash to benefit from the dappled sunlight created by the corn as  protection from the strong sunlight at high altitudes.

Natural fertilizers and pesticides as used by the Incas,

The corn grows tall here.

We made it, Machu Picchu

Yes, that's us, the same group of people on the left and the right as we did a run-around on a pano shot. 

A day of sightseeing to the Incan Moray Agricultural research center and the Maray Salt Pans.

Discovered as recently as 1931, this extensive Roman Amphitheater  style of terraces was used as an experimental station to see which crops would grow where.  The Moray Terraces, at 11500 ft above sea level  as with all Incan sights have their own irrigation system are  

The scenery around the Moray Terraces.

Close to The Moray Terraces are the Maras Salt pans owned by 250 families who work the 5000 pools between the hours of  6.30am to 10.30am when the sun is not so strong, producing three kinds of salt,white skimmed from the top, the fashionable  pink salt coming from the middle and brown being the cheapest coming from the bottom of the salt pans.  

Sky lodge

Tempting to stay here  but watching guests climbing up and down brought out a sense a sense of preservation that makes me happy to leave it for others