Urubamba Whitewater Rafting

We woke early again today to head to the Sacred Valley for whitewater rafting! The Urubamba River is the river that flows from Cusco through the Sacred Valley to Machu Picchu. It eventually joins the Apurimac to become the Ucayali, one of the main headwaters of the Amazon. I was surprised by how low the water was, but the guide explained that we were there at the height of summer and the river was much wilder during high water season. Makes sense to me! We hit some big rapids toward the end of our rafting excursion, but most of the water was pretty calm. After getting off the water, we drove to Ollantaytambo. This tiny town was charming, with ruins lining the steep cliffs on either side of the valley. I wasn't expecting it to be so incredibly lovely. This was another place I wish that we could have spent more time in. Before dinner, Ashley and I explored the ruins on one of the hillsides and felt like explorers. We could see the jagged, snow covered peaks in the distance and wished we could hike them.