Five Feet, Nine Inches Above Ground

Monday October 27, 2025

Th day began with plenty of sunshine and an early morning trip to the San Pedro Market. It was also the day I had to check out of the Hotel Siete Ventanas and travel with Wilbert to the town of Urubamba in the Sacred Valley. The rest of my group were travelling by bus from Machu Picchu.

I love the market and found it a little less crowded than the day before with all of the stalls open. It is truly a bustling economic centre of the city.

Outside the hotel was a woman in traditional costume with a baby llama. They are everywhere in the city and for a few soles you can hold and pet the llama, so I did!

Once done with the market, I had time to explore the local church dedicated to St Francis of Assisi and it was open! They were actually celebrating Mass and were in the middle of the consecration when I arrived so I sat quietly at the back until the celebration was over. In comparison to other churches I have seen in Cusco, it was relatively less ornate but beautiful in its simplicity. There is a pipe organ in the gallery at the back but the priest was using recorded music he could control from the altar. It seemed a little unusual to me to hear an invisible choir, orchestra and cantor. The choir celestial, I suppose.

I also took some photos of the hotel. It was quite charming, very comfortable and the staff were amazingly helpful and friendly.

The trip to the Sacred Valley began at 14H00 and given the traffic conditions, we made fairly good time arriving at our accommodations well before the dinner hour. The hotel was formerly a monastery and has retained the name, San Augustin monasterio de la Recoleta. Situated on the outskirts of Urabamba, it is a quiet, peaceful place with flower filled gardens and relaxing outdoor areas. The Peruvian Daffodils were growing abundantly in all sorts of places. The corn in the field behind the hotel was growing by the minute.

In the early evening, as the sun was setting and the shadows lengthened, Wilbert and Juan built a fire in preparation for the Fire Ceremony for the entire group. This is a ceremony where the participants give all of their negative energy to the fire and receive in return from it renewal and strength. It also included group ritual dancing with flute music provided by Wilbert and drumming by Juan.

The ceremony came to an end as the fire died down and we all trouped off for dinner and bed. And there might have been a couple of after dinner pool games. The end of another exciting day!