Hotel Rio Sagrado-a little bit of paradise here on earth

It takes many (fascinating) hours to reach your destination if indeed your destination is the Sacred Valley, Peru. But it is worth it! Hidden between the railroad tracks and the river, nestled between the Andes mountains, and in an otherwise nondescript seeming town (Urubamba), lies the absolutely stunning Orient Express Hotel Rio Sagrado. Lorne (our travel agent and tour guide) was able to find a tour operator at the Cuzco airport who could find us a wonderful car and driver/guide who speaks great English, to take us here, via the village of Pisac-more on that later). Edgar was fantastic, telling us some Inca history, and waiting patiently in Pisac while we made our way through the gigantic market that is set up there on Sundays. We have some fantastic photos, but I will upload one or two of them later. Suffice it to say right now that this place is incredible-peaceful, stunning setting, kind people, every detail is thought out carefully. Our room looks out on the river flowing past over the rapids, and the steep mountain sides across it. All night, the river babbles past, creating a lovely backdrop of sound for our sleep. So far, it is I who has had the hardest time adjusting to the altitude. Several of us had some shortness of breath when we got off the plane in Cuzco, that passed away but then I noticed that with effort, it comes back again. Brian and Lorne seem inured to it! The hotel is built in a number of beautifully appointed buildings, all oriented to the river view, which means that there are some steep climbs from our room to the lobby, and so on. The winding paths through beautiful gardens are quite lovely, and most of all, it is very, very quiet here. It is the first thing you notice when you arrive, and one of my companions thinks perhaps the quiet is created by the mountains. After two days of travel (that is, two mornings where we had to get up for a flight), it was incredibly wonderful to arrive here. Our hostess greeted us with "muna" in a drink, it is the Andean mint they grow here in the garden, and it is supposed to be better for altitude sickness than coca tea. She showed us the resort then, and we have all agreed that we have NEVER stayed anywhere as nice. She gave us several recommendations for dinner and after some discussion, we selected one in town where we could comfortably celebrate our friend Brian's birthday. For 10 soles each way, the hotel arranged for a driver to take us to the restaurant and pick us up again later. The restaurant is on the second floor of a wood and stone building, with wide plank wooden board floors, a roaring fire in the corner (it is chilly here at night!!!), and a beautiful table set for 4 by the fire. When we praised the delicious food (smoked local trout with capers and light vinegar; a salad of asparagus, avocado and hearts of palm, and fabulous butter sauteed mushrooms for appetizers), the owner told us "it is simply rural food, with simple flavourings". It was absolutely perfect, even without wine to accompany (drinking is not allowed when you are trying to adjust to the altitude). I will say more later about the Pisac ruins and the amazing Pisac market. Suffice it to say we are having a wonderful time...today is a "relax" day...beautiful breakfast over looking the river in the gorgeous glass enclosed restaurant (all the doors onto the room terraces are glass too, and the shower is a rain shower, also glass encased totally, with plants growing outside for privacy, it is like taking a shower in the rainforest)...then a stroll around the grounds with cameras, and then massages we booked yesterday. (Last night, before dinner, we had time to soak in the giant hot tubs (one indoor, one outdoors), some of us took a steam in the steam room, and quick cold shower with mountain water pouring out of the rocks! I realize this is a bit jumbled, but I think I'm too relaxed today to write coherently. More later...and maybe a few pictures too. xoDeb.