After a couple of days in Cusco, we started on a multi-day trek that took us to the village of Lares, and then through a series of hamlets and isolated thatch-roofed stone houses. The people here don't dress up for the tourists- the traditional clothes are their everyday attire.
We passed herds of sheep, llamas, and alpacas, crossed a pass at over 14,500' altitude, and camped by an alpine lake. We hiked to the village of Huilloc, then took a bus to Ollantaytambo, and boarded the train to Machu Picchu.