6/15/16
I believe that each day this week the attractions we see
keep getting bigger and bigger. Today we explored the ruins that speckle the
Sacred Valley. Named for its agriculturally rich history, the Incans turned the
mountainous region into a cornucopia of biodiversity via their usage of
aqueducts and terraces. But before we even go to our first scheduled stop we
took three breaks. The first was at a collection of stops on the side of the
road. These stops are common here in Peru. The guide explained to us that much
of Peru’s economic fortune is derived from tourism, and while it isn’t the base
of their culture there is no way that any it can be avoided in their modern day
lives. Each shop has the same general things a collection of alpaca
cloth-stuffs, necklaces, stone pipes, stuffed alpaca and cuy (guinea pigs),
backpacks and bags. Our next stop was Awana Kancha, a llama and alpaca
sanctuary. It was small but man were people excited to get close to the
animals. There was also free ruffage that we could use to feed them. Who knew
LL/A’s were so big, if there wasn’t a fence one of them would have trampled
Vicky. I got a few glamor shots with my favorite whose name was Chompa (sweater
in Quechua). Our last was a pit stop for pictures overlooking the Sacred Valley
and the town of Pisac.
Our first official stop was the ruins of Pisac. Like many of
the ruins prior to today this was a small coupling of houses made of stone,
atop a large terrace system. We were told that those with social power, which
were usually priests, or those with a close relationship with god used the
highest houses. There was a hike up to the highest part of the town that
overlooked the valley. This was followed by an hour bus ride to our lunch
buffet. Lunch was at Tunupa a giant buffet that is clearly made for the
satisfaction of travelers. It was a beautiful house and garden in the back that
ran along a river. There were about 4 huge tables covered in food from soup, to
salad, chifa, a ceviche bar, and two whole tables of deserts. After lunch we
all lied down by the river and rested up for the rest of the afternoon ahead of
us.
Our next stop was Ollantaytambo, another collection of ruins
and terraces built into mountainsides in the sacred valley. The ruins overlook
the town bellow. About 15 floors of terraces and at the top I could see the way
the sunlight cut the valley in half. Running through the middle of the town was
a river, which separated the land between normal, and holy land. On the
mirroring mountainside there were more houses and paths. If one looks hard you
can see the face of an alpaca. We ended our day at a yawn demo. The women there
showed us how they turned an alpaca into a sweater. First the wool is combed
and spooled into a thin string. Then the string is dyed using natural coloring
ingredients from the surrounding area. Examples of coloring ingredients were limes,
cactus insects crushed, leaves, and even the salt from the salt ponds we
visited yesterday. From there the yard is then weaved into designs on a loom. For those of you who do not know a loom works by weaving a piece of strong on a shuttle through interlocking pieces of string and is then beat down with a comb. The instructor joked with us saying that the bone was that of a tourist who didn't buy anything, I still question if it was a joke. At the end of the demo we were invited to buy any of the products they had in
their store, I bought some yard for my dad to use as he loves knitting.
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