Introduction to Cuzco

We arrived in Cuzco this morning to sunny skies. Cuzco is 3330 meters or 10900 ft above sea level.

Cuzco is actually in the shape of a puma.

We are staying at the Novotel hotel which is in contrast to our other accommodations, although it is an old colonial building, the renovations have made it quite modern.

We had a siesta to help us deal with any altitude sickness, Anne and I have been ok so far.

Then off for a walk about to see what is in the area and visit some museums.

San Blas is a market with locals selling their works of knitting, weaving etc.

An ethical trade store was also visited, here they sell the work of Peruvian artists from different regions for a fair price 80% goes to the artisan and the remainder to keep the store operational. Here there were wonderful weaving textiles, many using blackstrap weaving technique, with patterns and colours unique to each region.

It is interesting how the textiles vary here from Arequipa or Lima.

We walked around Plaza de Armas which is very beautiful with the churches and the mountains.

Goodbye to Arequipa

This is our last day in Arequipa and with our wonderful teachers.

We finished our last class this morning and had a great lunch celebration, with traditional Peruvian music, dance and great food!

Our teachers are packing up to head home. Ruffina my knitting teacher lives in Huancavellca, a 30 hour bus trip. Elena is going back to Huancaya about an 18 hour bus trip. I don't envy them their long journey. They were wonderful and we all had a lot of fun.

Our projects turned out well and we had a 'show and tell' in the courtyard to see everyone's work.

Just packing up for the next leg of this amazing vacation.

We fly to Cuzco tomorrow morning at 9am.

Embroidery Day 3

Another hard day embroidering in the sunshine! Our pieces are coming along very well and will be completed tomorrow!

Sitting outdoors all day doing needle work is wonderful, but I'm a little tired tonight so it will be an early night.

I've gotten a little sunburn, I'm sure all of you at home love hearing that since it sounds like spring is hiding out this week.

Today our guides have arranged for our purchases to be sent to our hotel in Lima so we don't need to bring everything with us on the next leg of our trip. So our yarns and Peale cotton threads are packed up and ready for delivery. That's 7.8 kg of stuff...don't worry Derek, that includes Anne's.

I discovered my new favourite fruit growing here at the Casa, the Lucuma. The Lucuma fruit is known as 'the last gold of the Inca's'. It has unique flavour of maple syrup and sweet potato. I've tried it as ice cream and in a 'soup' with hot chocolate truffles and in a meringue dessert, it's delicious! 

Embroidery Day 2

Another great day in the courtyard working on our projects, lots of laughter to be heard throughout our outdoor classroom! We are all making great progress. It is quite amazing how great the eyesight is of our teachers. None of them wear glasses and can do the most delicate work with VERY minimal light. I wonder what they would think of the lighting in my sewing room? Derek says I can land planes it is so bright, they'd probably want sunglasses.

We (me) are getting more adventurous with our meals. Today we went to a small restaurant where the locals eat. I had a large bowl of minestrone soup (this country makes the best soup!), an avocado stuffed with chicken and vegetables with yellow rice and potatoes and lemonade. It was delicious. Our waitress chased us down the road after because we left too much money, we thought the sign said 17 soles but it was 7 and she wanted to give us our change! So, it was a great meal at a great price and such honesty.

Tonight we learn how to use a 'Puchka', this is a drop spindle used to spin yarn, it is also the name of our tour. Then a pompon demonstration, not your regular pompon, these ones have images created within of animals for example.

We are really enjoying the holiday but I am really missing brushing my teeth with tap water, soft toilet paper that I can flush and my family - human and furry! 

Goodnight!

Here are some pictures of my emcroidery in progress!

Workshop 2

Back to 'work' today, hand embroidery is this weeks workshop. Our teachers are Elena and her daughter Annabel. Annabel is also 1 of our tour directors. Elena is Spanish speaking and Annabel is learning English. My comprehension of Spanish is better, but when speaking it I still combine all the Romance languages and English together! We are all having great fun working in the courtyard under the tree. Unfortunately a bird has taken residence in this tree, need I say more? This bird has a very interesting song, it sounds a lot like flatulence, now can you beat that for entertainment?

The use of many colours in our embroidery is very cheerful. We embroider on felted wool basted to muslin on a stretcher frame. There are no patterns these ladies draw their designs freehand or mostly just go straight to the needle and thread.

When we finished the workshop they took us to the local market for some pearl cotton, there is a great colour range here, not to mention the cost. So 8 of us ended up in this little shop with our teachers and bought loads of Peale cotton...we needed to take turns in the shop as it was so small!

Then off for dinner.

Feet up after a long day. 

Dressing in layers is a definite must while visiting here, the temperature fluctuates a lot throughout the day and night.

The Dance of the Condor

Today we said goodbye to El Refugio with great sadness, it is a wonderful little oasis to relax and enjoy the fresh mountain air and the sound of the Colca River roaring ever so gently. 

We went to Cruz Del Condor T 3975 metres above sea level in hopes of seeing 1 of the 40 Condors that inhabit the region. We danced for the condors the night before as this is part of the magic! We

We were fortunate to see 2 Condors soaring overhead even before we reached Condor Cross- our dance had been successful. Once at the viewing point they gave us a beautiful show soaring through the canyon, around and over our heads, we saw up to 6 at one time! They are so large but so graceful with their black and white wingspan. We watched in awe for about an hour!

Then off for about an hour hike along the Cruz del Condor where we were able to see the different plant life from the very tiny 'needle' flower, lupine, geraniums, assorted cacti to the large zigzag cactus, we could smell them as we walked by. We also enjoyed listening and seeing various birds along the way. Of course there was the majesty of the canyon itself with its different rock faces, small paths the indigenous people use, the Colca River running through the bottom of the gorge, words and pictures just can't capture it!

Then back to Chivay to meet Felicia in her home. There she showed us how she dies her yarn using organic plants. I knew I was officially on holidays, today was the first time my brain associated dying with adding colour to textiles rather than the other dying necessitating a mortician!

She was lovely to share her home with us. She also spins her own yarn (sheeps wool and alpaca), weaves or knits the final product creating beautiful scarves, bags and balls of yarn.

Then back to the city of Arequipa to begin our next workshop tomorrow - hand embroidery for me.

If you ever get to visit Peru make sue to include the Colca! In my view it's a must see!

More of the Colca Canyon

Woke up this morning to beautiful sunny skies and spectacular views a the El Refugio.

There truly aren't enough superlatives to describe this vacation!

A lovely breakfast this morning the off to see the sites a short drive to Yunque to visit the local church and begin a walk through the village and on to see the Pre Inca and Inca Terraces. The walk was difficult at times through uneven rocky paths with various animal deposits to dodge along the way. The challenge was to stop looking at the Andes, terraces, flora and fauna, volcanoes and sunny skies to make sure you didn't step in something unexpected!

The colours of the terraces were fabulous with multiple shades of green (grasses, cacti,trees), reds, purples and gold (quinoa plants), white (wheat) and yellows (flowers).

There were large cacti called 'zig zag' where a particular bird nests. 

We saw the 'giant hummingbird' which is 17 cm in size, we saw 1 in spectacular colour of blue.

Some doves (black and white winged), Andean eagle, and butterflies.

The Eagles had their nests also in the crevices of the rock face, very large!

We saw the local people out with their mules, and sheep on their way to work.

Local woman working in the terraces, harvesting and weeding.

We saw cows grazing and being milked.

During our 2 hour hike we crossed a stone bridge, and suspension bridge ( this wasn't a trek for those afraid of heights or struggling with altitude!)

The name 'Colca' means storage container, the Inca would store their goods in a hole in the rock face which would act as a refrigerator, we were able to see these from the suspension bride.

Everywhere we looked there was an amazing view and then some. I'm truly in awe of the Andes!

In this particular area there are 16 small villages each with their own church!

Looking back on the path we travelled on this trek, I was impressed by the distance and terrain we crossed!

Then back to the hotel for a late lunch, just as the clouds started rolling in. It seems that the weather is quite beautiful til about 3, then the clouds and wind come with a bit of rain (thunder showers today).

A few of us remained at the hotel rather then going on the afternoon tour to sit by the fire, knit and spin yarn. How wonderful is that?