Goodbyes

Today was our last tour day. The trip has been fabulous, amazing, fantastic, super ... You get the idea.

It's amazing how quickly these days have gone by. Everyday has been filled with smiles, laughter, new knowledge and incredible sights.

Today we visited the small village of Chinchero, here is a cooperative of mostly woman whom knit, weave and crochet in traditional patterns for the Cultural textile shop we visited in Cusco yesterday.

They range in age from their 30s to 80s and produce the most beautiful work. They shared with us a cup of coco tea, their process and talents. They had a beautiful range of textiles available, I wanted everything, but reason prevailed. 

Then back to Cusco for a free afternoon to finish our look around Cusco, pack and get ready for a goodbye dinner tonight.

A lovely goodbye dinner at the Inka Grill.

Flying back to Lima in the morning.

Adios Cusco.

Cusco

Cusco is an amazing city with so much history. There are over 3000 archeological sits in the city - amazing.

Today was a beautiful sunny day. We had a late start today, 9am! Off on a walking tour to start the day off.

San Pedro market was our first stop, I didn't see much in the market that interested me, but finally found a fabric shop with just the fabrics I was hoping to find!

Then to a chocolate shop, delicious, Peru has great chocolate!

A visit to San Domingo Cathedral, Peru has amazing churches, so much history behind them and the weaving of Inka icons amongst the traditional Catholic symbols is very interesting. The use of gold, silver and cedar is beautiful. Beautiful paintings adorn the walls, I've noticed that Mary is very important in Peru.

The Center for Traditional Textiles of Cusco was our next stop before lunch. There is a small museum mostly dedicated to backstrap weaving and within the shop there were weavers and knitters creating more beautiful works. I really liked that each item in the shop had a tag with the picture of the artist, the region they are from and their birthdate. They had everything from small braids to bed coverings all with unique colours and patterns.

A traditional lunch at a Cusco restaurant followed. Here a glass of chinchita was about 750 mis and the meals very large, a bowl of soup could probably serve 3 people. There was interested items on the menu like bull test less, breaded udders etc. I stuck with stuffed peppers! This restaurant also has traditional Peruvian dancers for entertainment, it was great fun.

The archeological site of Saqsayhuaman was next. This Inka site is dedicated to the lightening God and is built in a zigzag design, like a lightening bolt. The rocks here range in size from 30 kg to several tons and it is estimated the wall was 15 m high. At one time it was covered in silver, either entirely or certain stones, imagine the site of this, going around the corner to see this was jaw dropping today, imagine with the silver. Very few stairs here.

Q'enko was our next stop, work is still taking place at this site. This has been called a labyrinth, because of its shape. There is a sundial on top of the structure, unfortunately we weren't able to see it today as access has been restricted due to a recent visitor injury. Here in the lower levels it is believed to have been a 'mummification chamber' to test the best way to prepare sacrifices to the gods. We went through this cave like structure that had a altar.

More stairs here, but today was real holiday as far as our stair climbing workout. I think maybe Peru means a country of stairs!

Then a free evening! We got a little disorientated looking for a particular shop, so you guessed it climbed a lot more stairs! We rewarded ourselves with ice cream for supper!

Machu Picchu

Today I was able to see this wonderful Inka City high in the mountains. It was doubtful at times as there was a very heavy mist (fog) that woul shift periodically to give us a sneak preview. Then the rain came, making the trek a little more challenging, slippery and very wet, but it's Machu Picchu! We were able to see a good portion of the sits despite being soaked to our bones, dressed in rain coats, you know the recycled garbage bag variety!  I was quite surprised bevy the lushness of the vegetation, it's very close to the Amazon so a more tropical climate. Lots of bamboo, several varieties of orchids, trumpet flowers etc. we made it to the Inka bridge following a very narrow path along the mountains, if you're afraid of heights don't look over the edge. The bridge itself wasn't remarkable, it's how they were able to build it on this mountain side and then continue the path. We saw the agricultural sector, fountains, the sacred rock, the Intihuatana and temple of the condor to name a few.

The mist added a very mystical component to the day and the rain just added to the challenge, nothing could dampen our spirits at such a wonderful place!

Microclimates

YPeru has several microclimates within the country, but it also can have several microclimates in the same area. It is definitely a place to dress in layers, temperatures fluctuate frequently throughout the day.

We started off today with a drive to Moray. Here we saw remarkable circular terraces, 4 in total. As this site has been investigated it is felt they were built as an Inka agricultural experiment. All areas get maximum sunlight, and the temperature from terrace to terrace can change by 3-4 degrees C 

. This allowed a variety of crops to be planted. An irrigation system was also put in place when the terraces were built. Recently archeologists discovered pottery bowls with a variety of pollen, they feel the pollen was kept to help create stronger plants for the area, the original genetic engineering of plants.

Here we walked around the terraces and saw a variety of plants, birds and butterflies, it was very serene.

Next we went to the Urubamba Valley to visit the home of Katrina to learn about her wool felting.it was a very interesting and laborious process, but the end results were beautiful, she makes the most beautiful hats among other things. Her home was lovely with lush gardens (a tropical microclimate), quiet area and a lovely home, she has a St. Bernard and a black cat who curl up together to sleep.

A brief break for lunch at a beautiful restaurant along the Urubamba river. Again beautiful gardens, with llama and alpaca out back and parrots in the front.

Now time for more exercise! To Ollortaymbo, a narrow section of the Sacred Valley. Here there are more terraces with a slightly different configuration and at the top is the Temple de Sol.

Up 242 'stairs' with remarkable views all around us. The rock of the stairs and path were beautiful colours of blue, pink, grey, gold. Once we reached the top to see the Temple, there are 5 large Quartz sones weighing between 70 and 100 tons each built as a perfect wall. These large stones are thought to come from a mountain approximately 9 km away, how the Inka were able to get them down a mountain then to the top of the terraces is truly a mystery. Now we had to go down the stairs!

Now off to the train station to head to Agua Calientes to spend the night, before we head for Machu Picchu.

Sorry no pictures, Internet access isn't great here.

The Inca Trail

Today was beautiful, mostly sunny with occasional cloud cover...but no rain!

It is quite something to be in a city surrounded by beautiful mountains! There are so many shades of green from almost black to teal, and they are always changing depending on how the sun is highlighting parts of the mountain and emphasizing shadows in other areas, a real study in tones and shading.

We had a late start today, 8 AM, ha ha! You need to be a morning person for sure. 

We headed out to a social project where they have the various camelids of Peru, Vicunya, llama, and alpaca, and all varieties of these.

Then we get to the area where we learn about natural dying, and spinning of the yarn. In this area they use a combination of things to create different shades.

Then to the ladies weaving these beautiful yarns into blankets, scarves etc... Mostly backstrap.and they do this with their very young children with them from infant to age 3.

Then of course the store with the finished projects, WOW, what beautiful things. I found myself some beautiful teal gloves of alpaca hide.

Now for some exercise, off to an archeological site in Pisaq. Here the Pre Inca's then the Inca's lived, there is a communal living space, a military area and an area for the church.

It is really amazing how they brought up huge blocks of granite to build walls of some buildings and other boulders for some buildings and walls. All the walls lean inwards, the windows are trapezoid shape and the boulders fit together perfectly like a flower or like a hexagon patterned quilt.

To get to see all these marvelous things we walked for about 2 hours along an Inca trail, that was challenging to say the least. Narrow paths along the ciffs edge, no railings and very uneven ground, multiple stairs up and down that are rocks along a well worn trail, no regular spacing or size, occassionally there was a railing, and of course very narrow tunnels to walk through- the Inca were definitely not large people! But the scenery along the way made everything worthwhile! We had great views of terraces and tombs,mountains all around us and the town of Pisaq below. Pisaq was actually created by a landslide that occurred ?millions of years ago, and you can visualize the path it must of taken when you look down from near the start of the trail.

Then time for a rest, cold drink and lunch. So into the town for fresh and delicious empanadas, cold lemonade and the bano.

Then over to the very large market to look at all the textiles, jewelry, art, food and people.

A quiet evening, a 645 start tomorrow. Buenas Noches!

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.