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Peru - Days 3 and 4 - the Sacred Valley and Inca Trail
Anyway, after a day of acclimatizing in Cusco, we went off to explore the Sacred Valley.
We started by stopping by the weaver's cooperative in Chinchero, where we were greeted by delighted weekies.
Guinea pigs, trying to get food.
The weavers, knowing what tourists like, had a huge guinea pig enclosure at the front of their building. The guinea pigs were fed by tourists, so went absolutely bonkers whenever someone came by. (And then offered them some delicious barley stalks which they inhaled.) They were super cute.
Along with the guinea pigs were a number of llamas, also eager to get their mouths on some barley.
This guy mostly just seemed interested in getting his picture taken. What a goober.
Feeding the llamas, since when in Rome...um, Chinchero?
After we'd fed the animals, one of the local weavers came by to give us a demonstration. She showed off cleaning wool, dyeing it, spinning it, then weaving it.
Natural dyes used. (Alum is the typical mordant for those nerdy enough to care.)
Dyed wool. (The weaver preferred sheep's wool to llama or alpaca, FWIW. Most of what they were weaving seemed to be sheep. I get the feeling that alpaca is mostly for tourists...)
Weaving on a backstrap loom. According to the weaver, each table runner takes about a month to complete which seems...about what I'd expect. (I've done some backstrap loom weaving and it's incredibly time consuming.)
After the demo, we could (of course) buy goods. The table runners seemed legit...the scarves and blankets made out of "baby alpaca" less so. I ended up buying a rainbow (for the rainbow goddess/symbol of Cusco) table runner with the "eye of the princess" braiding on the sides for a bit less than US $100. Mom and Dad got two pieces as well, blowing off the weaver's desperate attempt to get them to buy a yellow one (for Pachamama, you see...) in exchange for a red one and a blue one. This is in addition to a gorgeous hand woven scarf I got in Cusco for around $50...really a steal when you consider the work.
(Bonus guinea pigs are bonus!)
(The Peruvian national flower, the Cantu, was also in bloom outside. Very pretty!)
After seeing the weaving, we made it off to Moray. No one quite knows what Moray is, but the best guess is that it's an agricultural research area. (This is guessed at because the different circles all approximate different microclimates and different soil types are included in the circles. This would approximate different growing patterns, which would allow the ability of, say, corn to grow in one climate and soil type versus another.)
No matter what it is, it's visually spectacular!
The crop circles at Moray.
Some poor peasants worked hard at this...
It doesn't look real...
With Moray down, we then went to Maras (yeah, I know, confusing...) an ancient salt collection place.
It's both visually striking but also quite interesting. You see, there's a very salty hot spring that comes out from the mountain then flows into all these pools. The people living around them tend to them, harvesting the salt. The best is considered some of the best in the world. The worst goes into animal feed.
(Speaking of salt, I bought about a kilo as it seemed like a good present for friends. Here! Try the best salt in the world! But when I got to Mexico city, it caused problems. My luggage was held and I'd initially thought that they were all excited about my coca tea. Turns out their fear was...salt. I was pulled aside, questioned about where I'd traveled, had my passport rifled through (my commemorative Machu Picchu stamp was judged "maybe not so legal") and eventually all FIVE bags of salt went through a chemical analysis before they were determined to be...salt. It was pretty hilarious. I would have been more worried except that I didn't have anything more contraband than the coca tea which I'd already been told - at worst - would be thrown out. It's just not that big a deal.)
(FWIW, US customs let me go without even bothering to look at my declarations form. They clearly did not care that I had coca tea. Bastards. That's what I get for feeling all edgy for nothing.)
Anyhow...
The salt fields. Pretty, no?
Soooooo much salt!
We walked all the way through the salt ponds and down into a valley with some cool ancient tombs (that predate the Inca/Quechua...they're pretty modern, all in all!) Along the way, we passed by some small settlements, including chickens (with a pile leaves that hid a bunch of chittering chicks), and adobe bricks.
Adobe - the most prevalent construction material around!
We went to an okay restaurant buffet for lunch (I had alpaca...kind of a disappointment. As our tour guide mentioned, there's a reason people eat chicken here not alpaca, which is seen as "tourist food". I earlier did have cuy (guinea pig), though, which they LOVE here and I can ascertain is delicious!) Then we headed off to Ollantaytambo.
Ollantaytambo is one of the "last" places (I say "last" because there were a lot of "last stands" as the Quechua retreated into the jungle before the Spanish were like, "totally not worth risking malaria, we're out!") the Inca/Quechua made a stand. It was half completed when the Spanish arrived, so kind of cool in that some of the bricks were just lying around, which is a great way to grasp how the Imperial Inca style masonry was constructed.
It's also just a really pretty site!
Non-Imperial Inca stonework by a stream.
In particular, I loved all the fountains that are still fully functional. Like this one. Isn't it super awesome? I think it is!
Or this one! Marvel at the stonework that forms half an Andean cross!!!!
If this does nothing for you, you are blind to beauty. That is all.
Anyhow, we finished up our tour just to find crazy traffic in a normally serene valley town. It seems that earlier in the day was a nasty train crash that injured 35 and shut down the railway. So now there were hoards of people trapped in Ollantaytambo. (There were to continue to be issues with the rails throughout our journey due to this crash). We checked into our hotel, then I went wandering and came upon a poor couple. The woman had broken her arm falling off a horse and so hadn't been able to hike the Inca trail. So she was hoping to catch the train to Agua Calientes but...no luck.
There were also a number of van drivers happily offering inflated prices for a ride back to Cusco. I was glad to have my hotel already figured out!
Anyhow, the next day we woke up bright and early to board the train and do the partial Inca trail.
We got off and I...promptly slipped on a rock. It could have been worse (I nearly went off a cliff...death = worse!), but it could have been better (I landed on a nasty outcropping of rock that severely bruised my thigh to where it hurt badly to bend my knee for the next three days. Unfortunately hiking involves a lot of knee bending so it was...interesting hiking over the next several days. Occasionally I'd gasp from the pain, although I tried not to, since there's nothing anyone can do about it, so why make a big deal about it?)
So that was less than optimal. But the trail was quite pretty, if rather gentle. This was partially as our guide set a glacial pace, insisting on pointing out every last plant we came across then seguing into a very long lecture about it. (Even though most of it consisted of "this is a flower. It's pretty." In one case, I tried to figure out why a plant was so bloody important/his favorite and it came down to, "animals can eat it". Well...duh.)
Anyway, the flowers *are* beautiful, like this orchid.
A bit after noon, we came to the waterfall just before Winay Wayna (the first real part of the Inca Trail...), which was rather striking. We ate lunch there and got pretty waterfall pictures.
Pretty waterfall makes me look much better, no?
Some of family in front of waterfall. Sarah had an upset stomach, so chose not to hike. Michael is convinced that the camera steals his soul. So this is...the rest of us. We all look a bit dopey, but it's hot, we'd already hiked a few miles, and my poor thigh was wondering why I was hiking rather than lying in an ice bath.
Not long after the waterfall was Winay Wiyna, a minor outpost along the trail. It was still spectacular, though!
Winay Wiyna from a distance. Note the llamas. They were all put here to look cool to tourists. Llamas apparently prefer higher elevations.
This llama, though, just wants to have it all.
The llamas do not care that we are there in the least. This one is totally ignoring my attempts at being cute and affectionate.
Winay Wayna looks almost surreal.
Yes, it IS this beautiful!
After Winay Wayna, it was mostly flatish, up until there was a fairly steep set of steps leading to the sun gate. Me being me leaped up them. Mom went...not so fast. (The tour guide claimed they were the "gringo killer". Whatever. Mom made it up the next mountain, he didn't.)
But they were reasonably steep...
Mom making it up the last set of steps. She's got it!
Anyway, we made it up and were told to wait so that Machu Picchu could be properly presented to us...
So with that held in anticipation, I will leave any possible readers to wait for the next post!
We started by stopping by the weaver's cooperative in Chinchero, where we were greeted by delighted weekies.
Guinea pigs, trying to get food.
The weavers, knowing what tourists like, had a huge guinea pig enclosure at the front of their building. The guinea pigs were fed by tourists, so went absolutely bonkers whenever someone came by. (And then offered them some delicious barley stalks which they inhaled.) They were super cute.
Along with the guinea pigs were a number of llamas, also eager to get their mouths on some barley.
This guy mostly just seemed interested in getting his picture taken. What a goober.
Feeding the llamas, since when in Rome...um, Chinchero?
After we'd fed the animals, one of the local weavers came by to give us a demonstration. She showed off cleaning wool, dyeing it, spinning it, then weaving it.
Natural dyes used. (Alum is the typical mordant for those nerdy enough to care.)
Dyed wool. (The weaver preferred sheep's wool to llama or alpaca, FWIW. Most of what they were weaving seemed to be sheep. I get the feeling that alpaca is mostly for tourists...)
Weaving on a backstrap loom. According to the weaver, each table runner takes about a month to complete which seems...about what I'd expect. (I've done some backstrap loom weaving and it's incredibly time consuming.)
After the demo, we could (of course) buy goods. The table runners seemed legit...the scarves and blankets made out of "baby alpaca" less so. I ended up buying a rainbow (for the rainbow goddess/symbol of Cusco) table runner with the "eye of the princess" braiding on the sides for a bit less than US $100. Mom and Dad got two pieces as well, blowing off the weaver's desperate attempt to get them to buy a yellow one (for Pachamama, you see...) in exchange for a red one and a blue one. This is in addition to a gorgeous hand woven scarf I got in Cusco for around $50...really a steal when you consider the work.
(Bonus guinea pigs are bonus!)
(The Peruvian national flower, the Cantu, was also in bloom outside. Very pretty!)
After seeing the weaving, we made it off to Moray. No one quite knows what Moray is, but the best guess is that it's an agricultural research area. (This is guessed at because the different circles all approximate different microclimates and different soil types are included in the circles. This would approximate different growing patterns, which would allow the ability of, say, corn to grow in one climate and soil type versus another.)
No matter what it is, it's visually spectacular!
The crop circles at Moray.
Some poor peasants worked hard at this...
It doesn't look real...
With Moray down, we then went to Maras (yeah, I know, confusing...) an ancient salt collection place.
It's both visually striking but also quite interesting. You see, there's a very salty hot spring that comes out from the mountain then flows into all these pools. The people living around them tend to them, harvesting the salt. The best is considered some of the best in the world. The worst goes into animal feed.
(Speaking of salt, I bought about a kilo as it seemed like a good present for friends. Here! Try the best salt in the world! But when I got to Mexico city, it caused problems. My luggage was held and I'd initially thought that they were all excited about my coca tea. Turns out their fear was...salt. I was pulled aside, questioned about where I'd traveled, had my passport rifled through (my commemorative Machu Picchu stamp was judged "maybe not so legal") and eventually all FIVE bags of salt went through a chemical analysis before they were determined to be...salt. It was pretty hilarious. I would have been more worried except that I didn't have anything more contraband than the coca tea which I'd already been told - at worst - would be thrown out. It's just not that big a deal.)
(FWIW, US customs let me go without even bothering to look at my declarations form. They clearly did not care that I had coca tea. Bastards. That's what I get for feeling all edgy for nothing.)
Anyhow...
The salt fields. Pretty, no?
Soooooo much salt!
We walked all the way through the salt ponds and down into a valley with some cool ancient tombs (that predate the Inca/Quechua...they're pretty modern, all in all!) Along the way, we passed by some small settlements, including chickens (with a pile leaves that hid a bunch of chittering chicks), and adobe bricks.
Adobe - the most prevalent construction material around!
We went to an okay restaurant buffet for lunch (I had alpaca...kind of a disappointment. As our tour guide mentioned, there's a reason people eat chicken here not alpaca, which is seen as "tourist food". I earlier did have cuy (guinea pig), though, which they LOVE here and I can ascertain is delicious!) Then we headed off to Ollantaytambo.
Ollantaytambo is one of the "last" places (I say "last" because there were a lot of "last stands" as the Quechua retreated into the jungle before the Spanish were like, "totally not worth risking malaria, we're out!") the Inca/Quechua made a stand. It was half completed when the Spanish arrived, so kind of cool in that some of the bricks were just lying around, which is a great way to grasp how the Imperial Inca style masonry was constructed.
It's also just a really pretty site!
Non-Imperial Inca stonework by a stream.
In particular, I loved all the fountains that are still fully functional. Like this one. Isn't it super awesome? I think it is!
Or this one! Marvel at the stonework that forms half an Andean cross!!!!
If this does nothing for you, you are blind to beauty. That is all.
Anyhow, we finished up our tour just to find crazy traffic in a normally serene valley town. It seems that earlier in the day was a nasty train crash that injured 35 and shut down the railway. So now there were hoards of people trapped in Ollantaytambo. (There were to continue to be issues with the rails throughout our journey due to this crash). We checked into our hotel, then I went wandering and came upon a poor couple. The woman had broken her arm falling off a horse and so hadn't been able to hike the Inca trail. So she was hoping to catch the train to Agua Calientes but...no luck.
There were also a number of van drivers happily offering inflated prices for a ride back to Cusco. I was glad to have my hotel already figured out!
Anyhow, the next day we woke up bright and early to board the train and do the partial Inca trail.
We got off and I...promptly slipped on a rock. It could have been worse (I nearly went off a cliff...death = worse!), but it could have been better (I landed on a nasty outcropping of rock that severely bruised my thigh to where it hurt badly to bend my knee for the next three days. Unfortunately hiking involves a lot of knee bending so it was...interesting hiking over the next several days. Occasionally I'd gasp from the pain, although I tried not to, since there's nothing anyone can do about it, so why make a big deal about it?)
So that was less than optimal. But the trail was quite pretty, if rather gentle. This was partially as our guide set a glacial pace, insisting on pointing out every last plant we came across then seguing into a very long lecture about it. (Even though most of it consisted of "this is a flower. It's pretty." In one case, I tried to figure out why a plant was so bloody important/his favorite and it came down to, "animals can eat it". Well...duh.)
Anyway, the flowers *are* beautiful, like this orchid.
A bit after noon, we came to the waterfall just before Winay Wayna (the first real part of the Inca Trail...), which was rather striking. We ate lunch there and got pretty waterfall pictures.
Pretty waterfall makes me look much better, no?
Some of family in front of waterfall. Sarah had an upset stomach, so chose not to hike. Michael is convinced that the camera steals his soul. So this is...the rest of us. We all look a bit dopey, but it's hot, we'd already hiked a few miles, and my poor thigh was wondering why I was hiking rather than lying in an ice bath.
Not long after the waterfall was Winay Wiyna, a minor outpost along the trail. It was still spectacular, though!
Winay Wiyna from a distance. Note the llamas. They were all put here to look cool to tourists. Llamas apparently prefer higher elevations.
This llama, though, just wants to have it all.
The llamas do not care that we are there in the least. This one is totally ignoring my attempts at being cute and affectionate.
Winay Wayna looks almost surreal.
Yes, it IS this beautiful!
After Winay Wayna, it was mostly flatish, up until there was a fairly steep set of steps leading to the sun gate. Me being me leaped up them. Mom went...not so fast. (The tour guide claimed they were the "gringo killer". Whatever. Mom made it up the next mountain, he didn't.)
But they were reasonably steep...
Mom making it up the last set of steps. She's got it!
Anyway, we made it up and were told to wait so that Machu Picchu could be properly presented to us...
So with that held in anticipation, I will leave any possible readers to wait for the next post!