Our driver, Wilbert, who brought us from Cusco to Ollanta, picked us up at 9 to go. While we were waiting, we found a little alpaca stable behind our hotel, and went to feed them. I took some pictures and they were really fun! Then we left the beautiful hotel, and Wilbert stopped in Urubamba at the most incredible pottery place! It was beautiful, and we never would have known it was there had he not stopped! So we entered and we watched a video about the history of the place and the owners, then did some damage shopping. Barb bought some beautiful things for her daughters and something for herself, and I bought a couple of things as well. We then drove to the Pisac ruins, which was marked by huge terraces and several areas of ruins.
There must have been 50 busses on the small ledge near the ruins! The walk up to the ruins was steep and narrow.. I’m sure Dante wrote about this but it was my personal hell. I was determined to do it, and managed about as much grace as one can clinging to a rock wall while walking down steep steps overlooking a drop that appeared to go on forever!!! I did make it and while I didn’t actually kiss the wall, I did think about it! Another woman was freaking out as well and we came face to face.. one of us had to pass. So picture two people clinging for dear life to a wall doing a strange sort of dance. Yeah, it was grand.
The views were gorgeous as were the ruins. On to the Mercado (market)! It was busy and very crowded by souvenir booths, selling silver, leather goods, weavings and food. We bought a couple of things and then went to lunch in a really rustic place. We’re not sure what we ate, but it was some kind of potato dish with a yellow sauce, rice and chicken. It was quite good. We also had a kind of empanada with cheese and onions. The food area had the most amazing women, wearing the native weavings. While it’s impolite to take pictures without permission, I took a ton of them of the market and got some amazing shots of people there. The pictures will hopefully be as magnificent as the view.
We then left for Awancahara, which is a weaving center that is run to keep alive the traditional textile arts. They have four animals, including llamas and alpacas, and a guide introduced us to them so we could feed them. The history of the place was very interesting and the animals were great. We did manage to leave without getting spit on, though one guy really seemed hot to do it. He spat several times at his buddies but never at us. Good thing.
We saw the weavers making the most incredible tapestries and took some beautiful pictures. Each does a different pattern for their family or tribe. Then we went into the store and each was marked with the woman who did the weaving, and the tribe she was from. The work was stunning, and while expensive, it was wonderful to support their work!! We also saw the dying area and the natural items that they used to develop the colors. It was really interesting!
Cusco
We headed on to Cusco, passing some ruins. The name escapes me at the moment, but it sounds like “Sexy Woman.” That’s actually even what it said in the guidebook! It’s where the Inti Raymi (winter solstice) festival is as well. The drive into Cusco was quite a decline which was a surprise, given the elevation of the city at around 11k feet. The air is definitely thinner, but we didn’t have much of an issue. We had a little trouble finding the place but did eventually. It was very cute, and just a quarter of a mile off the main square! Yay! Laura and Amparo were waiting for us and we shared our adventures. We got a four bed place, ad it was quite cute with an upper and lower level.
We walked down to the square and they had made reservations for 7. With two hours to kill and some thirst.... ahem, we wandered around and found a cute little tapas bar where we got cerveza, tinto and tapas. Then we headed over to the restaurant, which was recommended by a couple that they had met while hiking the Inca trail. Sure enough, we saw them there! They are “kiwis” from New Zealand, and just wonderful. In the restaurant a woman staggered in and was immediately seated. The wait staff then pulled out a little oxygen tank for her! Apparently not an unusual occurrence! Our meal was great and after we headed out to find a place for coffee and sweets with them. We did find a place, and on the way passed a festival group marching by! We watched it for a moment then headed in for sweets.
I’m looking forward to exploring Cusco tomorrow. There’s two gorgeous churches on the square, a pre-columbian historic museum with a restaurant inside that we have been told we must try! Probably will take it a little easier given the pace, but there’s so much to see! This city is very interesting and we are really looking forward to checking things out.
Well, need to catch up on emails and hit the hay. Hasta manana!!
Sam
Addition from Pisac
I forgot to mention a couple of funny observations in the market. First of which is the industrious children there are here. They dress up in their finest, beautiful brightly colorful weaves. Most of them carried puppies with them, and would track down touristas to take their picture for a fee! They are quite persistent and it was funny. One of the girls had this poor puppy curled under her arm by the neck!!! Poor scruffy looking thing, but I’m sure they made quite a good living off of it!
The other was the music.. I heard this beautiful flute playing, with very soothing tones. Something rang quite familiar about the song but didn’t seem to make sense to me. I thought about it for a minute and then realized that it was because the tune was familiar.. the man was playing ¨Hey Jude¨ by the Beatles! Seemed quite out of place in Peru!
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