Life Around the Sacred Valley of the Incas

I have so much to share, but I can’t possibly write all that I learned and experienced today.  I will simply write a few words and try to capture the experiences via photos to give some sense of how rich this culture is.

I mentioned yesterday that our hotel is in the Sacred Valley.  This is what the town of Urubamba looks like with the River by the same name running through it.

Our first stop this morning was Ollantaytambo which is an Inca town that has been continuously occupied since Inca times.  We walked the narrow cobble stone streets which are lined with walls built by the Incas in the 1300s with canals with rushing water that they designed for different purposes—drinking water, washing, sewage.

 

 

People still live in the houses Incas built.  The outer walls have one entrance into a courtyard which is usually shared by four houses.

This thatched roof is first seen from the street and outer wall.

Here’s what it looks like from the courtyard. 

Inside is only one room—used for cooking, sleeping, eating.

And shared with guinea pigs!  See them on the floor on the right above.  They live in the house with everybody and are raised for food!  Every family has some.  They are not caged, but run around the floor eating, getting fat, producing more for the family food.

Looking up from the town streets, you can see an ancient Inca fort/temple which was destroyed by the Spanish.  Fortunately, they didn’t find Machu Picchu.

 

Back in town, natives dress in colorful costumes and sit on the street to be photographed like this woman who is seated in front of one of the large stones placed by the Incas.

But then, you can see others, like this little girl, sitting on a bench with her father enjoying a treat while dressed in her beautiful outfit.  She was not there to be photographed.

From here, we drove to Chicheria to see a weaving demonstration.  On our way,  we passed some beautiful farmland on rare flat spaces.
 

Here is a local farmer working his land with a Peruvian tractor.

We also saw rain falling in the mountains while we were enjoying blue skies and sun.

In Chicheria, we went to a well-know artisan place known for its weaving where museums buy articles because of their beauty and authenticity.  We were shown the process from beginning to end by girls dressed in their costumes.

First, water is heated over a wood fire in a clay oven.

Wool from alpacas, llamas, lambs come in different colors and textures shown in the basket.

 

The wool has to be cleaned.  A root is grated into hot water.

Which makes this soapy solution.

Hot water is poured into pots and different plant sources are mixed to produce different colored dyes.

The wool that has been spun in yarn is dipped into the dye.

Beautiful yarn is ready to be woven.

 Yarn is then woven into fabric using a back-strap loom.

 

We have done all of this and it is not even noon yet! 

Our next stop was to have lunch at a beautiful restaurant built like a hacienda called Tunupa.  We went through a fabulous buffet, ate out on the terrace, and wandered through the gardens, down to the river,  before leaving on our next adventure.

Our final stop for the day was an Inca Bar where home-made beer made out of maize, called chicha, is served daily. 

Mercedes is the brewer here.  She demonstrated the process which takes 14 days from corn on the cob to finished chicha in the glass.

I really liked the variation called fruitllada which is chicha mixed with strawberry juice.  Mercedes and I enjoyed her hard work!

 

I can hardly believe that this is only the second day of this 22 day tour.  I have experienced so much already.