Our first tourist stop this day was the Cathedral in Cusco. In Peru we learned there is only one cathedral in each city or town. There may be other churches but there is only one cathedral. It is often located at the central plaza of the town. This was the case in Cusco. No picture taking inside. I purchased a book so I would have pictures. Lots of gold and silver. And more evidence of the merging in subtle way of the Catholic religion with the Inca traditions and religious practices. One outstanding example of this was a huge painting by an Incan artist of the Last Supper. Instead of a lamb on the plate, as would be eaten at the Passover meal, there was a guinea pig, a main stay in the diet in Peru.
As our bus left Cusco to head toward the Sacred Valley, I snapped this picture of more stairs. Lots and lots and lots of stairs in this country. These reminded me of stairs we saw in one of our ports of call in Alaska. The houses were built up the hill but there were no roads up the hill. Everyone hiked up and down the stairs to their homes. There was a road at the top of this hill however.
We were taken to the Santuario Animal de Ccochahuasi. This is a wildlife sanctuary that takes in injured and sick animals then cares for them until they can be reintroduced into their native habitat. The setting is very natural. Not at all like a man-made zoo habitat. Gotta love the expression of that bird in the middle picture.
One of the highlights of this stop for all of us was the Andean condor. This huge bird is endangered and protected. Each of their feathers is worth hundreds of dollars. They live to be up to 90 years old. The ones we watched were about 25 years of age. And we watched one considered a baby. They are all brown feathers until they reach adulthood and then their feathers turn to black and white. They only lay one egg every 3-4 years. The huge area in which they live at the sanctuary goes from the side of the mountain across the little valley to the other side and is enclosed with a wire netting. Condors really only eat things that are already dead so there was no danger of them hurting us. We were seated on bench seating on one side of their habitat. A worker came in with a bucket containing strips of the meat from a dead animal. He held it up for them to see at the other end of the habitat, tossed it to the ground and we waited for the condor to fly over and down in front of us to eat it. Huge wing span on these birds. They had two adult condors fly over first and then a baby one flew over last. Totally fascinating to have them so very close. I have video of these short flights.
As we came to the end of our tour, we were led through a shed where the making of dyes from natural material was demonstrated. Alan placed a dead beetle that lives on the local cactus in the palm of one of his hands. With the pointer finger of the other hand he ran his finger over the dead beetle crushing and smearing it across his hand. It instantly changed to a deep red color. Then the tour guide from the sanctuary held up yarn that had been dyed with that kind of beetle. Then he poured what looked like orange soda on the the smeared beetle on Alan's hand it changed to an orange color. They can continue to do this and come up with 20+ different colors just from this one beetle.
We watched another lady in traditional Andean clothing sitting on her mat weaving away. She uses a llama bone to separate the threads for the pattern she is creating. Then she takes the llama bone that is laying on the ground with the dyed yarn on it and runs the colored of thread through the spaces made with the first llama bone. Hours and hours of work to make a small piece of fabric. It can take a month to two months to make one piece of fabric. The pattern is in her head. She learned this skill as a little girl and just does it from memory or as it comes to her. The pattern will be the same on both sides of the fabric. I just love this fabric and the colors. Amazing, simply amazing.
As we left the sanctuary we saw just a few more things. First, and Andean hairless dog. I mean really. No offence but these were some of the ugliest dogs I have ever seen. They have a Mohawk hair on their head and a tuft of hair at the end of their tail. That is it. They are black in color. I ached for them. But they are loved by the people and we would see more on the trip. Then we saw this little bear. It's parents were killed by poachers. It is 3-4 months old. It will be raised and then restored to the wild. It was a very cute bear with very different markings than I have ever seen.
My final picture at the sanctuary was this one. I marveled at the children in Peru. Their moms work long hours and the children are just right with them wherever the parents are. It didn't matter if it was a booth at the Mercado or in the sanctuary. They find whatever is available to entertain themselves. This little guy had two other little ones playing with him when we arrived. They would climb to the top of this little grassy hill on which I am standing. Then they would roll down the hill and laugh at themselves. I also took video of this. As we left this little one had taken one last roll down the hill and then paused at the fence to watch these two big birds. It just symbolized how happy he is in this environment. No fancy toys were needed. He has the love of the adults that work there, the green grass to roll in and animals in abundance to watch and enjoy. He has a very happy life and to me this picture shows that.
Off to the Sacred Valley. This is our first view of this important part of Peru. A river runs through it that will eventually empty into the Amazon. The valley is a fertile place with lots of agriculture there. Our destination would be from Pisac at one end to Ollantaytambo at the other. We would shop in Pisac and visit history in Ollantaytambo.
This mountain was near Pisac. The reason I am posting it is so you can see the terraces on the mountain side. These are places for raising crops of all kinds. Claude and I were constantly marveling at these places to garden. If you have followed this Blog at all you know of my comments regarding our hill here in Sadieville and the difficulty in working it and growing things on it. Because of our experience we were in awe of these people and their chosen method for growing things.
We also visited a silver shop where beautiful jewelry was made from silver and jade. Claude bought me a second bracelet at this shop. It was made of the Incan jade from the area inlaid in silver. But the highlight was a chance to eat corn-on-the-cob from Peru. They grow a white corn here with the largest kernels anywhere. These kernels were as big as the end of my thumb. The corn was really good. They do not serve it with butter however. They eat it with a slice of cheese from Peru. It was really tasty.
Then we were directed to the market place in Pisac. Alan showed us where to buy a little tortilla like item for a snack to tide us over. Then we roamed through the shops at will until we returned to our bus. This little lady was pausing in her handiwork at her booth to have a little to eat as well. Lovin' the hat.
Back at the bus I found another flower I am not at all familiar with. Bright orange and very delicate looking. There was a tree full of them.
Part way between Pisac and Ollantaytambo we stopped for lunch. The next two pictures were taken from the bus as we traveled to lunch. They just show the variety of living locations. Then the next two pictures were taken where we had lunch. Lunch was a very nice buffet of many different local dishes. We were entertained by a band playing music of the Andes. Alan even joined them for a bit. Out on the lawn were two ladies in traditional dress making and selling their crafts. One of the dishes on the dessert table at lunch was a plum that was peeled and cooked a bit with the stem still on. It was a local plum and not something we ever saw before. As we were getting on the bus, there was a tree with fruit on it. Claude and I are thinking it was the plum we had for dessert with our lunch!
We went to the far end of the Sacred Valley to visit Ollantaytambo. This was the royal estate of Emporer Pachacuti of the Inca Empire. It is also the stronghold for Manco Inca Yupanqui in the final Inca rebellion against the Spanish. A lot of very interesting history in this spot.
The two white structures in the sides of the mountain were storage facilities for the Inca people.
This is quinoa growing on one of the terraces.
When the group all got out to the parking lot to await the arrival of our buses, this cute little girl came up and indicated she wanted to sing for us. Of course that meant she wanted to raise her money by us paying her to sing for us. We all gathered around and she sang while Alan clapped the rhythm. I think he thought it would be a short song. It was not. There were many, many verses. She sang and sang. Alan got a perplexed look as the song went on. Then being the great instructor he is, he started to clap faster so she started to sing faster. We all picked up on it and laughed. She laughed. Alan laughed. When she finally finished she did a great twirl in her little costume and took off her hat to collect our dollars. We all cheerfully gave. It was a great moment.
Alan had a friend he has made over the years in Ollantaytambo. Her home is one of the original Inca dwellings with no real electricity or running water. Alan had arranged for us to visit her home. We walked up the narrow old street to her home. She was there to greet us at the opening into the little courtyard around the buildings that make up her home. We entered two of the buildings. The first served as a living and kitchen room. The second was a bedroom and work room. Her grandfather was sitting on a chair here.
Both rooms had guinea pigs running around on the floor. Alan explained this was her food storage. The first room had a llama that had turned to jerky hanging from the ceiling. Strips would be cut off it for stews and dishes. There were niches in the walls. These contained the skulls of ancestors and things to remember their gods and ancestors. Alan had explained they raise potatoes, then they smash them and let them dry out. They can then be saved for a long time and used in dishes prepared for the family.
The bedroom/work room also had its share of guinea pigs running around in a corner. It also contained an old treadle sewing machine. On one of his visits Alan saw a need for this. He found one at Deseret Industries (our Church's thrift store system) in Utah. He made arrangements for it to be sent to her in Ollantaytambo. She can now help others as well as herself with their sewing needs. There was a loft where the children slept. The children are older now and do not sleep there anymore. And her grandfather was sitting on a chair in front of the bedroom portion of this room.
Outside the front 'yard' was really this rock covered area. Each of the two rooms of her home were actually separate little buildings. This was an original Inca home and is still is use by her and her family today. We were extremely grateful we were able to see this manner of living.
Our hotel room this night was at the San Agustin Monasterio de la Recolecta. Clearly it was a remodeled monastery. However, we arrived after dark and left just as it was beginning to be day. So our views were very limited. Our room was the hardest we had to deal with the entire trip. I have been watching the 'Tiny House Movement' shows while doing crafts. Spending one night in our hotel room let me know I am not ready for the tiny house living. Don't misunderstand. It was a lovely room. However, you opened the door and walked through a tiny hallway with a closet along the right wall. Directly in front of you was a stair case with three concrete steps at the bottom that turned to a set of wooden steps to get you to the loft area and they turned to go up the side wall. There were two twin beds and an lamp table between in the loft. In front of the stairs on the main level was a small table with two chairs. Under the stair case was a little refrigerator. To the left of that narrow entry at the back of the room was a small sofa with a large TV in front of it in a sitting area. Behind the sofa was the bathroom. The bathtub was also a shower. You had to climb up a step stool to get it. The water faucet was on the side of the tub and you had to reach into the tub to turn it on. The bottom of that tub was the slickest I have ever stood in. Claude and I both almost slipped in it. I just knew we would fall down the stairs if we had to get up in the night to go to the bathroom. We left the light over the tub on all night so we could see to get downstairs. In the morning, I was the first one down and those three white concrete steps all blended together. I took the first step fine but misjudged the second and found myself practically running down to not fall. I think my heart missed a beat during all that action. It was really an interesting hotel room. Very nice but also very interesting.
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