un dia en valle de sagrado
hola again from cuzco at what is currently 8.20 in the PM local time. today was yet another great one--somehow surpassing again yesterday. most of today was spent in the sacred valley, about an hour plus drive off of cuzco center. first stop was at a llama, vicuna, and alpaca farm where we got a chance to feed em animals. it was great. well, part of the trip was figuring out which animal is which but i dont think ive mastered that part yet. but it was great feeding the animals (although later in the day, for lunch, i did get my first taste of alpaca in some cream sauce. muy delicioso actually but a bit strange obviously).
part of that first stop was seeing how the locals wove alpaca wool into bags, blankets all sorts of other things. we were also able to see how they colored the wool through different natural dyes. also there was one of this trip´s highlights so far—chatting with one of the kids in my broken spanish. with my infantile spanish i was able to find out that for him to finish that small bag it would take a month´s worth of labor. holy crap! at that moment, it felt quite aweful having been haggling with all the stores for that dollar or 2 savings. nevertheless it was great to chat with him and who i would assume is his mom, asking where they lived and all that really basic spanish I-II stuff. it was quite a nice feeling being able to communicate and connect despite my very very basic spanish.
next stop was the pisaq market, one of the places i had been looking forward to. not so much for the shopping but for seeing the locals somehow in action. although obviously that didnt stop me from buying a second alpaca sweater (which i ended up bargaining for and managing to negotiate a 5 dollar drop). the market did not disappoint. it was great, brimming with colors, people, stalls, veggies, and a whole lot more. managed to take a couple of good snaps. was also able to take a taste of the local empanada, cooked in a real wood burning oven, where i also saw a cooked cuy or guinea pig, the local delicacy which they save for important occasions like birthdays and big holidays. which im hoping to try before i leave. tuesday maybe when i celebrate my return from machu pichu.
another photo op was a whole slew of chieftains posed infront of the pisaq church where apparently on sundays they gather to celebrate a quechuan mass. it was great seeing all the produce being sold as well coz all this time ive been wondering why all the food here has tasted oh so fresh. well, i guess they grow all their crops locally. or at least most of it.
the next stop was the town of ollantaytambo where we saw the local ruins. i wasnt really paying much attention to the guide (desculpe) coz i was much in awe of the scenery. that and i guess the fact that i was somehow busy catching my breath. these hikes in real high altitude are something. during the times that i had listened though, it was amazing to realize how advanced the inca and pre-inca civilizations were. crazy how they managed to bring all those tons of granite stones from quarries and build such magnificent even earthquake-proof sites.
this trip has been great and the crazy part is i know its about to get better. tomorrow, quite early tomorrow, i take the train to machu picchu--one of zi 7 wonders of the modern world. im sure ill get wowed again as sure as ill probably be gasping for oxygen. i cant wait... even crazier is that the bartender here in the hotel, senor ernesto, has offered to take me out on tuesday to the local bars here in cuzco to chill em cusquenas out and to get a local perspective on the local night scene here. that would be a great way to celebrate the last night of exploring and meeting people here in peru. que fantastico! but for now, this amigo´s got to catch some z´s porque mi tren leaves at alas 6 por la manana. que horror! ha... buenas tardes.
posted by jason pacheco @ 20:47
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