Sacred Valley of the Incas

Sacred Valley of the Inca

February 28, 2012

After 2 days in Lima, we flew to Cusco and right away got on a bus to head out to the Sacred Valley of the Incas.  The Incas were just one of a multitude of Indian tribes, but over about 400 years they came to dominate.  They originated near Lake Titicaca in about the 1100's and were obliterated by the Spanish in the early 1500's.  They had established a kingdom all along the west coast of South America, from Colombia in the north, clear to the south of Chili.  This view overlooks the city of Cusco, population 400,000.  The woman in the foreground is in typical Native dress.



We were so interested in the fields and methods of farming, for the most part,
they didn't have machinery.

One of the great things we did was called a "home visit" or "A day in the life..."  
Our guide arranged  for us to have lunch with a local family--
here is her outdoor sink and wood cook stove.  She also had an electric
range in the house, but this stove is typical and is all that many people have.

At another stop we met this woman
who makes
"checha" or a mild beer, from corn.  She
explained the process and passed around
samples, but not too many takers!  This
is also where we played the game "sapo"
it's a bar game and means "toad".

And this was part of lunch--guinea pig, or "cooey" as they
call it.  Very common, and the guinea pigs are kept
just loose in the house, or in a pen nearby.

Here is the Urabamba River, it forms the Sacred Valley where we stayed 2 nights
 in a very beautiful hotel--and we had the place to ourselves.

This is the hotel, and the flowers that follow are from the yard--it was so beautifully landscaped.



I found these two wheelbarrows in the back area,
well used!



They had such a beautiful display of beans and
varieties of corn--it was fun to be there during
 the harvest season.  They made a delicious,
 sweet, cinnamon-y traditional drink from
 the dark purple corn.

A field of ripening Quinoa

The giant Century Plant

Here is part of our group at Pisac Inca ruins--some marvelous terraced fields below.

Anytime the bus stopped and we got out we were greeted by vendors--
sometimes selling a picture of themselves with their llama or puppy--
always with hats, scarves, bracelets, trinkets of every variety. 



These little girls were irresistible.  I bought a couple bracelets and ceramic bird whistles from them, then asked for their picture--whereupon they immediately held out their hands for "un sole, Lady".  Then we just talked, my elementary Spanish was enough to ask about their families, their ages, school.  That was the best part of the Pisac market.  This is where I bought a great "original" painting--we bargained and bargained, I assumed it was his own work, heck, his name was on it.  It's a great watercolor.  But...later that day I saw the same painting several more times...with NO artist signature.  The bum...he bought them and wrote in his own name!  

And now for a highlight of the whole trip for me--the Urabamba Farmers Market.
This is only held once a week, our guide told us it is a very big deal for the farmers.
They often get up at 3-4 am, walk an hour or two to the cross road where
someone will pick them up in a big truck and drive a couple more hours.



Then they spread their wares out on tables or the ground.  Sacks and sacks of
all color of potatoes and corn.  There were peppers, cabbages, carrots, fruits, tomatoes,
much more.  And lots of animals!

I just loved to see the women with babies on their backs.  They also carried their load of
veggies, brush, groceries--they carried everything wrapped in a colorful
blanket on their backs.  Many wore aprons and leggings with sandals.

Most were eating breakfast while we were there.

And their wonderful, long, black braids.  If they weren't long enough,
they wove black yarn in to extend them!

Most of our pictures were taken slyly, but several times we asked and paid for a picture.
Isn't this woman wonderful.

The animals were all on one side of the market--sheep, pigs, guinea pigs, chickens, ducks...

...this little pig went to market...

Maybe this is my favorite picture.  

This man was happy to pose with his "truck".



Then we were off to visit a mountain school.  The children greeted us as we left the bus, each took one of us by the hand and led us into their classroom where we sat at their little desks.  

She read to us from her math book, she had to learn Spanish at the school,
she spoke Chechua at home.  This12 year old girl walked 2 hours
with her cousins down the mountain to school every day.  And back.

This little boy just loved Grandpa!  He leaned up against him the
 whole time, it was so cute to watch.



A typical "store" for tourists.  They did have beautiful things,
many made in China I'm sure

That red dot is Ann and I

This is Ollantaytambo, a wonderful Inca ruin.  It is a series of terraces,
which we climbed, with a
temple at the top.  

There were workers there repairing the walls--looks like hard work,
bent over with a pick all day.



This is from up on the ruins, looking down on the village, especially the little
tourist stores in the front.  EVERYWHERE there is something to buy,
and someone irresistible to buy it from.

This is the famous Inca engineering--their temples and sacred places have these perfectly fit stones.
No one knows how they did it, it seems impossible when you see it.

We also saw the walls as Saqsaywaman Park, more Inca ruins.  And these were just amazing--HUGE stones cut and fit perfectly together, and stacked on top of each other.  How did they do it???

This is inside another home, their kitchen--this was their only cook stove, there was a vent in the ceiling for the smoke to escape.  They had a small herd of guinea pigs running around inside, it was a hard-packed dirt floor, there was a ladder to a sleeping loft--must have been pretty smokey up there.

One of the streets in this little town where we visited inside the home.



This was a Shaaman, he did a "healing" ceremony for us.  
It's becoming a lost art--his children didn't want to follow in his footsteps.

Smile, you're on candid camera!

This was a fun little taxi ride--just enough space for Dad and I, fun!

This is at the entrance of another huge, local market.  The people dress so colorfully--quite amazing.



And this is inside that huge market, this is the bread aisle!

And this is just one of the fruit vendors--it was a great market!  From here, we drove over the mountains back to Cusco--we went over 12.000 feet.  I think Cusco is 9,000 feet, plenty high.  I had altitude headaches most of the time.  From Cusco we flew to Lima, then to Quito where we had about one and a half days before heading to The Galapagos.