Sorry no words of wisdom due body malfunction!!
We’re now at sea off the coast of Chile, apparently with reasonable WiFI access) so I will try to update the events of a few days ago. The body malfunction referred to is primarily altitude related, we were at 12000 feet, an I felt it. In Tibet we were at 15000ft and had no issues, however if I recall correctly my Doctor gave me a course of pills before we left to help alleviate the issue . Additionally it appears I have developed asthma, so that didn’t help. Anyway enough of that let’s see what happened on Feb 15th.
As I said previously, the hotel was magnificent, it was just a shame we had so little time to enjoy it. It was great seeing the llamas there as we arrived.
Today we headed off to some Inca ruins at Ollantaytambo. This was an area that the Inca used for growing crops. It’s difficult to see from the picture below, but those are a series of terraces about 6ft high each and going back about 10ft. Each terrace was filled with soil and nutrients suitable for the crop to be grown. Like the idiot I am, I climbed to the top, Lyn had more sense and stayed at about the third terrace.
Below is the view down from about the third terrace
In the 1500’s there were about 10,000 Inca who lived in the area, yet they provided food for around 100,000. This was to provide for years of drought (El Ninja was an issue back then!) The storage areas were scattered around the mountain side. One is shown below..
Below is a better view of an individual terrace.
Below are some shots looking down from various levels of the terraces
After climbing and descending the terraces I was a little tired and out of breath (understatement!).
From there we got back onto the minibus and headed off to Chinchero where we were to visit a co-operative that raises llamas and alpaca and then processes their wool into clothes an blankets etc.
Below are some of the animals.
The softest wool comes from an animal called the vicuña
One we’d all ooo’d and ahhhh’d at the animals we went inside to see a demonstration of cleaning, dying and spinning of the wool. All the processes use only natural ingredients found around the area.
Again, I’ll just throw some photos at you!
After the weaving demo we headed off yet again, this time to Moray for a demonstration of horse riding, lunch and a visit to an archaeological site.
Some picture of horses for those interested, there was even a dace with a Señorita!
Next was lunch. Today we had lunch cooked in a traditional manner, underground. Rocks are heated to around 1000F and placed in a hole in the ground. Food and leaves are then added and covered with earth. One hour later the meal is ready! There was chicken, pork, lamb, bananas, giant corn, some beans and potatoes.
After lunch it was off to see the archaeological site (https://www.peruforless.com/blog/moray/) They believe this site was used for agricultural research. They tried to create variations of vegetables suitable for different parts of their empire. Different terraces were filled with different soil types from other regions to mimic the growing conditions there. The Inca also developed irrigation systems for the crops.
And of course, what day would be complete without pictures of our woolly friends ?
Back to the hotel for an early start tomorrow.