El Valle Sagrado

FIELD TRIP!! I went to sleep with a party in my head - actually coming through the wall from the house next door. I dug out my earplugs and slept peacefully. I don't remember my dreams, but I do remember being startled by my alarm...twice. I got myself ready, ate, and headed off to meet the tour group. Along the way I was distracted by a grand procession of Jesus. It was only a picture, but it was on a huge platform that at least 16 men carried. There was incense and praying and music. The streets were crowded around it. I had time for a few pictures, but didn't want to miss the bus. The procession ultimately made its way closer to us, but only because nobody came for us. We consulted a tour company that found a van with three spots and an English speaking guide. We didn't leave for at least an hour after we expected. It was partially due to the streets being closed for the procession, but I felt like making a stink. I don't know enough Spanish, so I let Molly do it. Freddie thinks I should ask for my money back, but the tour, once it began, was really quite nice. Our first stop was to see llamas and alpacas, the dyeing and weaving process, and shop. I took too many pictures! I mean, you've seen one, you've seen them all. But that didn't stop me. The guide kept talking about the likeness to Bob Marley because of the dreadlocked hair. I thought it was a lot softer than my dreadlocks were. I snagged a clump of hair from the fence. I haven't managed to get nice thread from it yet. The next stop was the Pisac market - world famous. I enjoyed "window" shopping in the open air market, but was most impressed with the selection of grains and produce. It is so foreign to see everything laid on blankets on the ground being bartered and sold. The colors were vivacious, though! The whole place was alive! It made me think that once you see it over and over and over again, things start to look the same. The more I see, the less I need. Plus I am still grumpy that their lovely alpaca hair hats come in brown or orange, but not both! Lunch was at the Alhambra in Urubamba. The one in Granada is where royalty lived, but this restaurant is where royalty eat. It was a buffet with a barley/egg soup - muy rico, two bean salads and salad bar, taqueños (similar to a cheese taquito with a thin flour tortilla) with guacamole, thinly sliced fish with lime and onions (but not cebiche), a layered dish of potatoes and tuna and avocado, fried fish pieces, and purple corn pudding. There was other food I didn't eat, like the meat, so this was a real feast. I could have done with out the caballeros riding in circles in the grassy area behind our table, but the Peruvian musicians playing the instrumental bit from Titanic really iced the cake! Ollantaytambo provided exercise after our big meal. There are some great ruins to climb, but more importantly, it is at the end of the road at the base of lots of mountains. I was a bit in love. Over and over people talk about the Incan buildings as art and architecture. They didn't use cubic or rectangular bricks. They found the biggest heaviest slabs and slotted them perfectly together so that they would hold up in an earthquake. The interlacing of pieces and perfect matches of odd angles really is wuite amazing. And everything nestles together without any space between! Did I mention there were amazing mountains? Some with snow? Wow! I look forward to seeing it is two months to see what has changed. The Inca Trail begins there, so I will definitely be back. Chinchero was our last stop before home. We climbed out of the valley and even higher than Cuzco. The vistas are stunning! Breathtaking! The whole valley is "sacred" for many reasons, but certainly one is the farming. There are natural terraces caused from techtonic plate activity and leftover from the Incas. Corn and potatoes are the primary crops, and while they farmed over two thousand potatoes five hundred years ago, they only farm about 200 varieties. Not too shabby! The young Irishmen are not feeling well, so they came home from orientation and went to bed before I could say hola. I am not sure if they speak any Spanish yet, but they are here four weeks, so they'll be good to go in a few weeks. Freddie and I had ramen noodles for dinner. What a gracious guest I am, huh? It is the first bowl of ramen I have had in at least a year (I can't remember eating it in Japan). And on a glad note, I had the warmest shower yet. Temperature is inversely proportionate to the pressure or how high it is turned on. So while it felt great, it didn't quite shower me all over at the same time. Tomorrow school begins again! More to follow...love, tori