Thursday, the 12th of March, started in a panic. We had decided we wanted to spend the night closer to Machu Picchu than Cusco, and Deanna found a lovely place called Ollantaytambo in someone's blog. That meant one night away, the next night back to the same hotel. We left kilograms of clothes for laundry and almost all of our luggage in the hotel. We also packed our tickets in our luggage! We were very lucky that our driver asked us about them before we got totally out of town. Not a Six Sigma process, folks.
The Sacred Valley follows the Urubamba River, and was the fertile heartland of the Inca empire. We stopped at a weaving cooperative of 12 families, and got a demonstration for just the two of us.
The woman made natural shampoo which is good for gray hair but too late for me, cleaned the wool since the sheep don't take showers, spun some, and dyed it with natural dyes. It is amazing how deep the colors are! We bought a shawl and place-mats.
Important stop! Moray! This was apparently a giant agricultural designed experiment station. I am crazy for DoE, design of experiments. The Incas figured out which seeds grew best in which micro-climate, and then shipped those seeds all over the empire. The curves are beautiful in their own right.
The most fun stop was the final one - Ollantaytambo ruins. The guide, Martin, and I had lots of animated discussions about how the Incas got those huge stones from the quarry across the river, and how they carved them. Alien assistance? Parasails and pulleys?
We stayed at the Pakaritampu Hotel. What a beautiful place! They have even built terraces behind it, from which you can see the ruins, watch hummingbirds, admire the flowers and just relax.
Tomorrow, Machu Picchu!
The Sacred Valley follows the Urubamba River, and was the fertile heartland of the Inca empire. We stopped at a weaving cooperative of 12 families, and got a demonstration for just the two of us.
The woman made natural shampoo which is good for gray hair but too late for me, cleaned the wool since the sheep don't take showers, spun some, and dyed it with natural dyes. It is amazing how deep the colors are! We bought a shawl and place-mats.
Important stop! Moray! This was apparently a giant agricultural designed experiment station. I am crazy for DoE, design of experiments. The Incas figured out which seeds grew best in which micro-climate, and then shipped those seeds all over the empire. The curves are beautiful in their own right.
 |
| See the "air steps"? |
We stayed at the Pakaritampu Hotel. What a beautiful place! They have even built terraces behind it, from which you can see the ruins, watch hummingbirds, admire the flowers and just relax.
Comments
Post a Comment