14th April 2022

This was one of my favourite days. Firstly, the weather was spectacular – vivid blue skies and sunshine. (Am I the only one who is automatically in a good mood when the sun shines?) Secondly, we visited a couple of indigenous communities and I always really enjoy learning about these tribes. And actually, although this was clearly set up for tourists, there was an authenticity to the experience/tour that has been quite different from some of the subsequent tours I’ve participated in.

The tour proper started at 7am, after breakfast. It was the first day I had a little bit of an appetite in the morning, since coming to Cusco. It was also the first day breakfast was not just scrambled eggs and a bun (this is a running joke among travellers in Peru – every hostel or hotel seems to serve the same basic breakfast) – I was bemused to see fries, hot dogs and a warm bean salad.

Our first stop was to the Cristo Blanco statue (Statue of Christ) in Cusco, a mini version of the famous Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro. It is located steps away from the Sacsayhuaman archaeological site and is a nice vantage point for views of the city.

There was an hour long drive to our next stop, the Ccaccaccollo Women’s Weaving Co-op. It’s an indigenous community where the women produce handcrafted textiles using traditional methods. They rear the alpacas and llamas for the wool – we had the opportunity to compare the different textures of wool you get from alpaca, llamas, sheep etc. They clean the wool using centuries old methods – first they grate pieces of the root of the ‘saqta’ plant, mix it with hot water which causes it to foam, just like soap. They sieve it mixture, discarding the pieces of the root, place the wool into the bowl and wash it like you would a piece of clothing. It is a very effective detergent, and the difference between washed and unwashed wool was stark. (The saqta plant is sometimes called the Incan shampoo…and their descendants make use of it in the same way – it is said to be the reason you never see an elderly indigenous man with anything but a full head of lush black hair). They also showed us how they use different plants – leaves, flowers, roots and even insects to dye the wool the range of colours that you see.

What’s even more amazing is that the women have become so successful at this business that it has revitalised the community, paving the way for girls (and boys) in the community to go to school thereby improving their chances of a better future. It has also helped re-ignite pride in their culture and language.

Before such initiatives, (this was started by G adventures in 2004), a lot of young/working age people left these communities to go to Cusco, Ollaytantambo and other towns as tourism to Machu Picchu boomed. Traditions and whole communities were being lost. This initiative helps ensure that the local communities, not just businesses, benefit from tourism to the region. (As an aside, my visits to these communities did make me think about how Nigeria could learn from them, and build a sustainable tourism industry that celebrates our culture and traditions)

We also learnt about the different grains in Peru (quinoa is king), different types of corn (50 and counting), potatoes (4000 and counting). I got to try my hand at hand spinning wool. Spoiler alert, I was terrible at it. It looks so easy but there is a skill to it. I also enjoyed wandering around the village, drinking in the majestic views of the verdant green mountains all around it. It was very quiet and only a handful of villagers walk by me – a couple of children pushing a bike, an elderly lady with her flock of sheep and another carrying her granddaughter. They seemed as curious about me as I was of them, we said ‘hola’ and went about our respective businesses.

My next highlight was stopping for the best empanada I’ve had on this trip. I wish I had known that then. I assumed great empanadas would be easy to come by in South America. At this point, I’d take good empanadas. The worst offenders have been a crumbly, claggy mess of an empanada in Aguas Calientes (Macchupicchu town), and a crisp yet greasy and tasteless close second in Banos (Ecuador) — both at recommended places! I often want to cry when I eat bad food, it feels like an affront to my soul (… and unfortunately I had many such experiences in Ecuador. Look out for that blog post).

Anyway, it was a really scrumptious banana empanada, with the perfect crust on the pastry and delicious filling that introduced us to our next stop – a local pottery making community. We were shown how mud is used to make adobe bricks to build homes (AJ was the unlucky guy who got to step bare-feet into the mud and stamp the mud/hay mix until it was the right consistency. He found the experience utterly disgusting). The community pull together and make the bricks and also build houses for each other. Lastly, they place a statue of two ceramic bulls, with a cross between them, ‘Torito de Pucara’ on the roof for good luck, wealth, prosperity, fertility etc. We were shown brief snippets of the pottery making – as a budding ceramicist, I was totally impressed by their skills and the quality of the products, particularly the intricate and colourful designs which require a very steady hand.

I wanted to buy any number of items – the chess board with llama pawns, ludo board with llama, alpaca and vulture tokens, the cute teapots and cups…but I remembered my full-to- bursting backpack and had to settle for a colourful bracelet.

We continued on our way, making stops to appreciate the panoramic views of Sacred Valley (Urubamba). A lush valley, dotted with villages, terraced ruins, snow-capped peaks, which runs from Cusco to Machu Picchu. I slept most of the way, which I find the most effective method to prevent my motion sickness.

Odi, our tour guide, suggested we stop and buy some roasted cuy (guinea pig to the uninitiated) on the way to lunch. I had managed to avoid trying this national delicacy. The gang -AJ, Meg, Franzi thought it made financial sense if we all went in on it, as a whole guinea pig cost 40 pesos. I don’t think any of us was particularly keen on trying cuy but there was a sense of ‘if not now, when…and why not?’. We stopped on the road side at an nice looking spot and had the pleasure of picking out our own guinea pig, of the couple that were almost done being roasted. We all wondered how the guinea pig would be presented, having heard stories of whole guinea pigs – head attached, being served at restaurants. Thankfully ours was chopped up and packed up, sans head, and we went on.

Lunch was at Parwa Community Restaurant in Huchuy Qosco. Another beauteous setting, where top tier restaurant quality food was served – a selection of breads rolls with a soup dish, delicious vegetarian ceviche on a potato mash with a tamale and spicy salsa, a scrumptious rocoto relleno (spicy stuffed peppers) with rice and dessert.

Before all this, was of course, the elephant in the room – the cuy. We each picked out the least offensive looking part of the animal and gave it a try. I have to hand it to the chef, it was an aromatic piece of meat, very well seasoned. Cuy is said to taste between rabbit and duck, I don’t think I got as far as deciphering what it tasted like. I just didn’t like it. I had a couple of morsels and decided that was enough. Meg felt the same, AJ was game and ate a little more, and Franzi actually enjoyed it! She ate a good portion of the the serving and the rest was offered to our driver. It was definitely one of those experiences that I will never repeat, but I can now say I have tried cuy.

After lunch, we made our way to Ollantaytambo – one of the few places that still has the Inca architecture and town plan preserved as it would have been in the Inca period (in the 16th century), it is thought to have been the last stronghold of the Incas during the Spanish colonization. By the way, is the word ‘Ollantaytambo’ as much of a tongue twister for you as it was for me? Took me half a day to learn how to say it properly! We didn’t see much of the town – we hiked up Pincuylluna mountain to the ruins which unfortunately shut as we arrived, but we got to appreciate the views of the town from that vantage, and the surrounding mountains. We enjoyed a very pleasant dinner together and had an early night.

I went to bed that night feeling a mix of anxiety, excitement and dread at the prospect of starting the Inca Trail the next day.

I slept surprisingly well that night and woke up to a clear, bright and sunny morning.

The long awaited day had finally arrived.

Interesting fact about the Sacred Valley …Did you know?

There is more to the Sacred Valley region, than Machu Picchu? There are also Inca ruins in Pisac, Ollantaytambo and Q’enqo, with stunning agricultural terraces and towering mountains; Maras has a beautiful patchwork of salt mines and Moray is thought to be the site of Incan agricultural experimentation with terrace and amphitheatre designs. Spread the word.