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{"id":434,"date":"2022-05-09T05:32:07","date_gmt":"2022-05-09T04:32:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chircee.com\/?p=434"},"modified":"2022-05-09T05:32:13","modified_gmt":"2022-05-09T04:32:13","slug":"inca-trail-tour-part-2-sacred-valley-ollantaytambo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chircee.com\/inca-trail-tour-part-2-sacred-valley-ollantaytambo\/","title":{"rendered":"Inca Trail Tour – Part 2: Sacred Valley & Ollantaytambo"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

14th April 2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ccaccaccollo Women’s Weaving Co-operative <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Grating the ‘saqta’ plant<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The range of colours produced <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A colourful array of the different varieties of corn <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Me trying, and failing, to spin wool <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Women weaving in the centre of the village <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The chef behind the best empanada I’ve had<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Teenagers at the Pottery Community, part of the welcome committee <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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A demonstration of their techniques, the kiln in the background<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n