Part III- The Sacred Valley and rafting
*in this post, all photos can be clicked for a bigger photo
Day 4
Today- we determine our own day, pace, itinerary… After yesterday’s rushed city tour, we decided to hire a driver that’ll be with us the whole day, drive us where we want and when we want. We are, after all, a family of 5, so for $140 for the day, we had a driver and a car. And music 🙂
Today we’re exploring the Sacred Valley.
We started climbing out of Cusco, slowly. Just leaving the city in day light, allowed us to enjoy some sights of how people go about and live their normal life in the Andes.
We left, passing through Plaza De Armas. Surprise, surprise, the army was marching in the plaza, while pedestrians were crossing the street, cars were driving through, and it felt like it was an organized disorder…
Left, left-right-left
As we climbed up, we noticed that most houses were built from mud bricks. Some were covered with plaster or were whitewashed, and some were left as-is, thus giving the city a fairly red look.
Cusco suburbia
Mud bricks and plants
Hills surrounding Cusco
50 shades of green
Beautiful valleys and mountains
Arriving at Chinchero, a small town. We picked this town for it’s Sunday market. There’s a way bigger one in Pisac, but we opted for the small, less touristic one. We also got to see the process for making alpaca wool at a small co-op.
Two social alpacas in Chinchero, Peru
Dyeing the alpaca wool in the pot. All colors are derived from natural sources
Colorful alpaca yarn
Weaving
Chinchero market: recycling old shoes into sandals
Chinchero market, selling.. something
Chinchero market, buying small terracotta outdoor cooking pottery
Chinchero market
Chinchero market, locals resting, drinking their pink corn juice
one of my favorite photos. 3 ladies eating their meal
Chinchero market, selling musical instruments
This girl was left to watch over the merchandise
Lior: It was really good to be able to choose where we wanted to go with our driver. Just driving around the Sacred Valley is fun, because the road is very scenic! Stop at Chincherro, where they have a place to show tourists how their fabrics are made. Although, as I said, it’s touristy, its only on a small scale (and you get to see the process that all of the blankets go through). A bit down the road in the same town, there is a very colorful market, but not everything there is best quality.
At the market, make sure to taste quinoa juice! It is very warming and very sweet, and , well, it’s quinoa! Another thing I noticed, is that some people were taking pictures of me! A few local Chincherros had their cameras up, snapping “candid” shots of me… they’ve probably never seen anyone as sunburnt as me. Overall, this market is a YES!
sweet, warm quinoa juice in Chinchero
