Update before Salkantay trek

I spent the weekend in the Sacred Valley, an area outside of Cusco full of mountains, beautiful views, and endless Inca ruins. It is called the sacred valley because the Urubamba river snakes through area, providing vital water for fertile soils and a pleathora of crops and livestock- endless varieties of corn, potatos (there are more than 1000 varieties in Peru), and of course, alpaca.

On our first stop, a group of Andean women served us coca tea before demonstrating  how they make and dye alpaca yarn- they actually use a parasite that grows on local cacti to fix the dyes.
We spent the morning touring ruins at Chinchero, which was my first glimpse of the stark, towering mountains surrounding us in our little green oasis. In the distance, you can see hanging glaciers clinging to two mountain peaks as well as spotty snow dotting the faces. Our guide, Antonio, always had stories to tell us about his life, and he mentioned that since he was a kid, the glaciers have receded more than half way and in the next thirty years, they could disappear altogether. As we drove through the winding roads hugging the edges of sheer cliffs, we were often stopped by young kids herding donkeys and alpaca.

The Moray ruins were definitely my favorite (you can see a picture in my last post- they are terraced and circular.) The Incas built these ruins as an agricultural experiment. Each terrace actually has its own microclimate, which allowed the Incas to experiment with which growing conditions were best for each crop.
We then drove off to the Maras salt pans- this was the stereotypical don´t-look-down-as-your-driver-takes-the-curves-at-60-MPH as we inched along a one-way dirt road to the parking lot. We often met buses and would play chicken until one of the vehicles gave in and backed up the twisting road to let the other pass. The salt pans are loacated in a valley where a trickling natural salt water spring flows into more than 3000 small pools. With sunlight, the water evaporates and the salt can be collected. We tried the water, which was surprisingly warm and less surprisingly, extremely salty.

Then onto a giant buffet lunch at a touristy restaurant in Urubamba- the Sacred Valley is so much greener than Cusco. Even in its cities, everything is covered with vegetation, colorful flowers, and the calming sound of the Urubamba river never escapes you. At lunch, I was able to try alpaca, which was actually delicious.

On the second day, we visited the Pisac ruins and market. The ruins are massive, covering an entire mountain, with trails hugging the edge of cliffs and structures built into the face of the mountain. We spent 3 hours climbing from the top of the ruins town into the town of Pisac- there´s a cemetary embedded into the side of a cliff, large stone tower-checkpoints, which were used to send messages from one to the next about invaders, and an atronomy rock used for the Incan calendar. After some delicious empanadas for lunch, we headed off into the market- a dizzying maze of tents full of alpacas sweaters, carved figurines, silver jewelery, and too much more. Because many tourists come to the market, I found that the vendors charged much more than they do in Cusco and are less likely to bargain. It was interesting how quickly the market transforms from tourist treasures to local necessities- one second you´re trying on llama socks and finger puppets and then suddenly you´re in a busy market full of potatos, yarn dye, and plastic lawn chairs.

Yesterday afternoon, I had one of my favorite experiences so far in Peru. At construction, I met two guys who spent two months working at the construcution site for which I am currently plastering the walls and they invited me to come with them to meet Marco, my construction boss, for chicha, the local drink. We went to a local restaurant-bar near the construction site and I tried my first sip of chicha beer, a fermented corn drink, which I found to be bitter and a tiny bit sour. The glasses are giant-I need to hold it with both hands. Although I didn´t take more than a few sips of the drink, it was amazing to just sit with Marcos in a local place and talk about everything- drywall, Christmas festivals, his family, and all of the drinking customs in Peru. As we talked, the regular locals curiously started at us, listening to our broken Spanish and smiling when we broke out in laughter. Marcos says that it´s very uncommom for tourists to come to such a local place and when they do, they usually only drink beer or mixed drinks, so it was special for us to be sharing chicha and living with the locals. I rode the bus home in the dark, the door hanging wide open and our driver honking before blindly whipping around corners. I love Cusco.

Today I meandered through the parks that serve as islands between the crazy 4 lanes of traffic and enjoyed all of the food that will probabaly get me sick- fresh strawberries from some random lady, served on little ceramic plates that she arranged herself, popcorn, and ice cream from one of the many bicycle stands that camp out on the corners.

Tonight I´m going out to dinner with a couple who works with me at construction and then I have to pack for my trek- I´m off for a 5 day hike to Machu Picchu through snowy mountains, the humid jungle, and finally to the famous Incan ruins. Goodbye for now :)