Wednesday, December 20, 2006
19 December Sacred Valley
Joined an english speaking guide today with a mixed group to wander the Sacred Valley together. Got drenched by a rain storm early in the day and actually lost two of our group it was so heavy. We waited for an hour in the rain and they never showed so went without them. And incredibly they chased us down in a taxi.
Before the storm visited a communal bakehouse. In many villages each house doesn't have a wood fired oven - they have a designated day to take their bread and other baking to the bakehouse to be cooked. We taste tested meat and onion filled bread pastry and also cheese and herb filled (can't remember the proper name). Straight out of the oven - hot and spicy. At the same place there was a Cuy farm. Not as good as Paola's friend's by description but interesting to see how they are kept and fed; slaughtered and dressed.
After the complusory market visit we finally got to our first archeological site for the day. A great walk up through the cold wind, all of us using altitude as an excuse for our lack of fitness. The day's catchcry became "I'm not proud; I'm happy to pant". A great view off the top even if not much of the actual built environment remains. The rocks cling to the mountain like an eagles nest and the mist and cloud rolled around below us. The mountains are very green with far peaks sporting snow. Terraced farms spread into the valleys. For historical purposes the local farmers cannot farm in the inca terraces but in some ways this seems a waste of fertile, irrigatable land.
Ollantaytambo rises above the town of the same name. At the bottom of the main, barely paved, street the terraces rise, connecting the town with the ruins. Other ruins look down on the townfrom the other two sides. Old Man's Beard is so rampant on the slopes surrounding the ruins it looks like the shurbs and bromilliads are covered in cobwebs. Anywhere young boys can reach is clean as they harvest the epiphite (not sure what for). A football pitch and bull fighting ring vie for space under the shadow of the ruins on one side; narrow ancient streets climb straight up the slopes with walled courtyards on either side. You can see these are the streets chosen by the tourist painters when they draw the scenes of rural peru with plaited women walking along village streets.
By the time we reached Chinchero it was almost dark. A very atmospheric time with purple storm clouds buiding on the horizon, the white painted adobe flourescent in the early dark and the yellow glow of the street lamps. Against my better judgement I visited the historical catholic church at the site - built with half adobe walss atop Inca foundations. Expecting yet more Spanish rennaissonce architecture and oppulance, I was pleasantly surprised and impressed. Probably the best and most real church I've visited in Peru. Beautiful early freizes painted on plaster walls, timber beams and roof. Colours softened by time - reds and blues and blacks and creams. The main alter was the only ornate part of the church and it wasn't overly guilded, just quietly so. All of our group agreed how nice it was and we were a mixed bunch.
EG. Myself; 70YO Aussie woman studying spanish; young jewish english volunteer from Arequipa; USA couple (her Singaporian, him afro-american); USA couple (her white, him Peruvian Indian); 2 men from Belgium; Dutch couple (her white, him Peruvian jew)...
Joined an english speaking guide today with a mixed group to wander the Sacred Valley together. Got drenched by a rain storm early in the day and actually lost two of our group it was so heavy. We waited for an hour in the rain and they never showed so went without them. And incredibly they chased us down in a taxi.
Before the storm visited a communal bakehouse. In many villages each house doesn't have a wood fired oven - they have a designated day to take their bread and other baking to the bakehouse to be cooked. We taste tested meat and onion filled bread pastry and also cheese and herb filled (can't remember the proper name). Straight out of the oven - hot and spicy. At the same place there was a Cuy farm. Not as good as Paola's friend's by description but interesting to see how they are kept and fed; slaughtered and dressed.
After the complusory market visit we finally got to our first archeological site for the day. A great walk up through the cold wind, all of us using altitude as an excuse for our lack of fitness. The day's catchcry became "I'm not proud; I'm happy to pant". A great view off the top even if not much of the actual built environment remains. The rocks cling to the mountain like an eagles nest and the mist and cloud rolled around below us. The mountains are very green with far peaks sporting snow. Terraced farms spread into the valleys. For historical purposes the local farmers cannot farm in the inca terraces but in some ways this seems a waste of fertile, irrigatable land.
Ollantaytambo rises above the town of the same name. At the bottom of the main, barely paved, street the terraces rise, connecting the town with the ruins. Other ruins look down on the townfrom the other two sides. Old Man's Beard is so rampant on the slopes surrounding the ruins it looks like the shurbs and bromilliads are covered in cobwebs. Anywhere young boys can reach is clean as they harvest the epiphite (not sure what for). A football pitch and bull fighting ring vie for space under the shadow of the ruins on one side; narrow ancient streets climb straight up the slopes with walled courtyards on either side. You can see these are the streets chosen by the tourist painters when they draw the scenes of rural peru with plaited women walking along village streets.
By the time we reached Chinchero it was almost dark. A very atmospheric time with purple storm clouds buiding on the horizon, the white painted adobe flourescent in the early dark and the yellow glow of the street lamps. Against my better judgement I visited the historical catholic church at the site - built with half adobe walss atop Inca foundations. Expecting yet more Spanish rennaissonce architecture and oppulance, I was pleasantly surprised and impressed. Probably the best and most real church I've visited in Peru. Beautiful early freizes painted on plaster walls, timber beams and roof. Colours softened by time - reds and blues and blacks and creams. The main alter was the only ornate part of the church and it wasn't overly guilded, just quietly so. All of our group agreed how nice it was and we were a mixed bunch.
EG. Myself; 70YO Aussie woman studying spanish; young jewish english volunteer from Arequipa; USA couple (her Singaporian, him afro-american); USA couple (her white, him Peruvian Indian); 2 men from Belgium; Dutch couple (her white, him Peruvian jew)...
# posted by The Essence of Good Taste @ 5:54 PM 
