Finally getting acclimated, we decide to take a taxi to visit the Sacred Valley, about 2 hours east of Cusco and about another 2000 feet up in the Andes Mountains. And I thought the Cascades and Rockies were cool. The Andes are AMAZING!
The Sacred Valley
The Sacred Valley is so called because their soil and climate can grow just about anything, hence the Incas named it “sacred.” That and the powerful spiritual connection with the earth (called “Pacahama”) that blankets this region. When you stand at 12,000 feet and look around, you can’t help but think it’s sacred as well: green rolling fields, the snaking Urubumba River, Inca village ruins on what seem to be impassable ridges, and huge Andes peaks surrounding the valley on all sides.
This was a full day. We visited a wildlife sanctuary for condors, pumas, and other miscellaneous Andes wildlife including the hairless dog (I don’t think that really counts as Andes wildlife).
Afterwards, we visited an alpaca and llama textile farm that walks you through the steps of alpaca wool fabrication, coloring, and textile crafts. This was very cool — did you know alpacas and llamas are part of the camel family?
After feeding and interacting with what could be my next sweater, we came to the area where they dye the wool with natural dyes from native plants and insects. Yes, insects. The most vibrant red coming from the blood of a tiny cactus-leeching insect no bigger than a flea.
We watched the process of squashing the insects to retract the blood, grinding the color, mixing it in a big pot, then dying the wool in strands by hand. So cool! Now we see the bright red color in traditional Peruvian clothes and costumes everywhere. All from a tiny bug!
You can see here the spools of yarn and the roots (plants, insects, grains, flowers, etc.) that each came from. The color mixer dude is pulling one of the insects from the cactus for the red color. Then below he dyes the alpaca wool strands in the pots of color, then they are hung to dry.
Freshly dyed yarn hangs to dry
The colors of the alpaca yarn from the elements of plants, leaves, insects, earth.
Once the wool strands dry, they are ready for weaving! You’ll have to see my sweater later!
The agriculture terraces in the background, at Pisaq ruins.
The Inca stairs at Pisaq have been in place for over 700 years and are a truly amazing display of the Inca's stone mastery.
The sun temple at Pisaq. It generates energy from the sun and radiates through touching its walls.
From Ollantaytambo, the mystical face of Wiracocha in the opposing mountain was said to be an angry Inca God.
