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| Washing Lama Wool |
After by long day in the remote peaceful paradise of Machu
Picchu, I set foot once again looking at Inca ruins. I started my day having a
conversation with a couple of Japanese backpackers from Yokohoma. This time I’m
off to Moray which is forty two miles from Cusco along the long & windy
roads going up & down threw the changes of altitude. I’m not going to lie,
but have felt the effects of the altitude & wake up rather nauseous in the
mornings & sometimes get a headache, oh the joys of altitude sickness, but
it’s part of the adventure. The
Andes people love coca & it works for a natural cure for the altitude, but
there are no coco trees around these parts, it comes from the jungle in the
Amazon. I’ve also notice that
something smells so familiar to me while driving & being out in the valley,
eucalyptus trees are everywhere intermixed with the pine tree. No they don’t
have any kola’s in them. Apparently, they came to Peru in the 1800’s from of
course Australia. It reminds me of
home in a way. Oh, don’t I just
love the “Land Down Under”. Experiencing the Inca ruins is like going
“templing” at Angkor Wat in a way cos I keep on experiencing a new one every
moment I turn while being in Inca country in the southeast part of Peru high in
the Andes. It’s a lovely place to
explore for sure. I’m very
grateful for coming here.
First stop this morning was a stop in the village of
Chinchero to visit local Andes woman who make wool from the lama. They did a fabulous presentation in
describing the process both in Spanish & in English. They also served coca tea as a warm
welcoming gesture. There was also a market with local goods for purchase. I’ve been impressed with the brightness
of the local goods & friendliness of the people at the markets.
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| Salt Mines |
I was inspired to visit the salt mines in Maras from an
edition of
National Geographic from
last spring that featured a photo of Machu Picchu on the cover & had a
brief story about Bingham’s expedition back in 1911 to discover the place. This year marks the 100 anniversary of that
discovery. I noticed it yesterday
with my new Machu Picchu stamp in my Passport. I was very moved by the photo of
the Andes woman walking on the salt mines that inspired me to visit this place.
The salt mines were amazing. They
are huge, huge, and huge, one could walk miles upon miles on them. I was fascinated to learn that they do
this process all by hand. Peruvian
Pink Salk is harvest here. Also,
all of the restaurants from Cusco use the salt that is harvest in this
place. Very beautiful beds of salt
line the hills.
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| Moray |
Moray is rather an unique archeological complex, its name
comes from the Quechua word “Aymoray” that is related to the harvest of corn
during the month of May. The site
is a large agricultural number of circular concentric terraces with four
slightly elliptic galleries known as “Muyus” & the longest is one hundred
fifty meters deep. It’s been speculated due to its controlled climate
conditions during Inca times to have been an experimental farming center or
nursery, where various varieties of corn & improved seeds were adapted to
the varied climates & altitudes throughout the Tawantinsuyo. Crops whit high contents of quality
nutrients were developed, since each set of circular terraces has a different
micro-climate. Yes, crop circles do exist & they were not built by aliens,
but rather by the native people.
They are beautiful. It was
amazing to walk down into them.
The Incas has a deep appreciation for the spiritual world, nature &
the family, which is characterized by each of the sites, I have visited. It was something else going from one
layer to the next with a wee rock steps imbedded into stonewall that one has to
look closely before loosing their step. I must admit that I’ve done my fair
share of “rock climbing” in the last few days with the Inca’s marvelous steps. Apparently
each of the layers was used for one specific crop in an irrigation system. I
visited three out of the four crop circles & each one was different than
the previous one in size & design. Again, another beautiful day with
sunshine for the rainy season traveling along the beautiful Sacred Valley of
the Incas with wildflowers in bloom & animals in herds roaming freely. There’s something mystical about this
part of Peru, I can’t really explain it, you just have to come & see the
beauty of the place.
