Ollantaytambo
Trip Start
Aug 08, 2006
1
22
37
Trip End
Ongoing
Ollantaytambo, Peru
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
We drove through the hills where there were dirt roads, mud brick houses with residents tending to their animals. Today felt like the real South America. We saw so many stray dogs, Llamas, pigs, donkeys, horses etc. mostly tethered up on the side of the road.
We visited 'Planterra' a project where the local village women were taught how to make textiles from alpaca and llama wool. The smell in the air was a mixture of smoke, animals and food with heaps of children running around playing in the dirt and having fun. The women were displaying how they create their textiles (a painstaking process!!). They were making blankets, gloves, socks, hats etc...
We droves through the 'Sacred Valley' which is an agricultural area mainly growing corn crops. I wish you were able to see through my eyes if only for a few minutes... the scenery was spectacular with huge mountains that were red in color which towered over the valley with green crops glistening in the sun. Animals were throughout the area and mud brick houses dotted the road.
We drove through the Pisaq ruins where we hiked steep hills to view amazing sights from the top. I tasted some beer made from corn on the side of the road - quite nice actually, I could easily get used to it! The owners also had a large pen filled with guinea pigs... these wernt the family pets but think of them like lobsters - you get to choose which one you want for dinner!
We arrived at Ollantaytambo and before dinner climbed some more ruins where we came across two young boys who offered to sing to us for money. They were so cute we couldn't resist so they sang a short song and we paid our dues.
