Tell me now - just why would "McLean Tours" arrange for an early 8 a.m. pick-up when we could have had our choice of times???? This is beyond comprehension, so we promised not to do this to ourselves, ever again!
6:00 a.m. - Wake up call - we showered quickly, and went down for breakfast, enjoying a fruit bowl with Peruvian ripe bananas, papayas & pineapple, along with delicious bread, Peruvian Elderberry jam, and tea. A great little start to the morning!
Our tour guide dutifully picked us up at 8:00 a.m., and we walked up the hill, to the wider road to meet our touring car. The narrow cobblestone street that our hotel is on, Calle Fiero, only has space for one car traveling up the street, so if a vehicle wishes to stop and wait for passengers, it has to go to the top of the hill. So, we hiked uphill to a wider cobblestone street! Great energetic start to the day!
We drove through Cusco to the little town of Moray, through a rich farming countryside. Manual labour drives the farming here. Donkeys and cows assist the families. As we drove by, people were waiting on the roadside to be picked up by a truck and driven to the Sunday market, probably in Pisac or Chinchero, the birthplace of the rainbow. The markets are "bartering ones" only. The 'selling' gooes on all morning, and then the drinking starts, along with the dancing and partying. Market day - Sunday, is the only day of the week farmers can meet their neighbours and everyone looks forward to it. We can imagine! We would have love to have seen it, but could not get this added to our tour - darn! (Better planning next time!)
Our first destination was Moray, 50 km from Cusco. The circular terracing land resembles a Greek Amphitheatre, but archeologists believe it to be a crop laboratory used by the Incas to find the best conditions for growing crops in the area. We walked all the way down, and around, and were impressed with the restorations going on - manually of course. Very slow work indeed!
Our next stop was on my wish list - Salinas de Marais, salt mines, or pans, operated by families in the area, each working their own little 'salt pan' or two. Such an impressive sight! We walked down alongside the salt pans, observing families working the salt out of their small space. My camera battery died - first thing, so hopefully, I will be able to get postcards depicting this complex family operation.
Driving back to Cusco, we enjoyed the rich farming countryside Seeing the big town of Cusco from a distance, admiring 'its planning system' and the all the red clay rooftops, is quite the sight.
We 'crashed' for awhile then ventured out because we were hungry. Peruvian soups are rating high on our list of favourites, so we had this, and papas fritas. After satisfying our appetite, we wandered again - this time to the open family Sunday market, which is a mess - things & activities, with smells of all sorts hitting us! Bruce and I loved seeing the huge mountains of oranges and limes piled up for sale. Huge 100 kg bags of Peruvian popcorn, (quite tasty!), bloodied oxen heads, long sticks of sugar cane, with people sucking on these, potatoes of all sizes, and fruits that we had never seen before. Amazing!
Coming up - is June 24 - Cusco Day, celebrating the Inca feast, Temple of the Sun. Cusconeans are painting their homes and really sprucing the place up. Unfortunately, we will be in Lima at the time, but it is interesting to hear about their pride and traditions of their Andean past, and how they work these customs into the Winter Solstice celebrations.
Another local site which never ceases to amaze us is watching the local buses, over-loaded and filled to the brim, people packed in like sardines, as they are being transported home at the end of the day - between 6 & 8 p.m. People are even hanging onto the sides of the buses as they travel uphill, through the bumpy streets, hanging on for dear life! And, this goes on all over Peru! Such amazing sights - such wonderful learning experiences!
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