Machupicchu, Peru - day 2

Day two, our bodies continued to adjust to the high altitude.  By now my nagging headache is gone, but my body resisted moving at normal speed.  The itinerary for the day was a visit to a number of scenic and cultural locations.

We headed to the Maras Salt Fields in the Sacred Valley of the Incas, our first stop of the day.  The 30-passenger buses labored for nearly an hour along narrow, unpaved trails, often hung on the side of a sheer cliff with a 1,000 foot drop on the other side.  I tightened my seat belt as my bus fishtailed along the wet "greasy" roadway and occasionally pass an oncoming vehicle. 

Cresting 13,000 feet, I was amazed to see large scale farming on the plateau.  Crops included asparagus, potatoes (more than 3,000 varieties), rice, quinoa, corn and coffee.  Twenty-thousand (plus) feet peaks of the Andes provide a stunting backdrop.

Tractors were seldom used here.  The donkey on the left is hauling a single furrow plow to the field for use by a team of oxen. All weeding and cultivating is done by hand.

Looking out the window as the bus rounded a hairpin curve, I found myself sitting not more than 3 feet from the edge of a sheer cliff that looked down at the salt fields 1,000 feet below.   My heart was racing and it wasn't caused by the thin air!

Since pre-Inca times,  salt has been obtained in Maras by evaporating water from a salt spring, a natural outlet of an underground stream. The flow is directed into an intricate system of tiny channels constructed so that the water runs gradually down onto the several hundred ancient terraced ponds. 

During summer months, the water will evaporate in each pond in a matter of days.  The remaining salt crystals are carefully scrapped up and sold.  At one time the sale of salt was economically feasible.  Today, the co-op makes most of its money charging 2,000 daily visitors $10 each to visit the salt fields.

Continuing through the Sacred Valley, we stopped at the Misminay Community to immerse ourselves in traditional Andean culture and lifestyle.

The families here continue living much as their ancestors have since pre-Inca times.

Homes and buildings are constructed of adobe bricks.  The "mud" is prepared by combining earth, straw and water using bare feet to mix the ingredients. 

The mud is placed in forms and allowed to cure for a couple of weeks.  A typical house requires about 5,000 bricks.

A future brick maker watches nearby.

While the men make bricks, the women prepare brunch using traditional methods.  This is homemade guacamole.

Time for brunch!  Native potatoes, roasted guinea pig and a variety of guacamole dips.  Dig in!

After brunch, we walked through the Incan town of Chincheros.  The Inca's  skilled craftsman created streets and building that today are in excellent condition considering that this region is earthquake prone and has suffered several 8.0 or larger tremors during the last millennium. 

Our final stop of the day was at a local weave center.  Here women create fabric using traditional methods developed by their ancestors.  These women are "spinning" yarn using only their fingers and a bobbin, no spinning wheel needed!

Some of the traditional textiles created at the weave center.  (Ask Jan about the traditional pieces that she is bringing home.)

Continued -- see day three.