20th April - The Sacred Valley

20th April, The Sacred Valley of the Incas.

After another early pick up, today's excursions took us around the sacred valley, where the Ande's mountains rise above the Urubamba river. The Urubamba  starts in Cusco and eventually joins the mighty Amazon as it winds its way all the way to the Atlantic Ocean. 

The scenery we passed through was stunning, with jagged mountains, tiny villages and farm land. 

Our first stop was the traditional village of Chinchero and it's archeological site with fabulous views across a ravine. The Inca trail was clearly visible from the terraces we were standing on as the brave/ foolhardy souls set off on their hike. Interestingly, a fair few of the terraces are still being used to cultivate and grow potatoes and other crops.

Next we visited a workshop, where women gave us demonstrations of how alpaca wool is traditionally cleaned using a root, then dyed using natural ingredients, such as plants, minerals and cochineal beetles, which are collected from prickly pear leaves. These tiny white beetles produce bright red & the colour can be altered with minerals to produce vibrant pinks & violet. The women even use the crushed beetles as a lip and cheek colour! Personally, I'll be sticking to my Avon makeup.

 We were also shown how the traditional tapestries are woven, and we had the opportunity to buy the products made, although I resisted as we just don't have the space in our rucksacks to get anything else home, or the spending money. 

The things were beautiful though. It takes a whole day (8 hours work) to make just 7 inches of woven material, depending on the intricacies of the pattern. The women had a gorgeous young Peruvian hairless dog, I have seen a few of these since here, and they look so funny. This one was completely bald apart from a spikey black Mohican on his head. I have also seen dogs with fluffy feet & shocks of hair, like a bad toupee. Their owners must go through a lot of sun cream and moisturiser to keep their dogs skin in good condition. Or at least I hope they do! 

We then, were driven to the Inca ruins of Ollytantambo, which stands proud in the middle of a lush valley. There were impressive Inca terraces, used for agriculture, with some still in use today. A church now stands on the site of what was Inca leader Tupac's palace. After the Spanish conquest churches were built on the sites of important Inca temples and palaces, as a final insult to native people. 

Graeme found the whole place to feel quite spiritual. It certainly had a perfect locations overlooking the valley where the mountains join. It would have been great to have been able to stay the night in the pretty village there. It had narrow cobble streets, still running with fresh water from the mountains, in original Inca culverts (water channels). It appears that the Incas ensured that all of their people were provided with food & clean water….although that's where it ended, and there was a definite heirarchy. 

The Incas worshipped water, as the giver of life & respected it's value for the people as well as to grow crops. In Quechua the word Wilkomale means sacred river. The Incas believed that the river was a reflection of the milky way in the sky above, believing the milky way was the river of the heavens. 

We were than driven to a hotel complex for lunch. The grounds were stunning, with beautiful flowers, fruit trees and gorgeous seating areas with lush planting. There was even a little chapel, painted brightly in traditional Inca colours of red and yellow. The setting was idyllic and we sat outside admiring the view. The food was very good and we were free to choose any 3 courses we wanted. We both had a fresh salad, with herbs and a tangy dressing, with my main course being Alpaca lomo saltado, a traditional dish with peppers & onions pan fried with the meat. Graeme opted for river trout. We then had a desert of a light berry mouse, washed down with beer for Graeme & wine for me, whilst out guide & driver stuck to lemonade.

We then went to our hotel InkaTerra Ulabamba, for the next two nights. Nothing could have prepared us for this! 

We pulled up and I swear my jaw must have dropped. The place was stunning.

We were led to a lounge with floor to ceiling glass walls with a stunning view of the mountains, and antique furniture, where we were given a refreshing drink made from Tuna (the fruit of the prickly pear - not the fish). We were then told about the range of free activities the hotel supplies (we signed up for a twilight walk that night and an early morning bird watching session tomorrow before breakfast). The hotel also has a spa, with luxury treatments that can be booked within the spa, or our room if we preferred. Once checked in, we headed to our room, a huge room, tastefully decorated with mood lighting, and a bathroom bigger than our flat at home. It even had under floor heating. The surprises just kept coming as we opened our patio doors to see our private terrace with gorgeous mountain views. I have no clue how a little lass from Fawdon ended up here in total luxury! We didn't even book the "high end" accomodation on offer when we booked the trip, as on a budget, but somehow ended up in some pretty fabulous hotels. This one was nothing short of fabulous. Although it felt very strange being "waited on". We indulged in the free coffee and homemade cakes & biscuits on offer, despite already being full as they were too good not to eat. 

The twilight walk was just us with a local guide Heroshi ( who's father had given him a Japanese name in honour of a teacher who had taught him photography as a young man, leading to him having a career). Heroshi had lost none of his Peruvian heritage & was clearly passionate about sharing his knowledge of the Incas and their beliefs. We were led through the hotel grounds and along a narrow pathway upwards, with candle lit lanterns, stopping along the way to learn about plants, medicinal values and astronomy. Our final stop was at a platform, looking out over the valley. Heroshi talked about the stars and the importance of the Southern Cross to the Incas. He then used a laser pen to show us the different constallations and described the placing of the stars at different important dates to the Incas. It was really interesting. We settled back at the hotel in front of a roaring log fire with our free Pisco Sour cocktail, reminiscing on a fabulous day. Meanwhile, our invisible butler had turned down our bed, put hot water bottles in (they weren't needed mind you, as it wasn't cold at all) put slippers & robes out for us and left chocolates on our pillows, and water on our bedside tables…it all felt a bit surreal. Part of me feels like I could get used to this level of luxury, but part of me also feels like I don't need someone to do basic things for me that I can do myself. There's a guilt about it all. Typical of my working class roots, I don't feel deserving of someone else's effort on my behalf. 

Speak soon,

Caroline