From Pisa we went to another Inka ruin called Moray. This site features terraces shaped in concentric circles - nobody is really able to explain the logic for this organisation. That did not stop us from enjoying the great views and spend a couple of nights at the site to climb a 4200 m high mountain (admittedly starting at 3800 m).
On the way to Moray Kate had spotted a small group of women selling weaving products and had talked her into taking us to their home to see how they actually weave. So on the way back from Moray to Cusco we stopped their and were able to experience not only the local handicraft but as well how people lived and cooked in their home.
Guinnea pigs being a traditional local dish they are stored in the kitchen in living form, hence, just running around in the kitchen like cats and dogs in our homes. When needed they are put in the pot (we were even asked whether it was really true that Guinnea pigs are kept as pets in our country!!).
Our children played with the children of the lady and helped to pick the mais cobs for lunch. It is difficult to imagine how people live if one has not seen it. The kitchen is completely dark, walls and the floor are made out of mud. A few old and black pots and pans are lying on the floor and the stove is heated with cow dung and a few twigs collected among the strongly diminished forested areas. However, the friendlyness and openess of the people provides such a warm atmosphere that one almost feels at home despite the for us unusual suroundings.
After many exchanges on the type, quality, colour and other characteristics of wool, the weaving techniques that were mutually demonstrated (Kate got out our Guatemalan weaving utensils and the kids had to demonstrate), some purchases of local product and some presents in form of biscuits and fruit for the lady we eventually made it back on the road to Cusco.
On the way back I discovered that a number of my tools had gone missing. A few days earlier we had noticed that the money from the purses of the girls was missing too. So were a few DVDs that we carried along. A picture had formed in our minds that somebody must have gone in the camper when it was open and very subtely taken a few items as so as not to make us aware of the stealing immediately. We did not know whether it had happened in the hotel in Lima where we had felt quite safe or at the garage where I had gotten the camper repaired. The fact remained that for the first time during the 9 months something had been stolen from the camper. While it was not very much it made us (and in particular the kids) quite sad. The stolen tools were a particular pain because very difficult to replace. I had a small foot pump that was ideal for topping up a tyre when in the middle of nowhere. All I found was a bicycle hand pump to replace it. But it was very tiring and difficult to really fill our tyres with it since they had to be pumped up to 4.5 bars.
After an additional day in Cusco to relax, shop and replace missing tools we started our journey to Lake Titicaca.
On the way back I discovered that a number of my tools had gone missing. A few days earlier we had noticed that the money from the purses of the girls was missing too. So were a few DVDs that we carried along. A picture had formed in our minds that somebody must have gone in the camper when it was open and very subtely taken a few items as so as not to make us aware of the stealing immediately. We did not know whether it had happened in the hotel in Lima where we had felt quite safe or at the garage where I had gotten the camper repaired. The fact remained that for the first time during the 9 months something had been stolen from the camper. While it was not very much it made us (and in particular the kids) quite sad. The stolen tools were a particular pain because very difficult to replace. I had a small foot pump that was ideal for topping up a tyre when in the middle of nowhere. All I found was a bicycle hand pump to replace it. But it was very tiring and difficult to really fill our tyres with it since they had to be pumped up to 4.5 bars.
After an additional day in Cusco to relax, shop and replace missing tools we started our journey to Lake Titicaca.
Lili’s account:
We visited the house of a Peruvian lady who weaves for tourists. It was very different from what we saw in Guatemala. Because here on the Altiplano it is much colder. In Guatemala they just need a thin piece of cloth made of cotton. But here they wove themselves big thick cloths made out of sheepswool. It was a very different type. The kind of weaving it is similar, execpt that they have three big sticks in the middle. The other parts of the weaving backstrap seem to be the same.
After that we went into here kitchen and it was very dark. She had a little oven and the smoke just came into the kitchen. All around the floor there were pealings of mais and lots of squeeking guinnea pigs scrabbling around the ground. If they wanted to eat one for lunch they had just to pick it up and cook it. They were very amazed when we told them that we had guinnea pigs as pets.
We helped the girls to peal some mais to take the little corns off it to cook them. For us it was very hard. But the girls could do one in a few minutes. We just managed to spread them all over the ground. But after a few we got the hang of it.
We visited the house of a Peruvian lady who weaves for tourists. It was very different from what we saw in Guatemala. Because here on the Altiplano it is much colder. In Guatemala they just need a thin piece of cloth made of cotton. But here they wove themselves big thick cloths made out of sheepswool. It was a very different type. The kind of weaving it is similar, execpt that they have three big sticks in the middle. The other parts of the weaving backstrap seem to be the same.
After that we went into here kitchen and it was very dark. She had a little oven and the smoke just came into the kitchen. All around the floor there were pealings of mais and lots of squeeking guinnea pigs scrabbling around the ground. If they wanted to eat one for lunch they had just to pick it up and cook it. They were very amazed when we told them that we had guinnea pigs as pets.
We helped the girls to peal some mais to take the little corns off it to cook them. For us it was very hard. But the girls could do one in a few minutes. We just managed to spread them all over the ground. But after a few we got the hang of it.
