{"id":1444,"date":"2018-08-21T20:46:11","date_gmt":"2018-08-22T01:46:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.maycas.us\/wordpress\/?p=1444"},"modified":"2019-08-28T18:56:53","modified_gmt":"2019-08-28T23:56:53","slug":"20-into-the-sacred-valley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.maycas.us\/wordpress\/?p=1444","title":{"rendered":"20: Into the Sacred Valley"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We hit the road for a multi-day trip to reach Machu Picchu, which includes a trip through the Sacred Valley. This area, along with Cusco, was considered the heart of the Inca empire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our first stop was a weaving cooperative on the edge of the city of Chinchero. A number of local weavers band together to sell their wares and demonstrate their craft. There are a number of these weaving cooperatives throughout Peru, but they are concentrated in the more touristy areas for obvious reasons. Many of the dies they use are derived from local plants and grains. The actual weaving process is still a mystery to me and they have stories associated with each of the symbols used in the weaving. Llama or alpaca fleece is typically used and on a more fun note there is debate about which is the friendlier animal. In our experience neither was overly friendly. At one point Tracy tried to get a picture taken next to both llamas and alpacas, and neither animal was having it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

We drank some tea, watched a demonstration, and spent some money. I picked up a rug with the hope of turning it into a wall hanging. I still need to figure out the best way to make that happen. I was told the rug is titled “Women Gossiping”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n