After breakfast with our families in Lucre and Huacarpay we headed through the Andean mountains for three stops on our way winding towards Machu Picchu:
Chinchero: Although the remains of an ancient Incan temple and terraces are here, the main draw for us was a textile workshop where the local Quechua women demonstrate centuries-old natural techniques for cleaning, dyeing and weaving alpaca wool and other fibers.
Moray: A series of depressions with concentric circular terraces dot the landscape here. What’s this all about?
Salineras: The Incas had more than 1,000 small ponds for harvesting salt here, and they are still in use.
At the end of the day we settled into our hostel in Ollantaytambo, the second most important city of the Incan empire, after Cusco. Apparently, our reputation preceded us. After supper, in the town square, we spied a volleyball game in progress. Maria asked if those on the court wanted to play Las Poderosas Hojas de Acer, and they readily agreed.
The blog postings will take a short break again as Maria and Doug begin service visits outside of Lima. The posts will resume later with the rest of the trip to Machu Picchu before starting blog entries from the service visits.