First we took a river raft ride on the Urubamba River. There were gentle rapids, but it was mostly just a fun float. It was a beautiful ride. I saw an Incan check point at the most narrow part of the river. They could stop people on the river to make sure they weren't enemies. The ride lasted an hour, but it went fast.
Next we went to Ollytombio (spelled incorrectly for now), another Incan community in ruins. (See photo). I climbed to the very top with our group leader and llama friend, John. (See photo.) It was breathtaking in more ways than one! Since we climbed stone steps in high altitudes, we needed to stop periodically to catch our breath. We also climbed farther than the others to see what is left of a house. (See photo.) At the bottom of the mountain was a ceremonial area and a bathing area with clear water from the mountain.
We had lunch at a family's home today. The main course was guinea pig with a pepper in its mouth. (See photo.) Guinea pig is a delicacy in Peru. No, I did not eat any. I ate some on my first trip to Peru and that was enough for me. We also had baked spaghetti with boiled eggs in it. Chilli renio was hollowed out yellow or green peppers with mixed vegetables in it. The vegetables were wonderful but the pepper was too hot for me. A delicious yellow potato was baked with onion and cilentro. There was a cooked corn, much larger than what we have and very light yellow. Dessert was an apricot that was marinated or soaked in a sweet, ginger sauce. I loved it!
At last we went to one of my favorite places, Seminaro! We watched a video about Pablo Seminaro's career with clay then took a tour of his studio where all the pottery is created. He is famous around the world. The Chicago Museum of Art has a whole collection permanently displayed of his pieces. Pablo talked to us then we shopped! Of course, I purchased some pieces. My favorite is in the shape of an Andean cross. It is painted in browns with a countryside scene. Then it has several silver pieces on it; one, of course, is of a llama.
Tomorrow we are taking a train ride to Machu Picchu! Yea!!! We will be there for two days, hiking and shopping in Machu Picchu town. I can't wait!
Well, my pillow is calling my name. Have a great day!
Questions of the Day:
Hailey Lovell- "What kind of clothes do the women, men and children wear and do they have to wear certain clothes at school?"
Answer- Great question! I posted photos today that should answer your questions. (See photo.) As we travel around Cusco, we will see women in various clothes. I'll make sure to take some more photographs.
Breanna Uthoff- "How many vicunas are left in the world?"
Answer- I'm not sure if there is a count for vicunas. Our tour guide wasn't sure. Would you research that on Google and let me know? There is a specific number in order to be classified as endangered.
Cole Travis- "What made the backyard roof break because I see bricks in a pile?"
Answer- People here keep whatever materials they can to reuse. When they keep them they are simply put in a pile. Everyone does it and thinks nothing of what it looks like. Many homes need repairs, but they don't always have money to get what they need to fix a roof like tools. They make due. It the roof would leak into the house, I'm sure they would fix it right away.
Mrs. Meyer- "What other kinds of animals did you see at the zoo? Were you concerned about the "fresh fruit" at the market? Do you have clean water to wash it in?"
Answer- We only saw camelids at the zoo. I was afraid someone would ask this because here they use the correct species names. In America we have named them differently. There were alpacas, vicunas, gunacos, huycaya alpacas, suri alpacs, "classic llamas" and "wooly llamas."
Most of the fresh fruit we have eaten is at our hotels for breakfast. Any other fruit we eat is cut open then we do not eat the skins. So we avoid any water that was used to wash the fruit. It is important to not consume any of the local water, not even to brush our teeth or rinse our toothbrushes. We could get sick from the natural bacteria in the water here. We have grown up drinking our own water so our bodies are used to our bacteria. We don't want to be sick so we only drink bottled water. All the restaurants know this and only serve us bottled water.
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