Happy Easter! 

Today started with a beautiful awakening at our incredible hotel. It has been created by a Frenchman and his family who have created it from scratch or bare ground. He wants us to believe that this is our home while in the Sacred Valley. It is absolutely stunning and so comfortable. The breakfast was delicious with scrambled eggs, little banana pancakes, fruit, yogurt, pastries and  beverages. 

We left there to travel to Ollantaytambuto which was an ancient religious and military place. We climbed to the top of it which had about 300 steps to it. We were told it was training for Macchu Picchu tomorrow. Yikes. There were many stops going up as our flat prairie bodies are not used to inclines like that and the altitude that we are now experiencing . It makes one appreciate just how flat Saskatchewan is 😊

We toured a small pottery making facility where we could “miraculously” also purchase some pieces to take home with us. Very wonderful items here. 

Tried some alpaca meat today. Tastes a lot like beef. 

We visited a little shop where they did weaving of alpaca and sheep wool. They showed us how they wash the greasy sheep wool, dye all wool and then weave it. Super cool demonstration. Paris, Cara and Torri were in on the dying of the wool. It was really really interesting!  We may have come away with a few treasures from there – scarves, gloves, toques, table runners, and even socks! Danna felt that the whole experience felt we were on “The Amazing Race” getting another aspect of their culture. 

We have noticed some different ranching techniques. While Canadian ranchers spend a lot of money creating fences, some of the Peruvians just put all their animals on leashes or tethers to clean up the ditches and pastures – cattle, donkeys, sheep, pigs, alpacas, and llamas. They are everywhere. It has been developed into a passion of mine looking for the perfect picture of a pig on a leash. 😜 I’m sure Leah is eager to find a new seat mate for the bus. 

We also noticed that some ranchers build a few fences with dirt and then plant cactus on the top of their fence. That would deter someone from climbing over, under or through it. Ouch. 

Spanish words we are hearing lots:  Chico- boys, chica- girls. 

We visited the salt mines late this afternoon. It was crazy high as the little dirt road getting to the mine was very similar to the road to Hana on Maui or the road on the northwest of Maui. Our bus driver certainly earned his tip today getting us all there safely. Whew!  The excitement doesn’t end on this trip. 

Tomorrow  will early as we have a wake up call at 4 am for our train ride to Macchu Picchu. Good night. Sorry for zero pictures as the wifi just isn’t strong enough to post them.