Llamas and Pisac.

Thursday the four of us had a tour of Pisac, a small town near Cusco that has more Incan ruins and a huge handicraft market. Before Pisac we stopped at Awana Kancha, a sort of animal sanctuary slash high-end handicraft market. We got to feed llamas and alpacas, saw vicuña and guanaco, and spent a while watching a 40 minute old baby llama start to explore its brave new world.

nom!

might be the first time I saw something that was only 40 minutes old

Too cute. There were a few hungry llamas making an odd, soft mewing sound. I would've expected more of a bleat like a sheep, or at least something loud given their size. These quiet sounds were actually more entertaining to me than the newborn llama.

We also saw more weaving demonstrations and I enjoyed a chicha morada while the others shopped. The crafts were gorgeous and a large percentage of the proceeds went to the individual weavers - a very nice co-op overall.

this was weird though

The Pisac ruins are famous for their terraces (which are amazing)...

... but I found the cemetery fascinating. There are holes across the gorge wall facing the terraces where hundreds of people were once buried in the rock, like a natural mausoleum.

The holes are visible and empty because the graves have been robbed for the gold, silver and whatever tools were buried with the dead to help them in their next life. It must have been quite a process to get the bodies up there and buried in the cliff.

a closer look

The views from the top of Pisac were stunning just like everywhere else...

... and the flora was gorgeous.

The ruins themselves were pretty amazing too.

such straight lines!

But rather than post all those pictures, allow me to share a few of the more unusual ones. The mudslides and flood that ruined a bunch of retired peoples' spring 2010 travel plans also ruined a bunch of peoples' lives in the surrounding area. Peru's government was fairly quick to respond, and provided FEMA-like tents as shelter for anyone who'd lost their home. Anyone. Impressive.

temporary shelter, as seen from the top of Pisac

On a different note, this symbol was prevalent throughout Cusco and the surrounding areas. It represents the four directions (N/E/S/W) and the three levels (sky, earth, underworld) all in one graphic. I regret not buying a necklace of this symbol when I had the chance.

Back to Pisac and the tour... The market was huge and overwhelming, with ladies constantly pushing their weavings at us. Gorgeous alpaca sweaters, scarves, gloves and hats in "different colors" (their trademark saying) and lots of cool jewelry and tapestries.

nope, still didn't buy you anything

After we shopped we stopped by "the best bakery in Pisac" where we enjoyed pan (bread) fresh from a huge clay oven. We opted not to pick out our own guinea pig for dinner that night though. Just like some US restauants let you pick your lobster from the aquarium, these castillos de cuyes (mini castles serving as guinea pig pens) here let you pick an animal for dinner. I have eaten some interesting meat on this trip but this was a bit much for me. I couldn't even bring myself to take a photo. Those little fuzzy faces!

After the tour we wandered a bit around Cusco, then had a nice vegetarian meal at El Encuentro (fake meat again! yum) and a drink at a funky cafe bar called Witches Garden that I had been eyeing since we first passed it early last week. Cool place.

Another long day with lots of information, culture and food. I think Cusco is the most exhausting (in a good way) city I have visited yet.