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The South American Odyssey
  • The Craze for Travelling
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The South American Odyssey

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    Moray

    9 november 2017, Peru ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    Moray in the Quechua language means a hole in the ground. This place used to be the agricultural laboratory of the the Incas.
    The depression in the ground seems to have been made by a meteorite. There are smaller meteorite depressions around the main one.
    What the Incas found was that at the top, it was very breezy so during the hot dry season, the bowl shape used to act as a natural place to heat up and the windy top would prevent the heat from escaping. So, in effect, this acted like a natural glass house where the temperature at the bottom could be 7-8C higher than at the top. The Incas made terraces at a depth difference of about 2 meters and each terrace had the temperature difference of about 1.5C. This allowed them to experiment with various crops at various temperatures. They were also able to experiment with modifying the seeds to see if it could be used to grow åt different altitudes by simulating the temperatures of different places.    Meer informatie

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    Moray terrace farms

    9 november 2017, Peru ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    We spent about an hour there going around the place and appreciating the symmetry and the beauty of the place. We also saw the other smaller meteorite craters around. They too were used for the same purpose. The water for the crops during the dry season, used to come from a water tank higher up in the hills nearby.Meer informatie

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    Maras stopover

    9 november 2017, Peru ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    After Moray, we made a brief stopover at the town of Maras. This is the nearest village to the Inca Salt fields.
    Here,we learnt that there are 3 types of salts that are extracted from the salt fields in the Salineras. The lowest is brownish and has earth mixed in it. This is for medicinal usage and is added to the bath for better blood circulation and also aids in other cures.
    The pink salt is the next one and is a bit less course. This one is used for cooking and is good for meats and vegetables.
    The top layer is the finest and is called white salt or flour of salt. This is used for salads.    Meer informatie

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    Salineras of Maras

    9 november 2017, Peru ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    The salt is formed by evaporation of the spring water that flows out of the hill nearby. The water temperature is about 21-22 degrees C. This heating is due to the volcanic activity below the earth. Due to the heated water, salt from prehistoric salt tubes below the earth melts and runs with the water out to this place.
    The Incas created a system of about 3000 terraced pools to store the water and let it evaporate with the heat of the sun during the dry season. The salt fields are worked with exactly the same technique as the Incas were using. In fact, it is the descendents of the workers that used to work during the Inca times that still work here.    Meer informatie

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    Back to Cusco

    9 november 2017, Peru ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    After spending some more time walking around the terraced salt fields, we started our way back to Cusco. We reached back at about 2:30 pm.
    The 1st thing we did was to move the Sacred Valley tour from the 11th Nov to 10th. We had bought a partial tourist ticket today for /S 70 per person and it was valid for only 2 days and it included the sights in the Sacred Valley. Our initial plan had been to do the Morales tour, then the Rainbow mountain tour and then the Sacred Valley tour. To avoid having to buy this tourist ticket again, we moved the Sacred Valley tour one day earlier and postponed the Rainbow mountain tour by a day.
    The evening was spent looking for a good price for the Rainbow mountain tour.    Meer informatie

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    Textile artisan center
    Textile artisan centerIn their traditional dressesThey breed guinea pigs for eatingEarthen oven

    Chinchero Inca textile town

    9 november 2017, Peru ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C

    For today, we had booked a half day tour to Chinchero (Inca textile village), Moray (Inca agriculture laboratory) and Maras (salt fields). The tour cost is us /S 30 per person and began at 8:30 am. We had our breakfast at the hostel and arrived on time to catch our tour van.
    The 1st stop was at the village of Chinchero about 1.5 hrs from Cusco. This village is one of the very few that has retained the techniques of spinning and weaving clothes from the Inca times. They still use the same tools, colors and fibers and everything is done manually by hand with no machines.
    We stopped over at one of the artisan centers for the demonstration of the methodology.    Meer informatie

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    Figurines on the balcony of a house
    Figurines on the balcony of a houseQuechua people from the highlandsInca king statue in the main squareCusco Cathedral12Original inca wall in the city

    Sacred Valley tour begins

    10 november 2017, Peru ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    We were up at 7 am, had our breakfast at the hostel and reached the tour operator's place by 8:30 am. From there, we walked to the main square. At the main square, we waited for everyone to join.

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    Quoricancha, Cusco
    Quoricancha, CuscoOur bus2Coara market

    Corao

    10 november 2017, Peru ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    From the main square, we walked to outside of the town center where the bus was waiting for us.
    After a few minutes, we entered the Sacred Valley. Our 1st stop was at a small village called Corao. Here there were some shops of the local artisans selling goods.
    After a stop of about 15 min, we were off again.    Meer informatie

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    Pisac town
    Pisac townBuffing the precious stones to fit to the slots in the silver workPrecious stones used in the work

    Pisac town

    10 november 2017, Peru ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    Another 15-20 min from the viewpoint, we reached the town of Pisac. Its a town famous for its silver and precious stone work. Here we visit a local silver smithy workshop where they explained the procedure to make the silver and precious stone jewelry from the raw materials. They use 95% silver and 5% copper here. In most places in the world, 7.5% copper is used.
    (Stones in the pictures)
    Turquoise stone is used for bluish green color.
    Mother of pearl for white and silver.
    Sea shells from inside for bluish white.
    Serpentine stone from Macchu Picchu for yellow color.
    Lapiz Lazuli from Peru for the blue color.
    Onyx for black color.
    Other sea shells outer layer for other colors.    Meer informatie

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    To the Pisac Archeological site

    10 november 2017, Peru ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    After spending about 30 min at the workshop, we drove to the Pisac Archeological site. This places is about 3.5 kms up the mountains from the Pisac town. It was built by the Incas most probably to act as a checkpost for the farmers cultivating the sacred Coca leaves in the forests on the other side of the Urubamba range. This would be the place where they would cross over when going to Cusco.Meer informatie

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    The current Pisac town in the valley below
    The current Pisac town in the valley below1st section of the town for the sentries2nd section of the town for the commons3rd section of the town up the hill for the royalty

    Pisac Archeological site

    10 november 2017, Peru ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    The Pisac town from the Inca times was a place where about 700 people used to stay. The town was split into 4 parts. The entrance part was a section for the sentries to guard the entry level and exit to the town.
    The 2nd section was a place of many concentric rings in terraces, much like at Moray. Similar to Moray, this place was for experimentation with crops. The temperature at the lower rings was much higher than towards the top so the Incas were able to grow different crops for different altitudes and temperatures.
    Jist above the terraced rings was the place for the royalty. There were stone buildings for them to stay in.    Meer informatie

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    Tombs of the Incas

    Pisac Archeological site 4th section

    10 november 2017, Peru ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    On the other side of the 1st hill, we saw the 4th section of the town, a place for the burial. There are more than 3000 tombs in the holes in the hill opposite. All of them were ransacked by the Spaniards to loot gold and silver from the graves. Gold and silver were very important to the Incas since they represented sun and the moon for them. The Incas used to bury their dead with these sacred metals that were precious metals to the Spanish.Meer informatie

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    The Inca king profile with the crown in the middle

    Ruins of Temple of the Sun

    10 november 2017, Peru ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    The temple was built along the slope of a steep mountain side. The Incas were very particular about merging their structures with the surrounding hills, rocks and stones. The walls are typical of the Inca period with perfectly aligned stones with hardly a gap in between.
    On the hill opposite, is the profile of an Inca king. The crown like structure is actually some grainerys constructed up there.    Meer informatie

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    Massive stones of Ollantaytambo

    10 november 2017, Peru ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    Strewn across Ollantaytambo, there are massive stones of 30-40 tons, apparently in no particular sequence or part of any structure. These are called the Lazy Stones - the stones that never reached their destination. The theory is that the last 2 Inca rulers were brothers and used to keep fighting each other. All the able bodied men were needed for the wars so the construction of this temple was stopped halfway. Then the Spanish came and the Inca empire was destroyed so the construction never got completed.Meer informatie

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