The second day of our tour through the Sacred Valley was certainly one highlight of our trip. We had three vastly different experiences throughout the day. At the very end of the valley where the road ends (and the the train begins its journey to Aguas Calientes or Machu Picchu town) is the charming town of Ollantaytambo and another set of magnificent Incan ruins. Although, it is really hard to call them ruins because they are in amazing condition for being over 600 years old. We marveled at the massive terraces, the beautiful Andean mountain backdrop, the storehouses that hang on the side of the hill, and, as usual, the engineering marvel of the workmanship.
Having seen many, many textiles on our journey, we were thrilled to stop at the Women's Hand Weaving Cooperative in Chinchero. In the 1990s, a woman started this endeavor to teach women the crafts of making textiles from the beginning through the entire process. Actually, they teach boys and girls starting at a young age. This is a great video showing this cooperative and the amount of time and talent it takes to create these beautiful handicrafts.
In the afternoon we took a long walk (downhill) from the town of Maras to the salt mines. These salt ponds sit between two towns, and each family in both towns owns several of the ponds. Everyone from the children to adults works their ponds, harvesting the salt. The view of this place feels like another planet, and we walked along the top ridge of the mines which seemed a little dicey to me. The salt looks like ice, and I was afraid I might slip off (and fall several feet), but with the help of our guide's walking stick with the sharp point, I made it across with no problem. This short youtube video gives you a little idea of the walk.
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