The Farm
We spent one night in Urubamba at an amazing organic permaculture farm. The owners are friends of Chelsea’s parents from when they lived in Kansas. We connected with them and decided to visit for a day. Talia and Elena are the most welcoming and hospitable people. The boys had so much fun exploring the farm, seeing the dogs, helping with the harvesting of lettuce, feeding the chickens, and even cooking breakfast. We learned about the amazing projects that they are doing with their community. We loved learning about the Andean culture including the Chakana and idea of Ayni. This family has done so much to make this space a place of beauty. Thank you for opening your home to us. We hope to see you again soon. Just so you know they plan to rent out part of their property on airbnb soon, so please let me know if you ever want an incredible place to stay on your way to Machu Picchu!
Along the road today…. we couldn’t help but stop to take some amazing photos of the barley fields with the mountains and blue sky backdrop. These fields were on our way from Urubamba to Maras.
Maras: Salineras
We stopped in Maras, Peru which is famous for its natural salt mines. Built over 5 centuries ago by the Wari civilization, that predates the Incas, this natural spring has become a site with over 6,000 pools all owned by local families in the town. The saltwater evaporates leaving the salt crystals behind. Locals sell the salt and treats like chocolate with salt. We sampled the salt and purchased a little candy bar snack.
For lunch, we ate a wonderful restaurant in Maras. The view was out of this world.
After lunch we went to the site of Moray, which has large circular terraces that were used for farming by the ancient incas. There is an expansive aqueduct system and many crops were tested here to determine the preferred amount of water and temperature for growing each crop. It was like a lab for experimentation. As we leaned at Pisaq yesterday, each terrace is tall (about 10 feet). You cannot go down into the lower levels anymore, because they are trying to preserve the site.
It was a very fun and very busy day. We ended our tour in the town of Ollantayambo, and prepared for our journey to Machu Picchu the next day.
Ollantayambo
Give the Morales’ a huge hug from Harve and me. They are
such a wonderful family who are so generous and supportive of their family and friends in Peru and around the world. Be sure to tell Manuel, Ellen and Talia we are sorry to have missed them but so happy you guys were able to meet and spend time with such great people. I hope you are able to connect with them again in Lima.