Trip around Cusco, Peru

Tapestry Weaving

Our guide has been superb. We've learned a lot about Peru's progress and problems. In 1968, women didn't attend school, 80 percent were illiterate, and most of Peru wealth was in the hands of a few. In 2004, 10 percent are illiterate, everyone attends school to age 16, and while there is still a large discrepancy in wealth, there is a healthy middle class. I've been amazed by the road system. No super highways, but very good roads, much better than most countries we've visited.

Yesterday, we visited a textile project, a cooperative of 1700 people in the country side who are weaving textiles of various kinds. Some beautiful pieces. We saw all 4 types of American camels: llama, alpaca, guanaco, and vicuna. And then saw the entire process from creating thread with natural dyes, through the weaving process. I usually don't like these stops that end up at a shop to buy their product - but this one was quite interesting and seemed to be for a very good cause.

We then visited Pisca, the largest of the many Inca farming areas. This area is huge set of terraces along the mountain side at about 10000 feet. The had an aqueduct system to carry water from the glacier to this point, in fact, this system still carries water to the town today. While we were touring, someone was playing one of the Andean flutes - so it was very charming.

In the afternoon, we visited the Inca museum and the Cathedral. I've never seen so much gold and silver on the altars. They were very busy polishing the silver for the feast of Corpus Christi, where many of these pieces will be paraded through town.