4th February – South Valley!

It has been 24 days since I have arrived in Cusco. Each day I learn more and more about the Inca´s and how they influence the modern day Peruvian culuture.

Today was another adventure as I took a tour to the southern side of Cusco. During my tour, I visited three key landmarks of Cusco.

Tipon – This was another temple of the water with farming terraces used as an argicutural experimental centre. And this is the best example now a days of hydrolic engeering.

Pikillaqta – This was last pre-Inca town. It was the first city with plants, avenues and plaza´s. With the best urban design of pre-Inca culuture.

Andahuaylillas – This was one of the first local chapels to be built at the beginning of the 17th centry. One of the great examples of Wall paintings call feshcoes. Also it was the first to be introduced as Catholic religion.

After another jam packed tour, a hungry Mitchell went to Polleria chicken for an all you can eat salad bar and the best chicken in the whole of Cusco. The volunteers would agree with me!!

Strolling though the main square of Cusco, Yieber bumped into some of his friends that are guides for most of the tours in Cusco. This lead to a snowball effect as within an hour, there were 8 of us. As most guides hang out together for a drink after a tour, we all did the same. This lead to hours of conversation and a real appreciation of the tour guides around South America.

Later that night, another delicious home-cooked meal from Yieber; traditional American burgers and chips.

All in all, it was an amazing day full of cultural experiences and meeting some wonderful people!

3rd February – Cusco Sightseeing!

Good morning everyone! After a sleep in, I was feeling great and ready to start another sunny day in Cusco. As I was getting ready, Yieber comes with a surprise -my very own reach out team leader polo shirt. So now we have matching shirts to represent ROV to the town of Cusco! 🙂

After 22 days of eating ham and cheese Bread rolls for breakfast, Yieber took me out to a restaurant called Jacks; where I devoured the best fried eggs and coffee in all of Cusco. I think I will go here for the rest of the week!

We then walked around some markets so I could buy gifts for family and friends.

Unfortunately for lunch, Yieber took me to an all you can eat Indian buffet. So full from breakfast, I could barely finish one plate. If you know me well enough, I would go back for thirds or grab the leftovers from other people (this was quite evident over the last 3 weeks!!!)

After lunch, I went on a city tour around Cusco to understand more about the Inca’s and Peruvian culture. Places I visited were:

Tambomachay – It is the temple of the water to hold ceremonies for the most important elements of life.

Pukapukara – The last check point for the Inca travellers.

Quenqo – The main place to mummify the Inca people.

Saqsayhuaman – The main place to hold ceremonies and festivities

Struggling to walk to Yieber’s house (from the main square, there’s about 150 stairs! ), I came home to a beautiful home cooked meal once again; creamy chicken with potatoes and broccoli.

Later that night, I had the chance to catch up with two of Yieber’s friends that have been helping us at Misminy and as tour guides for the Inca trail and Machu Picchu – Ceaser ans Elvis. A few good drinks at the local pub ended the day well!

2nd February – Sacred Valley Tour!!!

Today Yieber and I embarked on a tour of the Sacred Valley!

Yieber took me into the main square where I would meet a group of people to do a sacred Valley tour. I started the tour at Pisa, visiting ancient Inka ruins. The oldest and huge pre- Inca cemetery located on top of the mountain.

Next stop was a sliver factory where I learnt how they make 950% pure sliver.

For lunch there was an all you can eat buffet of traditional Peruvian food. After 3 big plates of chicken, beef, trout, alpaca and minimum salads, I was stuffed! 🙂

Driving though Urubamba to Ollantaytambo, memories of the group layed fondly in my memories. Another Inca visit in Ollantaytambo made it clear how important it is today in the modern Peruvian culture. The templates, water canals/fountains and local people still use it today.

My final stop was Chinchero about 3700 metres above sea level. The view was spectacular as in the distance snow capped mountains were visible. There was then a quick visit to the Chinchero church built in the 1600’s on Inca palace. With beautiful art and sculptures, it was a great place to end the tour.

Dinner was enjoyed with Yieber and a Peruvian family we are staying with. Home cooked tuna spaghetti was a treat.

Time for bed with a full stomach. Thank you reach out for this wonderful opportunity and all the ‘beautiful’ volunteers I have met over the past weeks (especially my drinking buddy Noelle! ).

1st February – Farewell Cusco!

Over the last few weeks, fifteen Reachout volunteers from Australia, America and South Korea helped Misminay community to build two functional greenhouses, and assisted in the building of a kitchen. This will allow the local families to produce fresh vegetables that would otherwise be hard to grow.

We also managed to donate fresh fruits and vegetables, gardening tools to sustain the greenhouses, and clothes for the kids of the community.

The success of our project made it rewarding to visit the attractions that Peru has to offer; Machu Piccu, Inka trail, zip lining, and mountain bike riding etc.

As a group, the completion of this volunteer trip will now lead to new volunteers helping out the local Quechuan communities in 2014 and beyond.

Finally we would like to say big thanks for all the volunteers on this project, our followers on the blog, Quechan families who welcomed us and our irregular tour guide Yiber for all his hard work 🙂
Please keep following the blog as Mitchell and Yieber will be in Cusco for the next week.

31st January – Horse back riding and last diner!!!

Our last day together! We woke up yet again to the sound of fireworks (why they let them off in daylight is a mystery but anyway!) We set off to catch the ‘local bus’ a step down from the Aston Martin-like quality of buses we’ve had previously! We caught the bus up to Cristo Blanco to go horse riding. Only on arriving we couldn’t quite find the horse riding lady – but after following hoof prints for about 5mins we eventually found some horses and 2 locals ran off to get them set up for us!

Elsie was quite excited to be on the leading horse though was frustrated as her efforts to make the horse gallop failed miserably. This was probably for the best though as Mitch ending up walking a small section of the path; whether he fell or just dismounted and let his horse run off is still a mystery…

We stopped halfway as the small boy leading us as wanted to show us some natural rock tunnels. There were some specific tunnels to go through – but for Young and Elsie it became much more fun squeezing through whichever holes looked dark and mysterious! Thankfully Jess, Joel and Mitch were happy to carry bags and aid when others found themselves in tight spots! 🙂

Then it was back on the horses to see some Inka ruins. We took in the incredible view which put the scenery from Lord of the Rings to shame! Then some were lucky enough to have their horses whipped by the guides on the way home to get a brief gallop in!

Afterwards, we had lunch overlooking the entire city of Cuzco. The spectacular view was matched with spectacular food which Mitch, Joel and Yieber did a an amazing job of finishing off. All were VERY full and basically had to roll back to the apartment!
The rainy season showed its colours on the way home, and we got a bit wet but the rain was not enough to stop Joel and Jess going out for some last minute shopping! Most spent the afternoon sleeping or packing and then we all reconvened again for our last supper together at the rather fancy ‘Uchu’ restaurant.

When the meat comes out sizzling on a hot stone – you know it’s going to be good! So it was safe to say we all had an absolutely scrumptious last meal which was topped off with a delectable surprise selection of chocolate deserts!
It was a delicious end to an incredible trip and it’s going to be terribly hard to say goodbye tomorrow!

30th January – Peruvian experience travelling on a local bus from Cusco !!!

This morning Yieber decided to give us a real local Peruvian experience by putting us on a local bus from Cusco, up past Christo Blanco. There was also another tour group with bikes strapped to the roof that looked like they were about to embark on some down-hilling.

After stepping off the bus, and Yieber paying the steep S/. 1 fee, we commenced our 10km walk along a local route back to Cusco. The route is used by the local farmers to carry their produce to the markets in the city, usually by donkey. Along the way we saw many Inca ruins, however many of them were either not completed or had been destroyed beyond recognition by the Spanish and raised more questions than they answered. Mitch even found an Inca face in the rock that Yieber had not seen before, showing that there is always more to be found if you just look hard enough! 🙂

Along our journey we visited a temple of mother earth, which was encased inside a rocky outcrop. Inside the temple there is a single light source shining onto what was described as a sacrificial slate. The rocks were cold to touch compared with the outside temperature, and we were all impressed by a wind tunnel you could feel through a hole in the bottom of the temple. Decorating the entrance to the temple are the three important animals to the Incans; the condor, the puma and the snake.

After leaving the temple we joined the Incan highway to continuing our walk toward Cusco. This ancient highway is complete with wash stations and administration offices. We had a chance meeting with an Andean holy man who helped Yieber and us learn about the many sacred sites in the area and he even offered us some coca leaves to try. After inspecting the carved rock work (including monkeys as this was the highway towards the Amazon) and offering some sweets for mother earth we were on our way again back to Cusco.

In typical Yieber fashion, he stated that lunch was 5 blocks from the hotel, but we ended up walking across Cusco to get there, in the rain no less. However, it was totally worth every step. We enjoyed a very generous serving of amazing chicken and chips at one of the local eateries. The chickens were spit roasted over hot coals, and came out moist and tender. Every one of us ate too much but it was definitely worth it.

In the afternoon, as part of our cultural tour of Cusco, we visited an art gallery and the Incan Museum. The art gallery contained modern works using materials such as pottery, metal and bone. Upon entering the Incan museum Yieber offered us the option of getting a museum guide, but we unanimously voted that Yieber shall be our expert guide. He walked us through the different stages of Peruvian history leading up to the more famous Incan period. We stepped through the pre-Incan cultures which developed the astronomy, farming and stone-working skills that the Incans were famous for.

After our dinner at a corner café of amazing avocado with chicken, we rested up for whatever Yieber has in stall for our last full day in Cusco.

Saying our final goodbye’s to the Community

First thing this morning was a demonstration by the locals of how they kill and prepare guinea pigs for feasts. For breakfast the locals made us personalised pancakes with our names written on them in caramel sauce. Accompanying this was wontons with melted cheese and the amazing Peruvian hot chocolate. The remaining caramel was even used to sweeten coffee or the hot chocolate by those with a sweet tooth.

With the greenhouses finished our morning activities included either a walk up the hills overlooking Misminay, or staying back and watering the plants in the greenhouses. From the rocky outcrop at the end of the walk, we found the view was outstanding in every direction across the sacred valley and many Facebook profile pictures were taken by Yieber and the Peru ROV team.

We were to be lucky enough to be treated to a real local delicacy for lunch as our final meal in the Misminay community, the previously prepared guinea pigs. The guinea pigs were stuffed with salt, garlic and other spices, and roasting on a spit over hot coals.  They were first presented to us whole, for a photo opportunity, and were then carved up to eat. The bus driver who was driving us back to Cusco arrived conveniently early so that he could also join in the feast 🙂

After we gave our gifts of new construction tools and said our final goodbye’s we were on our way back to Cusco. Young looked sad but said that he was actually ‘sappy’. He said that there was a Korean word for feeling sad and happy at the same time and this was his best English translation. In this case he was sad to be leaving, but happy because of the work he was able to do for the community.

Our final gift to the village was giving some of the community members a lift into town for market day. Ordinarily this would have meant hours of walking. In return one of the old ladies offered us some roasted beans which we enjoyed, and I think cheered Young up a little.

That afternoon we had a much needed shower and rest to prepare for whatever Yieber had in store for us in and around Cusco in the coming days.

28th January – Preparing the soil and planting the vegetable seeds and seedlings

After being showered and rested in our last hotel stay before heading back to Cusco, the Peru ROV extension team headed back to the community to complete our work inside the greenhouses. On the way we picked up our agronomist, Rosemary, to help us with preparing the soil and planting the vegetable seeds and seedlings.

We learnt first hand how effective the greenhouse plastic is at creating a humid environment. While inside planting the sweat was absolutely dripping off us. We even added straw on top of the planted tomato and cauliflower seeds in order to increase the humidity and reduce erosion.

For lunch, as we are now accustomed to, was a filling array of soup for entrée, and a combination meat, rice and potato for main course. Definitely no one went hungry. Our homestay stay families’ bulls also required lunch, so after we had finished our food we headed out with our respective families to cut grass and fill those huge bellies. We may have made the trek to the bulls’ pastures in order to work, but the view was definitely worth while. We cut through the language barrier and discussed the surrounding countryside and the towns that reside in it. We also tried some of the local fruit, Aguaymanto, and
were shown various flowers that look like shoes and chickens. The
hills were alive with the sound of music thanks to Vincente and Royer
teaching us how to make whistles from blades of grass.

Kira drove back to Cusco that afternoon in preparation for her flight home, a sad moment for all of us as we said goodbye to yet another friend and realised that the trip will soon come to an end for all of us remaining as well.

Our full day was concluded with our last homestay with the families. As always, the families are very accommodating and let us into their homes to get a real rural community experience.

27th January – Herding Donkeys

The remaining volunteers for the extension group kicked off the day
with an early morning walk with the donkeys to retrieve fertile soil
for the greenhouses.

It was a picturesque and tranquil morning with fog blanketing the
entire village. As we proceeded to gather the donkeys, we slowly
watched the rolling fog recede into the distance to reveal the
beautiful snow-capped mountains and, with relief, patches of sunlight
that kept us warm as we hiked; although the hike warmed us right up!

We guided the donkeys uphill where, halfway, Jess patiently waited for
us as we continued forward. Accompanied by Cirilo and Vicente, they
dug for soil as Elsie, Keira and Young stood guard to ensure the
donkeys don´t go astray. It was a given that Mitchell didn´t fail to
take a handful of gorgeous pictures!

Upon gathering enough soil, we loaded the awaiting donkeys and had an easy stroll back to the village where breakfast was ready to be
gorged; buttered bread, omelette with broad beans and potato and cups of delicious hot chocolate (or mocha, as Elsie individually tailored
it!).

Young was wonderful in helping fill a sack with sheep manure to
fertilise the soil; the girls watched on and Jess comforted the donkey! As this was done, we walked back and laid the manure out to dry.

Whilst waiting for the manure, some of the volunteers worked on the
incomplete door; chipping it and fitting in the hinge. This alone took
six people! It took Young and Cirilo to do the actual work, Keira to
stabilise the door and the rest as spectators.

Lunch was, of course, spectacular. Elsie and Keira wrongfully assumed
that the soup was the main course. It was an extremely filling three
course meal. A meal in the village never fails in the presentation and
taste department!

We got straight back into the manual work and helped a local family  build a kitchen for their home. It was difficult to haul the clay bricks above our heads – boys, this would help towards building them guns! – but after dozens of them, we were made to say goodbye to the men we helped, who were happily singing and bobbing their heads to their radio, and made our way to a quaint hostel hidden in Urubamba.

Once settled, we strolled to the town to purchase building equipment
for the families in Misminay before sinking into comfy couches in a
little café, hands warmed by our much-deserved cups of coffee as well
as some dessert before dinner.

We retired for the day after rides in tuk tuks back to the
accommodation where we had bouts of laughter around the small table and finally gave in to exhaustion.

26th January – Back to the Community

Today was another sad day as Candice and Vickie were the last to leave before we started our extension.  There wasn´t a dry eye in sight as they will be sorely missed.

We left Cusco to go back to Misminay to pick up where we left off. A short visit to the market was in order to gather supplies and snacks for the coming days.

The next few days, we will be preparing the soil so our families can grow fresh vegetables.

The bus ride up was much quieter as our group got smaller consisting of Joel, Jess, Keira, Young, Elsie and Mitchell. We arrived around lunchtime to get a briefing about the tasks ahead. With no surprise, lunch was gorgeous as usual; vegetable soup with rice, potatoes and mince for main.

With full tummies and an abundance of energy, we proceeded to dig out the clay and get rid of all the rubbish with the greenhouses. Teams were split into boys and girls as the men had a much harder job in removing the clay!  Within a few hours and buckets of sweat, the clay was gone and moist soil covered the greenhouse.

Before dinner, Yieber took us around the village for about an hour to understand how beneficial our project is to the community. The supply of fresh fruit and vegetables can sometimes be difficult to get as the soil is not rich in nutrients and for the most part, is extremely dry.

A wonderful meal of corn soup, vegetables and trout was served for dinner. All our plates were finished and our bellies full once again. As we sat around the dinner table, fond memories were thought of our friends who would be traveling back homeAfter a long day of travelling and work, an early night’s sleep was needed.