Acura Sunday Market

We had the opportunity to go to a local market. It is only open on Sundays. We were the only non local people there as it is not a tourist place. The people do not like photos as they think their sole will be taken. Our local guide said No Photos, but our OAT guide told us to take overviews of the market, no obvious close ups of people.
These are Ayumara people and the speak their own language. They are farmers who grow potatoes, quinoa, barley and fava beans. It is planting season now and they are plowing fields, by hand or with oxen. They have oxen, cows and sheep. They own plots of land not necessarily near their homes and move their animals, tied with ropes from one plot to another. Someone is always with the animals keeping them on their own land and for safety.
They build small corals out of sticks and put plastic around them to scare the gray fox away. The sheep and especially lambs are put in at night to keep gray fox from getting the lambs. Below are pictures of fields, homes and the market.

Chucuito

Our hotel is located in the town of Chucuito. It is called Taypikala Hotel and overlooks Lake Titticaca. We are at 12,800 feet so the air is very thin and we get breathless climbing to our 3rd floor room. But the view is wondrous.

We walked down to the lake before dinner and watched a woman cutting reeds, fisherman going out to set their nets, and on the way back up Barrie lent a hand to a woman carrying a large heavy bundle of reeds on her back. They use reeds do their roof, feed for animals, mattresses, boats and almost everything.

South to Puno

We traveled south on the Pan American highway. This would take us over the alta Plano (high plain) and eventually into the Puno district as we went over the divide. At the continental divide we were over 14,000 ft.
Those Colorado 14ers are babies next to the Andes.

En route we stopped at an important Inca temple at Raqchi. It is where the rulers of the 12 districts would meet, make decisions about the empire and make sacrifices to Pachamama ( earth mother). The god of creation, wiracocha, was a name they also interchanged with Pachamama.
The Inca destroyed this temple themselves as they did not want the Spanish to get it. It is rumored that all the gold , silver and gems were thrown in the lakes. No one has searched as it is too sacred.

Of course there were people in traditional dress selling Peruvian made things.
1 & 4. Continental divide 14,000 ft
2 weaver at Raqchi
3. View from the bus
5. Temple column
6. & 10 Temple wall
7. Church in plaza at Raqchi
8. & 9 Women on plaza

Chinchera school visit

Grand circle supports this school of 90 children. It is 1-6 grade. They come from many surrounding villages and some of the children walk for two hours to school.
The foundation recently built a dining hall and a kitchen is in process. They have also built a greenhouse to teach agriculture as this is primarily a farm area.

Inca Medicine Man

We attended a healing ceremony, an offering to Pachamama (mother earth) The medicine man put many things in a bundle to represent most parts of their life, like grains, sheep wook, yarn to represent paths, animal crackers to represent animals, sweets etc. We added our coca leaves to take away our negative things.
The bundle is then burned.
There were two vicuna in the field. They are much smaller than alpaca and they don't have much fleece. They only sheer the tuft behind the front leg. That is why it is so expensive - and so silky.