Spuds anyone

Well today ended up like no other. Arrived in the small village of Chinchero about 50 minutes but only about 28K from Cusco!. On the way there I went through a village were everyone was selling guinea pigs on a stick (also known as "cuy al palo"), which I found out is a common sight in the Sacred Valley of the Incas. This traditional preparation involves roasting the entire guinea pig on a stick over an open fire, often in front of the "Qonchas" (traditional wood-fired stoves). Chinchero is located about 3800m above sea level so is the highest town in the Sacred valley of the Incas, and has a backdrop of snow covered mountains. It does take getting used to a shortage of breath. In the town there are dozens of textile centres that show the ancestral way of making their clothes. In each store there are sales of products made of alpaca and baby alpaca.

Met up with Edgar and his family (my hosts for the next few days) and we went bush to find his in-laws in the middle of potato harvest in the hills near the village. So we sat and had lunch with them which consisted of boiled potatoes (naturally!), cheese and avocados. The surrounding mountain and valley scenery was stunning. Picking potatoes in Peru was not on my list so it was a unique experience. They run a seven year rotation for the potatoes on tiny little blocks, but it's the way they have been doing this for thousands of years. In fact the history of the potato begins here, in Peru, about 8,000 years ago when the first potatoes were domesticated.Tomorrow is an early start (3am) as I make my way to Machu Picchu.