Departure day. I took a photo of the room I had occupied for the past 12 days. The room was identified as Vilcashuaman, rather than with a room number. I had fun with the reception staff when I picked up and returned the key, saying “la llave para Vilcashuaman, por favor” each time. Lots of …
On our last day we visited several more workshops. In the first this woman is using a puchka, a drop spindle, to spin yarn. Next we visited Maximo’s new studio in Ayacucho. His sister here is in charge of colors. Colors are an important part of Maximo’s work. Next we visited a master retablo maker, who …
Today we woke up to a cloudy day. We visited a very unique artist from Sarhua, who makes tablas, plaques with paintings of family history. These tablas are ordered by godfathers when their godchild moves to a new house. The tabla is placed on a beam of the house. We were able to paint our …
Today, Sunday, we had a free day. We awoke to a military parade and ceremony in the plaza. An enormous number of people turn out to parade around the square. Local officials march past the podium, then through the square to the cathedral and back to the podium. The flag is raised at the center …
We left Ayacucho to visit a ceramics town called Quinua, and on the outskirts of town we stopped at a small village market where I ordered some corn and greens to go. Turns out the greens are wild mustard mixed with potatoes. I shared this meal with our driver, Wilbur, who shared his potatoes with …
We headed south along the coast in the fog. It’s not particularly attractive, as it’s in the Atacama desert, a 600-mile strip of desert along the coast of Peru and Chile, but people still pay a lot of money for a vacation spot along the coast. We stopped at a town called Chincha where black …