One of the most famous of all things Peruvian! Actually there are many many things Peruvian that are fairly astounding. The diversity of natural things and historic events make for great reading and exploring. I don’t think I can do much of a commentary on Machu Picchu except to say it was much bigger in every way than I expected. Better to go to Photos in the menu bar and check it out there. If you don’t want to sift through all the Peru pictures, just start at the last page and work forwards. Machu Picchu was really our last event of the Puchka Tour … all of it was wonderful.
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To see all the Peru pictures click here.

Braiding with Nilda Callanaupa. This sounds simple enough … well it wasn’t! It is a lot mind boggling to understand the different ways one can manipulate any number of strands to form a single length and at the same time make it interesting, or even beautiful. We only learned three different braids and that was a challenge. Then because we were greedy for punishment, we asked to learn how to make this amazing tubular cord that often decorates the edges of many of the articles produced in the Cusco region. This cord is actually made using a backstrap weaving method. Only four different rows to learn and two of the four are basically ‘free’ which means there is little work to do with those two. Sounds easy? Not exactly, but Nilda came with very clear directions for us to follow and that was the saving grace of the exercise. I don’t understand how I managed to not get a photo of Nilda, but that is the truth. A website that explains The Center for Traditional Textiles of Cusco and Nilda’s work there, check it out! To say that the most wonderful weaving is done here is an understatement. I did have to come home with a vest and a camera strap.
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To see all the Peru pictures click here.