The last humanitarian aid to Mismanay

As we got back from the farm land area we had a packed lunch from the tour company waiting for us. We sat on the bus because there was no place in the village to sit and eat, and it had started to rain a bit--anyway--the lunch was GI-normous!! Two meat sandwiches an apple, banana chips, pasta salad and a cake. The tour guide found out that some of the people in the front (we were in the back) wanted to give the children some of this huge lunch--we heard them donating and the whole bus gave most of their lunch away to the people--it was awesome!! The top picture is all the kids eating the packed lunches and writing on the post-it notes that our tour group gave the little kids. (All the older children of the village were still in school).

A real "Farm Girl"

So all the men decided to try their hand at plowing. Naturally, my little Tami isn't going to be outdone by anyone--so she waits until last and then tells them she wants to give it a hand. These beasts are like, 20 times her size and she grabs the plow and the whip and outshines all the guys--her rows were straight, the oxen obeyed her at every turn!! She ended up plowing way more rows than any of the men. The unfortunate part was that when she was almost done, she stepped in the muddy water that they had started to flood the field with and got her shoe soaked. No problem-- there is a stream up the bank where she decided to rinse off her shoe. She started hobbling toward it with just her toe in the muddy shoe to keep her sock out of the goo and lost her balance just as she got there and reached out with her hand so she wouldn't fall over and shoved it right into a nasty cactus!! She had so many spines sticking out of her hand!!--some were really deep too. One of the village ladies came running over immediately and took her to her home whipped out a needle and started digging the spines out. She didn't get all of them and we ended up working and working back at the hotel to get the rest--some finally ended up coming out after the trip was all over back at home!

Humanitarian aid rendered!

We had quite a trudge up a hill holding our little pine trees--(they felt like they weighed a hundred pounds in 12,000 foot elevation). As you can see by the pictures, the women in the village are not exactly small in girth, but they had no problem marching up the hill!! I was sucking air like no other!! We got to the place where the village has a plot of land to farm. We were instructed to plant the little trees in the holes that the men dug in the side of a bank above the plot of farm land. I thought I did a pretty good job, but after Alora and Tami were done planting their trees, the men came by to water them and when he got to mine, he shoved some more dirt on it--Oh well, I never said I was a farmer!!!

This is my little tree--

I thought he looked

pretty good!!

Hope he grows.......

The Village of Mismanay

This is the village of Mismanay. It is a small (very small) village about 2 hours from Cusco. We rode a bus to get there (of course!). We got there in the late morning and we were introduced to the people--they had lots of handmade items to sell, and demonstrated how they weave cloth. Some of the group tried it--its a lot harder than you think. Later, I found out that one of the village women has a son that owns a hand loom. He produces most of the things that were for sale--the demonstration was for us. It is a very poor village and the tour agency (Condor Tours) has adopted them. They have started a program of hygiene and industry--by bringing tour groups for purchasing souveniers and also providing some humanitarian aid.

The disappearance of Duane and the purchase of three stone totem poles...

This is another ruin close to the city of Cusco. It was the site of the final battle between the Incan warriors and the Spaniards. It is the Temple of Lightning, and is built in a zigzag pattern to simulate lightning. Tami and Alora and I went with our very annoying tour guide "Jose" to learn about this place while Duane went back to the bus, or so we thought. Turns out he went to the bathroom and while he was in there, the bus left to move to the opposite end of the ruins to pick us all up. Duane comes out of the bathroom, no bus, just tons of vendors--so while he sits there waiting for the bus that isn't going to return, he gets accosted and ends up falling for a very convincing young lady who sells him three stone carved totem poles she insists her husband made himself. (good thing she took the made in china stickers off the bottom before she sold them to him!)

the train ride back to Cusco

Scary as he seems, he was the entertainment on the train ride back to Ollyantambo--along with a full scale fashion show of Alpaca sweaters, shawls and ponchos. He was the "god of alpacas" or something, but when I looked at a picture of a llama all decked out with costuming, it looked just like this guy!--go figure.

Getting sick of these pics yet?

This might be the very spot where the treasure lies buried!!??

Well, if nothing else, I found Denise among the ruins!!