Lares Community Homestay 2 days

DAY 1: Cusco – Ollantaytambo – Patacancha Quechua village
DAY 2: Patacancha Quechua Village – Ollantaytambo – Cusco

Day 1: Cusco – Ollantaytambo – Patacancha

The trip begins with a beautiful drive, ascending nearly 1000m up an Andean valley to the village where we will stay. Upon arrival, we will meet the artisan women and learn about the weaving process and the significance of weaving in the Andean culture. The trip includes a demonstration of the entire process, beginning with how alpaca or sheep wool is hand spun into yarn, how local plants are used as natural dyes, and finally how the yarn is woven into the final product. After the demonstration, you will have the chance to try weaving yourself with a 20-minute bracelet weaving class. We will eat a traditional Andean lunch prepared by one of the artisan women, in her family’s home. Then, we will have another bracelet class learning a more complicated pattern. We will hear how the artisan women learned to weave, and they will teach us the meanings behind some of the traditional designs we see in their work. After the lesson, we will make our way back to our house to spend time with our host family and share dinner with them.

Day 2: – Patacancha - Ollantaytambo – Cusco

The next morning, after sharing breakfast with our host families, we will learn about the role of animals in Quechua life with either a ritual alpaca shearing or sheep fertility ceremony. Time permitting, we will then continue with our lessons before lunch. For lunch, we will share a traditional Pachamanca, or earth oven lunch, in which our food is cooked underground in an oven of hot stones. Our artisan hosts will then offer a small private market in which you can purchase from them directly if you wish (but there is no pressure to do so as the artisans are compensated for their work hosting you no matter what!) Finally, we drive back down to Ollantaytambo them Cusco.