Peru - G Adventures, Sacred Valley Tour - Ccaccaccollo Weaving Co-operative

The first day of the Inca Trail trip was a tour around the Sacred Valley. The Sacred Valley is a high valley with a river running through it which was the main agricultural area for the Inca and for Cusco today.

8 of us were transported in this van with a driver and guide.

We were joined for this part of the tour by one other gentleman who was going to take a different trek than us, Graham. Driving out of Cusco we were able to see how development had moved up the mountainside and the variety of housing from modern to squalor. Out into the mountains and eventually we turned off the major road and climbed a twisting, rough track up to the village of Ccaccaccollo.

This village had been washed away by a landslide, a common occurrence in the Andes, and G-Adventures non profit organization, Planterra, was helping support a weaving co-operative that would help the village support itself.

We were each greeted by one of the weavers with a hug and sprinkle of yellow confetti.

She talked about the different traditional patterns and their meanings, showing us examples.

The room was full of looms with about 6 of them in use. All were setup for different patterns and colours.

Each loom had a series of wooden pedals that moved different strands of yarn and then a piece of wood wrapped in yarn was passed through the gaps made and patted into place with a piece of wood. Then a different pedal was pushed changing the pattern of strands and the wood wrapped in yarn pushed back through. It looked like meticulous, time consuming work with beautiful results.

Fiona trying her hand (and foot) at it. I tried next.

After I took her picture, with her permission, she wanted to see the result on the camera screen. Obviously pleased with it she gave me a big smile.

We walked a little further up the hill and were given greenery to feed the llamas and alpacas.

They were gentle but hungry.

This was a young one, such big dark eyes.

Such odd looking animals.

We were given the opportunity to feel sheep, llama and alpaca fleece and fleece from another wild camelid, the Vicuna, which is a protected species and its fleece is very fine and expensive.

Chatting and spinning with examples of the yarn in baskets.

Here the warp or lengthwise yarn is being arranged.

It is then transferred to a back strap loom for the weft to be woven in.

Next we were shown the dying process. The fleece was washed using a plant root that worked like soap. Our guide, Daniel, translated everything our weaver guide told him. Plant dyes were the most common but the most versatile dye was one made from ground bugs as it gave multiple colours depending what was added to it.

Daniel with plant and dyed wool.

Ground bug paste and the colour it produced.

When asked a mordant, to stop it fading, she said "sulphate" or salt was used.

The dye house.

Lots of beautiful items to buy after the tour.

The co-operative sells to tourists and exports. Chris and Jason had promised me a souvenir of Peru as a Christmas present so I chose a scarf that I will use as a table runner.