With only our daypacks and duffel bags, we took a bus ride to the town of Ollantaytambo. This town is an Inca site, about 60 km northwest of Cusco. We visited a local community and saw the local women weave beautiful designs by hand. The tour guide mentioned all these designs are all in their head and they don’t work with any patterns as a guide. I can sew a button and sort of fix rips. That’s about it. What’s great is that the government has helped them realize they can turn their weaving skills into a business and support their families. They were kind enough to let us try the clothing they made by hand. We also worked in their garden for a bit using simple tools such as rakes, hoes, and picks to break up the soil. It was freakin’ HOT. I don’t know how they were able to do it, day in and day out wearing sweaters, but they said they are used to it.
Lunch was mostly vegetarian consisting of some traditional Peruvian cuisine such as potatoes, quinoa and rice. With the exception of fried guinea pig. Mmmmmm. Yes. Guinea pig. Those rodents you have as childhood pets. The ones you had in your classroom, along with the hamsters running in their wheels. They are so darn cute when they are alive, but they look absolutely gross when they are cooked and ready to serve. I was very hesitant to try it, because well, would you want to eat a relative of your pet? I have never had a guinea pig as a pet before, only a rabbit, but a guinea pig is still considered a pet here in North America. As I had mentioned before in my post Its the Journey AND the Destination That Make Travelling Worthwhile, I enjoyed experiencing the food and the culture. So I tried a small sample of guinea pig and well, I couldn’t say it tasted like chicken. In fact, I didn’t get really get a feel of what the meat tasted like because it was so salty and full of garlic flavour. The texture seemed somewhat fatty. Kind of like duck, but I had only ever had duck once in my life, so I’m not sure that’s an accurate description. While others opted for second helpings of the fried rodent, I decided one piece was more than enough for me.
We had another brief chance to buy some more things from the market and use the washroom. I forgot to mention that just like in Europe, you have to pay to use the bathroom in Peru. The Peruvian currency is nuevo soles and it costs you one sol to use the bathroom (toilet paper is provided, at least the ones I went to it was provided). The running joke was that we asked each other for their “soul” to use the bathroom.
The hostel in Ollantaytambo was not as nice as the one in Cusco. The shower option was either very hot or very cold. Nothing in between. It was quite cold in the rooms. We had asked for extra blankets. My friend’s blanket smelled like cologne. Someone had two dead spiders on theirs. But we managed to survive the night and brace ourselves for what would be an unforgettable adventure.
What was the weirdest thing you ate while travelling? Or in general? Would you eat it again?
One of many stunning scenic spots worth taking a picture of
Pet or food? You decide.
Watching the local Andean women at work. Behind them is a display of their beautiful work.
Who’s hungry?
Peruvian Potatoes
I had a cow’s udder and some sheep’s testicles in Guatemala… it all tastes weird but ok as long as you don’t have the relevant language skills to understand what it is and get grossed out. Enjoy the trek, it is amazing!
Not so sure I would be willing to try those two. They sound like something off an episode of Fear Factor. lol I agree, the trek was amazing!
I haven’t eaten anything especially exotic while travelling yet, but recently went to a six-course restaurant lunch for work where everything on the menu was made with lamb. So yep – even the dessert was meat. Ick.
I’ve had lamb and goat a couple of times, and to be honest, I wasn’t too big a fan of their taste. Not sure if it was the texture, but it definitely did not agree with me.
Good for you for trying it. I can’t say I would have been so brave having seen the picture.
I did have a guinea pig as a pet growing up so even looking at that pic made me nauseous. I’m not much of an adventurous eater to begin with. I would stick with the potatoes. 🙂 Sounds interesting so far! When do we hit the trail? 🙂
I’m not much of an adventurous eater either. I don’t think I could ever eat live bugs though (shudder). But everyone else was trying the guinea pig, with the exception of my friend, who was vegetarian. Guess I had no excuse to not try it. lol
Some of those don’t look very appetizing lol, but I know you can’t judge a food’s taste by it’s appearance. I think the weirdest thing I’ve eaten was big ears, or maybe beef tripe ಠ_ಠ
Oh my goodness, it even looks like a little guinea pig cooked! This is why I’m a vegetarian… =)
This is really cool! I think I would’ve had a pretty hard time eating guinea pigs, we had one growing up, her name was Jill. I’d probably try it though, just for the novelty.
I had a rabbit when I was a kid growing up, and to this day, I have never had it.
Great pictures once again. I can’t say as that I’d ever try guinea pig. I suppose if that’s all I could eat, then maybe I would. The oddest things I’ve eaten before were Moose, Caribou, Bear and Buffalo. Some were very good, others very dry…but I’d eat all of them again.
I can’t remember which restaurant it was, but I remember seeing buffalo burger/caribou burger on the menu.I don’t think I would actually order it off the menu though.