Travels with rarecat: Aranwa Sacred Valley Hotel

Saturday, 8 December 2012

Unlikely Places - the Aranwa Sacred Valley Hotel

At the end of a day where our tour had taken us up and down mountain roads, to see Andean weavers with their centuries old craft, past farms and fields in the Sacred Valley, then through the nondescript town of Urubamba, the last thing we expected was the exquisite Aranwa Sacred Valley Hotel. The bus dropped us off within a walled estate in the valley and it was tucked away in a world on its own - completely unexpected but nevertheless an experience to savour.

Here's a tour of the amazing grounds, starting with the stunning stained glass in the lobby:

Verandah to the living areas

The chapel - clearly the star of the show

With the Andes as the backdrop

Spacious room (with jacuzzi!) looking out onto our own private garden - too bad we were only there one night, not enough time to enjoy it

Lovely landscaped grounds

The courtyard of the 17th century hacienda

Its own private museum
and art gallery

One of several stunning photos in an exhibit of works by Teo Allain Chambi

The spa - it would be heavenly to spend a week here

Gym

This would be a great place for a wedding

The valley outside the walled estate

This wraps up the posts on my Peruvian trip. I left this till the last as it is not the sort of place we would typically stay at on a trip if it were not part of a tour package. But it does give us a glimpse of a different kind of travel...

Sunday, 7 October 2012

The long road to Machu Picchu - Chincheros, Urubamba

I'd like you to believe that the long road was the Inca Trail but had we even attempted it, we would never have made it as the highest part of the trail was over 13,800 ft and we could barely exert ourselves at 9,000! The long road we took was the International Expeditions' tour itinerary before Machu Picchu the purpose of which was to acclimatize us to the high altitude. I was considering how best to blog about our very intense 10 day trip to Peru and thought it best to say it the way it was - how we experienced it starting from the time we landed in Cusco (elevation 11,200 ft).

We were whisked off in a bus that took us through the outskirts of Cusco and a steep climb further up the mountain to the town of Chincheros at over 12,300 ft. We were supposed to spend a restful afternoon observing the intricacies of Andean weaving. But it was hard to stay cool when we were thrown into so much culture shock, even though it was all very enjoyable.

You can see from the photos below the demonstration by four generations of the Minka family of the weaving process starting with the spinning and dyeing of the wool using natural colourants. It was eye-opening to say the least. We then drove to Urubamba in the Sacred Valley, at 9,400 ft, an accepted location for acclimatization. We spent the night at the splendid Aranwa Sacred Valley Hotel - an experience in itself (more about this later). In between, we had a Peruvian buffet lunch and a delicious dinner where I had my first taste of alpaca. Look out for future posts on Peruvian food on Foodsparks.

Streets of Chincheros

Common roof decorations - two bulls (mother earth, happiness, health, fertility) beside two bottles (fertility) and in front of a crucifix - they've got it all covered! This is our first exposure to the duality pervading Peruvian religious life.