Amaru textiles

This afternoon we went to the top of the mountains to Amaru village and learned how the indigenous people spin and dye llama/alpaca wool and how it is woven into beautiful textiles.  It was a fantastic afternoon….after the harrowing ride up a single lane dirt road up the side of a mountain.  We were welcomed with a shower of flower petals and each of us were given a flower necklace.  We had an opening ceremony and then we were all dressed up in the indigenous clothing of the area.  We were graciously shown how to spin the wool by hand, how to weave the textiles, and how the wool was dyed with natural dyes made from plants/flowers in the area.  We also learned about the hundreds of varieties of potatoes grown in the area and were given some sweet ones to eat.  Of course we had time to buy some of the things that were displayed.  After that, we had a Dance of Despedida (good-bye) and another ceremony to end the afternoon.  Really cool!!