Experiential tourism in Chinchero

Description Experiential Tourism in Chincheros Cusco

With the Chincheros Cusco Experience Tourism, you will be able to get to know closely the native community of the same name in Chinchero. TAUCCA, is a community located in the Andes at an altitude of 3,762 meters above sea level. This place offers a tourism alternative for visitors who want to know the ancestral experiences that still remain in this time.

TAUCCA, located in the district of Chincheros in the city of Cusco, the community of Taucca, Urubamba – Cusco. This community is well known for its agricultural activity: harvesting potatoes, corn, beans, barley and wheat. Live unforgettable experiences in this environment where we will perform various activities of rural community tourism such as planting and / or harvesting of their products, handicrafts, weaving, payment to the land, among others.

The ecosystem of the area is the alpine mountain or highlands. The rainy season lasts from November to March; the rest of the year is the dry season. The area maintains its Andean landscapes made up of snow-capped mountains, lagoons and the Peruvian puna. In addition, you can appreciate the flora and fauna of the region. In the community you will find picturesque houses, traditional agricultural terraces and some archaeological remains. This destination, eminently Quechua, maintains its customs, traditions and enigmatic rites.

To make the experiential tourism in Taucca is one of the visits that one should make if you want to know the Andean culture in a better way. The art of backstrap loom weaving is an activity that involves all our senses, it is a form of meditation and absolute concentration to obtain perfection in the iconographies, it is also the most difficult test of patience and perseverance. The skilled weavers and the people of Taucca will transmit us their culture, their feelings when making each of the garments, their love for the land, what they inherited and their roots, especially if you are going on a tour to Machu Picchu, this way you will have more information about the Incas and their way of life. Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

MAIN POINTS OF VISIT

• Cusco (3,399 masl)
• Chinchero (3,762 masl)
• Taucca (3,762 masl)
• Piuray Lagoon (3,754 masl)

Cusco – Chinchero – Taucca – Cusco

• 07.00 hrs We will start our trip picking you up at the hotel in Cusco, we will travel to the sacred valley by the alternate route until we reach Chinchero.
• We will head towards the Piuray lagoon, very close to the town of Chinchero famous for its weavings and we will take an affirmed road on the edge of the lagoon to the community of Taucca, a very typical Andean village where its adobe buildings and tile roofs stand out.
• Upon arrival we will be greeted by the villagers with a delicious Muña mate as a welcome and to help us adapt better to the altitude. The welcome will be with the Huaylaca dance and Quechua songs.

ACTIVITY 1- DEMONSTRATIVE TEXTILE WORKSHOP

In the textile workshop we will learn each step of the Andean weaving process, from obtaining alpaca and sheep wool, wool selection, natural dyes, natural dyeing, spinning and elaboration of Andean garments such as: Ponchos, llicllas, backpacks, shawls, headbands, bags, etc.

Duration: 1h 30min (All the process)

• In the community of Taucca, we will carry out several activities sitting on sheepskin or typical blankets. We will learn about the process of weaving with the use of ancestral techniques and tools.
• The art of backstrap loom weaving is an activity that involves all our senses, it is a form of meditation and absolute concentration to obtain perfection in the iconographies, it is also the most difficult test of patience and perseverance. The skilled weavers will transmit us their culture, their feelings when making each of the garments, their love for what they inherited and their roots.
• We will also be able to appreciate the techniques used in AGRICULTURE from the work of the land, the sowing and observe the different products that are produced (corn, potatoes, beans, wheat, barley, etc.).

ACTIVITY 2- AGRICULTURE WORKSHOP

The main economic activity is related to agriculture; the entire population is dedicated to the production of traditional crops such as potatoes, barley, oats, beans, wheat, and peas. Small producers use traditional techniques and tools, with intensive use of family labor. They maintain ancestral relationships such as the ayni and minca and very sporadically resort to the payment of salaries; their crops are potatoes, beans, oca, olluco and some grains such as wheat, whose production is subsistence.

Crop rotation in these areas is regulated through a program of crops to be planted in the following years after the potato crop, for a period of 3 to 4 years, to then enter again in rest for a minimum of 3 years, in order to recover their fertility.

The technology is eminently traditional, characterized by the use of yuntas, chaquitaqlla, sectorial rotation of land, associated crops, traditional irrigation, minimal use of inputs, such as fertilizers that result in the levels of agricultural productivity.  Farmers, not having a yoke due to the lack of animals, use a human-powered plow called a tajlla or chaquitaqlla, which is a pointed stick with a slightly bent tip, sometimes made of stone or metal, to carry out their agricultural work.

• In their plots we will see how they select the seeds and the cultivation process. They will explain to us on what date they sow, what is the weeding and weeding and when and how is the harvest.
• We will see a demonstration of a very typical traditional dance of the area that is danced in the most important festivities of the village. We will taste a lunch made with natural, organic, fresh ingredients, a combination of stews prepared by the women of the community, a unique experience to learn about the local cuisine.
• We will participate in the planting and/or harvesting of products according to the season of the year together with the local people.
• After lunch, which consists of a soup and a second course based on natural products of the land to the pot we will visit the Piuray Lagoon famous for keeping in its waters an ancient legend that tells that the Sun God asked Manco Capac that his twin sons accompanied him in his twilight and when the time came, they discovered that the son who walked farther had become the Huaypo lagoon and the daughter in the Piuray lagoon.
• 16.00 hrs After this experience, we will return to Cusco.
• 18.30 hrs Approximate arrival, we will leave you at your hotel.

BREAKFAST – HOTEL / LUNCH – AGENCY / DINNER – PASSENGER