Fascinating 2-Day Tour to Saraguro Village (part 1) + others (part 2)

Quick update on this weekend:  I had a couple from Riobamba, a city north of Cuenca, who visited me this weekend.  We had a great weekend with a couple of fun experiences:  we went to an exhibit of ~ 50 Obama posters.  Many different artists had created these posters and 98% of them we had never seen.  It was an outstanding exhibit co-sponsored by a gallery and the American Embassy.  The second event was "A Tribute to the Beatles".  We didn't know what was on the agenda, but it was a film that used the Beatles music and depicted some of the activities in the U.S. when the Beatles became popular.  There were 7 of us who attended, 6 of us liked it, the other one hated it because she felt it was not accurate.  I expected the audience to be mostly expats, but there were only a few of us and many young Ecuadorians.  I always exclaim, "I can see these events in Ecuador!"  Amazing.
     Now the first installment re the southern villages:  On Sat., Mar. 3rd @ 7:30 am, eleven expats left Cuenca for a tour where we visited indigenous villages/an ancient Incan site south of Cuenca.  We had an excellent guide who told us a lot of the history of these villages.  We traveled in a nice van to Saraguro and after ~ 3.5 hrs of travel, we checked into the hostel.  We had a full schedule with many unique experiences:  we visited the weavers, hat factory and went to a shaman ceremony.

Arrival at the hostel (it's chilly!); indigenous guide, Juanita, in traditional dress; dining room at hostel

First, the village where the weavers reside:

Hostess in the village (one couple stayed in this village with this woman), serenaded by flute players, master weaver and wife

Weavers in action:

The shop with a multitude of looms, the master weaver (age 71), and the younger man weaving table cloths (I bought one).  Notice that the hands are busy making the design-the pattern is memorized, not stamped, and the feet also have a variety of pedals that must be pressed with speed and accuracy--impressive coordination!
Next, travel (in open-sided truck for 40 minutes) to the village where the very unique hats are made.  That's a big step from the ground; I made it!  We stopped to enjoy the beautiful countryside.

These very distinctive hats are only worn by men and women in the Saraguro area.  This man is one of the very few who make the hats (takes several days to make one)--only by special order and costs ~$60.  The material is white felted wool with additional processes that make it very stiff and then painted with black "spots" on the underside.  The items on the bottom left are the tools he uses for some of the process.  The picture on the bottom right is the hat maker and our guide who switched hats for the picture.
    More about Saraguro people and traditions in the next blog.
hasta la próxima vez