The city was even more beautiful when we arrived back at the Eco Hostel. The beds were freshly made and the blankets kept us so warm and cozy. It was nice to rest our sore muscles. We asked the staff where they got the blankets and they just said in town, so we decided to go hunt them down. We wanted one for ourselves and a gift for family members. We were allowed to carry on one bag each with Spirit Airlines so we were going to get two blankets only. We asked the person at the front desk of the hostel for directions and headed into town. We walked down the hill and turned right as the directions stated, while the night was looming overhead. Darker and darker the streets were getting due to being in the mountains. We wondered if we would find this magical shop.
We were very tired when we turned on to the shop’s street and it was a ways off. We crossed over intersections and avoided cars. On the street where the blanket would be there was wire protruding off the roof of another shop. Chris and I are tall so I almost cut my eye on it. He saw the wire and pulled me out of the way just in time. I learned at that moment to watch my step way more carefully moving forward. Getting to the shop in the distance was such a reward. The owner was an amazing and honest man. He ran a family business and his son tried to spike the price on us since we were tourists. We said the price said a lot less on the floor model and he kept telling us it was way more. We decided to only get one blanket. As he rang us up, his father came out and got very upset at his son. We ended up getting two blankets for the owner’s original set price, which was less than the price his son wanted to charge us for one. This whole blog is turning into a sales pitch for these blankets but they are worth it!! I would link it here but there is no option to purchase them online. You just have to go to Cusco and ask.
After leaving this shop we had to walk up, up, up the hill back to the hostel. As we walked we saw a store with amazing fabrics and thin ribbon stitching for bags. I wished we found this place earlier because I would have bought some fabric and made my own bag. At this point we were running low on funds and space in our rucksacks to take back home to America. I was happy just window shopping in this wonderful shop brimming with colorful dyes and textiles. Peru is such a lively place filled with various hues that play with the eye and let the imagination run wild. On Friday I will walk you through the other shops in town we went to, our souvenirs, and the flee market shenanigans. Until then, have a wonderful Wednesday. The paintings from Peru are at the bottom and all linked if you are interested. Thank you for reading!
-Karen Hilliard
Here are the paintings in this Inca Trail Series so far…Number 1 is from Blog, “Trekking to Santa Teresa”. Number 2, is a work in progress. Number 3 is from Blog “Delicious Fruit.” Number 4 is from Blog “Hot Springs.” Number 5 is from Blog “Climb to Machu Picchu.”
