Whoa The Places We'll Go: Ankle Spa and Bomberos

Today was a long and amazing day in Urubamba! Urubamba is a small town in the Sacred Valley about an hour and a half from Cusco.
Ali really wanted to go to Urubamba because when she was 16 she participated in a volunteer program with her friend Dawn (Hi Dawnie!!) for a month in which she helped build a Fire and Rescue Station for the Bomberos (firemen) among other things (working with a ceramic artist, bee farmer, sandal maker who makes sandals out of tires etc). It was important to her that she revisit the town and try to find the fire station after it had been almost 10 years.
So we left Cusco this morning and took a colectivo (a shared bus) for about an hour and a half until we arrived in Urubamba which is also really fun to pronounce in Spanish. Try it with us, Oo-rrrroo-bambah (don't forget to roll your r!!). We arrived and walked to the main square which we have found in almost every Peruvian town is called Plaza de Armas. We found the municipal building and were pointed to the direction of the tourism office. They were great and showed us where the Fire and Rescue building was and possibly where the school was where Ali lived.
We found the Fire and Rescue station and it was really exciting! The gate was shut and you couldn't see inside but Ali was determined and she knocked on the big gate and Jesus answered. Literally the guy was named Jesus :). He is an older gentleman who tends the shop during the day and the Bomberos are on call at night. It was a bit more built up then Ali remembered (because they weren't completely finished when she worked on it) but parts were exactly as she remembered.
When they were building the station the Bomberos only had only one fire truck (which was literally a pick up truck). Now there are 4 trucks and the building is complete with rooms with bunk beds. After exploring the Fire Station we tried to find the school where Ali lived but no luck unfortunately.
We then decided to try to find the Salineras or salt mines. We took a bus out to the area we were told the mines were but we had no clear direction as to where they were. We started hiking down this mountain and it was gorgeous. There was no one around but a few farmers and it was breathtaking and amazing to be surrounded by the mountains, farms, and random donkeys and sheep. It was difficult because we got a bit lost and Sarah and her sneakers ended up ankle deep in some mud that from the smell of it had some cow poo mixed in. After her exfoliating mud bath and hysterical laugh attack on both our parts she found a small stream to try to wash off the spa she created for her ankles and feet.
It was getting late and the dark rain clouds were looming so we decided to turn back and walk back up the mountain we had just climbed down. Although we didn't see the Salineras we had a wonderful hike and were ready to head back to Cusco.
We slept for most of the ride back home and stopped at the grocery to get ingredients for some delicious soup. We made soup with onions, carrots, tomatoes, a spicy pepper and quinoa with avocado sliced on top which was if we do say so ourselves delicious. We were also in the mood for something sweet so we bought bananas and melted some chocolate and made our own special fondue.
Tomorrow we are going to go to the Templo de la Luna (Temple of the Moon) with our friend Alex before we figure out our bus ticket to Puno the city near Lake Titicaca. We had a wonderful day and hope everyone at home is doing great.

Love love love,

A & S