We will be making our way to Aguas Calientes on Thursday morning of this week from where we will make the ascent up to Machu Picchu on Friday, Good Friday as it were. Aguas Calientes is only some 50 km away from Ollanta, but since we had a few days to spare and had already spent 5 days in Ollanta, we backtracked a bit from Ollanta, still in the Valley, and returned to Pisac for a few days last Saturday. We spent the day on Sunday browsing through Pisac's special Sunday market, buying our veggies and fruit for the week and a few other goodies, and observing the colourfully dressed and expressive residents of various Andean mountain communities who had descended to attend the Catholic Palm Sunday church service. Click here to see a video clip (with sound) of the residents from various Andean mountain communities as they exit from the Palm Sunday service.

Monday was a day during which we made a day trip by combi off the beaten path, first to a small and very quiet village about 45 minutes away called Cuyo Grande, where we set off on a 3 ½ hour hike up to the Inca ruins at Apu and Pukara which, although lesser known, are set amidst a beautiful background of mountains in the distance and a patchwork of crimson red quinoa, potato, corn and other farms surrounding the village below . Other than the sound of birds, not a peep could be heard from the village below and not a vehicle could be seen for miles along the long and winding gravel roads leading up to and out of the village. We crossed a shy but curious 10 year old native girl who was walking her family’s herd of sheep numbering 15, no doubt one of her many daily chores. Other than 2 cows, she and her herd comprised the only life that we encountered along the hike.

Back in Cuyo Grande after the hike, we began walking on the deserted gravel road out of town towards a community that goes by the name of Chahuaytire. We eventually boarded an old rickety combi that finally came along and disembarked in the obviously very poor community of Chahuaytire some 10 minutes later. Although we had set out to see some ancient frescoes on a wall of this tiny village, what actually transpired took us by surprise. As we strolled down one of the newly stone paved streets, a woman who must have heard us appeared from behind a closed door to her courtyard and invited us in to take a look at some of her weavings. We accepted her invitation, fully aware that we would probably be convinced to buy something, mainly because we wanted to encourage her and also because we were curious to see how some of these native people live. Once on the inside, she brought us a varied selection of her weavings and set them down on the ground - table runners, scarves, belts, etc . After a while, we decided upon a belt. To our great surprise, Paulima and Teodocio then asked if we would attend the baptism of their 5 year old daughter Vanessa which was to be held on Easter Sunday and if we would accept to be her god-parents! Well, we didn’t quite know what to say. We felt honoured on the one hand but at the same time, it didn’t make much sense, living so far away. And what would be our responsibilities as god-parents, what were they really expecting of us? Furthermore, we could not accept even if we wanted to since we were already scheduled to fly back early on Sunday morning from Cusco to Lima. So, after gently and subtly expressing our concerns about the idea, they then asked if we would agree to cut off some of her hair. It took us a while to understand exactly what they were getting at since not only is Spanish our third language, it is their second (the native language of Quechua being their first). We finally concluded that we were to become Vanessa’s symbolic god-parents following a symbolic ceremony which was to take place inside their decrepit, gloomy, dirty and sad living quarters where bedroom and kitchen (with wood stove without chimney) were combined in one very small space. A bottle of Coca Cola and a larger one of Inca Cola, a cob of corn and a bowl were placed on a small rectangular bench next to a basic chair. The two of us each took turns seated in that chair with Vanessa standing in front of and leaning on us as we cut off some of her hair and placed it in the bowl. Once that was done, we were thanked, made a small donation and were given a little token bracelet of gratitude. Paulima then walked us back to the main road and, since we believed that we had just missed the combi back to Pisac, she asked a construction worker nearby if he would be good enough to drive us back in his very large dump truck. We arrived back in Pisac after a full day of unexpected adventures! Click here to see a video clip (with sound) which gives a glimpse of our Chahuaytire experience.