My favorite day in Peru...hands down

I'm not sure in what order to put these pictures. They were all taken on one marvelous day, as we walked down a long road. Our second day in the village of Ollantaytambo we decided we wanted to get out in the hills, out to nature, so we could do some birdwatching. The folks at our wonderful B&B in Ollantay suggested we take a taxi up the mountain to the even smaller village of Patacancha, about 22 km away, and we could then take a leisurely 8 hour or so hike back down the road to Ollantay. They assured us we'd see many birds and even get some interesting culture in besides, as it was market day for the villages we'd pass through along the way.

I remember this day, such a simple day, walking down a road, with the greatest happiness and pleasure. I finally felt like I was getting to know Peru, the real Peru, and I loved it. What certainly helped our day trip was our taxi driver we drove with to the top of the mountain. He was a friend of the clerk at our B&B and he gave us a wonderful introduction to the villages and even taught us some Quechua phrases we could use. I only remember one, a basic hello, pronounced in English like a-lee-yan-cho (at least, this is how I remember it). It only took me half the day to remember how to say it without cheating to look at the piece of paper I wrote it on. He also taught us a more complicated "how do you do?" phrase, which I never got right. Quechua is a most complex language, at least to our ears! Most humorous of all was everyone we managed to say Aleeyancho to inevitably replied to us in Spanish! When we finally did get somebody to respond to us in Quechua, we were overwhelmed with pride at our Quechua conversational abilities: "Hello!" "Hello!"

Right from the start we knew this was going to be a great day:

One of the first people we said hello to didn't just nod his head and pass by, but broke out in a large smile and, in Spanish, introduced himself as Dionysio and inquired what we were doing here. He then immediately invited us to his house to meet his family. He said there was a party going on for the first birthday of his nephew and we were invited! Who could resist? They welcomed us into their home (Dionysio is to the right of Audie, above) and we had a great time visiting with them, but it was also an eye-opener to the life of rural poverty. Their dwelling was a small mud house with a dirt floor, and with no windows. It was so dark inside that when they offered us some boiled potatoes to eat, I had a hard time finding them at the bottom of the pot they served them in. But such a spontaneous show of friendly hospitality they gave us, wanting nothing more than to visit with some strangely dressed foreigners during the birthday party. We left after a while with many wishes for a good day and hopes that we'd return again.

A group of ladies weaving on the traditional loom, in the middle of a field. So peaceful!

And this was a scene that would repeat itself throughout the day. A group of ladies, or men, just sitting on a hillock, either weaving, spinning, or just conversing. 

One of my favorite pictures of the day, two ladies just walking down a road and spinning at the same time.

We were also trying to find birds on this walk. About halfway through the day, Audie was deep in a grove of trees, chasing down a hummingbird while I waited on the road to see if it would fly back my way. A newish pickup truck we had seen off and on, rounded a bend and parked in front of me. A young man leaped out of the truck, ran up to me, and asked me if I spoke Spanish. I said yes, and he told me, in a somber tone, that the mayor would like to have a word with me. Could I please come to the truck? My heart leapt into my throat. Although I knew the Shining Path is mostly a chapter in the history books, the violence they wreaked in these villages was never far from my mind. And I never trust a Latin American public official. Mayor or no, I wasn't going near that truck. I asked him where is the mayor? He motioned to the truck, but with its black tinted windows, I could see nobody. What does he want to talk to me about? I asked. Looking a little exasperated, the young man motioned at the truck and an older gentleman emerged and walked up to me just as Audie came back. He introduced himself as the mayor of Ollantaytambo and the surrounding villages, and said he had seen us walking all over the place today and he was curious what our business was here. He was not exactly friendly. Audie quickly told him that we were biologists and were studying the birds. The mayor didn't look too convinced. What he possibly could have thought we were doing, I have no idea, but his distrust and suspicion of us were obvious. He asked where we were from, what did we do there, why did we come to Peru. Audie enthusiastically whipped out his camera and said, "Let me show you the birds and nature where we live!" He happened to still have some moose and caribou pictures from Alaska in his camera. After the fifth moose picture, the mayor said Ok, ok, ok!, smiled, and gave us his card. He said if we had any problems today, to please let him know personally, wished us a good time, and departed. It was a strange encounter!

And this last pic is probably my favorite picture from the entire trip. This was taken at one of the small village markets we passed through on the way, where multiple villages gathered to sell their produce to one another. I love the faces, the body language.