Chinchero Hike

On Tuesday, I cut Zak loose from school so that he and Bart and I could try a hike I heard about from the town of Chinchero down through Urquillos toward the valley floor at Willcaibamba. I had heard the route was an exciting downhill bike ride but even I hadn’t bargained for the incredible scenery. Once we completed the majority of the downhill, we encountered the village of Urquillos where we found a chicharia in a local house. The proprietress spread a blanket on a plank on which we parked our butts while Bart and I enjoyed a chicha and Zak played with some baby geese. The kids were obviously intrigued by us gringos but too scared to come out from around the corner and talk to us. In Willcaibamba we passed both a witch doctor’s office and a giant statue of a farmer with a corn; I’m not sure which I found to be more disconcerting. While the Valley is decidedly untouristy, giant statues are quite popular; Calca features a statue of a giant woman (with giant blemishes?) in native dress while Urubumba has a decidedly unintimidating statue of a giant puma. From Willcaibamba we caught a VERY crowded bus to Calca (I may have accidentally squished a young girl en route) where we lunched in Calca before relaxing at the Machacancha hot spring North of town before heading home. Zak has really become quite the hiker although he says prefers riding horses; although any day off of school is a good day off of school.