Ccapaqmarca: January 2016
Magno and his cousin who drove us to Ccapaqmarca.
We started the morning off with a bit of confusion. Javier’s dad, Victor, had gotten word that we were planning on visiting Ccapaqmarca, and didn’t like the idea. We were traveling and staying with family, but the last time Victor had visited, the trip lasted all day because of horrible roads, and the town of Ccapaqmarca was not tourist friendly. He was worried about us. After talking with Javier, I’m not sure if he was put at ease, or if he was preoccupied all day.
We were supposed to leave at 7am, but this is Cusco, so that didn’t happen. After being picked up and waiting for everyone else to arrive, we went to a station of some sort, which was just a dirt parking lot. Here, we picked up some luggage, along with a large dresser. That’s right, they loaded furniture on top of the combi (big van/little bus) and we left right on time…9:30am.
Food stop.
The drive to Ccapaqmarca today takes anywhere from 4-5 hours with a stop for lunch. The road is never straight. You are literally winding through the mountains, up and down, the entire way. No one became sick, although there were a few close calls. We arrived in one piece, although at one point, our driver was driving so fast, that the van started sliding as we went around a corner. Drifting, as they say. The tires gripped the earth long before we were close to the edge, but when on the side of the mountain, there should be no uncontrolled sliding, period. I got mad. I think if the driver could understand English, he may have been pretty upset with the things I was saying about him. Instead, Javier calmly talked to him and asked to slow down and be careful. The guy’s response?? “I always slide.” Oh, lawd…We gon die!
Road trip to Ccapaqmarca.
I am happy to report that not only did we not die, he actually slowed down and was more careful, but not before making fun of me and Javier to his friends about how we were “scared.” Whatever. Again, if he could have understood me, he probably would have thrown us out of the van. Sometimes language barriers can be an asset.
Oh, I almost forgot! The worst part of the entire ride, yes even worse than the driver, was the music. There is this type of music that is popular in the area we were driving to, called Waylia. Waylia has one song. It is started with various intros, but ultimately ends up being the same. The female voices are squeaky and abrasive. We listened to the same thing over and over and over again…for 5 hours!!!!!! I wanted to throw myself out of the window. I actually tried earplugs, but they couldn’t keep out the piercing squeals of the singers.
We arrived in Ccapaqmarca.
When we finally arrived to the town, the music was blasted to announce our arrival. I thought my ears would bleed. Once we were out of the van and the engine turned off…yes, that needs to be mentioned because this driver liked to keep his music going even when we weren’t driving, I thought we were over that nightmare. Au contraire. What we didn’t know when we agreed to this was that we were attending a Waylia festival, and the girls were Waylia singers! The town is very small, and the festival was taking place in the center, outdoors. As we walked to someone’s home, I could hear it. It was getting louder and louder. There it was…more Waylia. We would be listening to it for the rest of the night as well as the following morning.
Navo, que rico!
We were greeted by family and food. We met cousins, aunts, uncles, and ate! At one point, Javier looked at me and said, “You know, this is as local as it gets. You know how we see those ladies sitting and eating their food on the sidewalk? That’s exactly what we’re doing.”
Next thing I know, I’m being ushered into a room to put on my “outfit” for the night. I looked just like the girls. I loved it!!! Everything was a wee bit short, and my head too big for the hat, but I looked goooooood! As for Javier, all he received was a hat. We spent the evening down in the square watching the other dancers.
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Getting ready.
Flash
The trio. Jackie with the Florcitas de Huaylia. Romina and Jimena.
Braided
The festival in Ccapaqmarca
Las Florcitas de la Huaylia. Ccapaqmarca. Cusco, Peru
When it was time for everyone to dance we made our way to the dance floor, made our circle, and walked round and round, spinning our skirts from side to side. The girls, but the way, were quite the entertainers. When we were together, they were mostly shy, giggled a lot, but kept to themselves. Put them on stage and they came alive- dancing and working the crowd, it was impressive.
At the end of the night, there was some confusion about where we would be sleeping. We finally made it to another relative’s home, where we were shown a room we had to duck to enter, as well as move around inside. Clearly, this room was built to accommodate the “average” Peruvian. Anyone over 5’5 had to hunch.
Hiking with Isabel.
The next morning, we had breakfast where I tried, for the first time, ponche de habas. It’s a type of tea, and quite yummy. After breakfast, we walked with Isabel, her sister, Norma, and their mother to their farm. They offered us a horse, maybe we should have taken it. It was quite the hike home, and the ponche de habas was not agreeing with me. Norma and their mother went ahead on horses and greeted us when we arrived. There were sheep out to pasture, dogs and lot of guinea pigs. They gave us a tour of their farm, and their mother wanted to make us soup, but we didn’t have much time before we had to turn around and head back to catch the bus back to Cusco.
Hike in Santo tomas.
They asked us if we wanted to join Norma to check on the sheep, but my stomach was in full force, and there was no way I was moving unless I had to. At one point, I asked Isabel if I could used the toilet, she smiled and waved her hand over the campesino. Works for me!! After a little while it was time to move. This time, Norma walked us back, and we met Magno at the bus stop. He was sitting in the bus holding seats for us. We gave hugs and said thank you, before we were whisked off. We were both a little sad we didn’t get to say good bye and thank you to the rest of the family. They were all so hospitable and kind. It was truly a unique experience.
To see more pictures of Cusco, click HERE.