Walk like an Inca. Talk like an Inca.

Now that we have spent several weeks in Incaland, we feel the time has come for an Incatroduction. We started out in the legendary Inca creation site Isla del Sol "where the bearded white God Viracocha and the first Incas, Manco Capac and his sister-wife Mama Ocllo, made their mystical appearances" (LP, 2010). The impact of the concept of sister-wife, disturbing as it may be, even lingers until the present day: TLC has recently launched a new groundbreaking series which was, of course, immediately picked up by our beloved Hank Moody. Anyways, Isla del Sol is situated in the middle of the world´s highest lake (3808 meters above sea level), Lake Titicaca. Titicaca is Quechua (the Inca language still spoken in a large part of the Andes) for puma rock. We agree that it might indeed be possible to recognize a puma in the particular rock on the island, provided that one first takes an irresponsibly large amount of cocaleaves... (Freud knows, see below for a more elaborate explanation)

Fast-forwarding a couple of hundred years, we got to what was long considered to be the last Inca stronghold: Machu Picchu (MP). Hiram Bingham, the American explorer who, with the help of an 11 year-old local boy, "discovered" the ruins, was actually looking for Vilcabamba. Obviously, he messed up big time, but Machu Picchu is so stunningly beautiful that we will forgive him this lapsus. There are many theories on the purpose of this archeological complex; some consider it a sacred hangout for the rich and famous (a pre-Colombian French riviera resort that we like to refer to as INCAnnes) while others claim it´s a "mere" citadel. Either way, it is amazing and full of luxury houses and temples, providing a perfect backdrop for Jori´s 7th 18th birthday (talk about denial...). By the way, we are currently in the process of preparing our application for the Guiness´ Book of Records for the Longest Birthday in History:

• 6 am local time June 17th (Jori´s birthday in Pago Pago): cake at our last campsite during Lares
• 5 pm local time June 17th (Jori´s birthday in Holland): first toast with Pisco Sour
• 4 am local time June 18th (Jori´s real birthday): birthday cake with candles in the line for the MP-bus
• 8.30 am local time June 18th: presents on top of Wayna Picchu after a horrendous climb including several possible near-death experiences
• 8 pm to 10 pm local time June 18th: small birthday nap after 4 hours of sleep the night before
• 11 pm to 6 am local time June 18th/19th (but the next day only starts when you go to sleep): party at the Loki Hostel (pimps-and-hoes-turned-cross-dress party) ending in Mama Africa including an in-depth interview for Peruvian tv (fortunately no link available).

Another big celebration that lasts a very long time is Inti Raymi, or Festival of the Sun. Every year on the 24th of June, the Incas used to sacrifice a llama to appeal to their Gods for the return of the sun. Silly Incas. We all know that the summer/winter solstice takes place on the 21st of June. Nevertheless, the celebrations are very impressive and continue to take place every year. The two weeks leading up to the event are filled with dancing and parades in folkloric attire on the main square. They culminate in a full re-enactment (indeed, with a llama murder) at Sacsayhuaman (pronounciation: "sexy woman"). We suspect that preparations may even start one whole year in advance, since we still encountered many practicing groups the evening after ALL the festivities had ended.

So much for the Incatroduction, back to the title of this post.

To reach Machu Picchu, we did not just take the lazy-people train. Instead, we walked like Incas during the Lares Trek, one of the fake Inca Trails for people who are not organised enough to book the real trail four months ahead. In line with the fakeness of our Trek, we hunted and gathered some The North Fake equipment to keep us warm and dry high up in the mountains. The Lares Trek is also known as the Community Trek, because it passes through many villages where people still live according to ancient Andean traditions. Despite their traditional clothing, the kids seem rather well accustomed to treats of modern life: sweets and propinitas, which they eagerly request from each gringo passing through. Worried about their teeth and as always low on money, we handed out fruits and balloons and taught them "rocket science" instead. We ourselves also learned a lot: for example, before digging into your food, you drop a bit on the ground for Pachamama (Mother Earth) and you blow over it for the Apus (Mountain Spirits) so that they may bless your journey. Also new was the Inca Sour we drank on our last night while playing the card games "shithead" and "nervioso ".

While playing nervioso, our Quechua-skills sky-rocketed, as we had to count from 1 to 13 in Quechua at very high speed: uq, iskay, kinsa, tawa, phisqa, suqta, qanchis, pusaq, isqun, chunka, uqniyuq, iskayniyuq, kinsayuq. Our three hours of private lessons definitely paid off. Yes, you read it well: pisi pisilla quechuata rimayku (we speak a little Quechua). For those interested in talking like an Inca (ja jij Arthur), here follows Quechua 101: an otherwise completely hypothetical conversation with a child.

• Allin p´unchay  (Good day)
• Imaynalla kashanki (Hello. How are you?)
• Allinllanmi. Qhanri. (Fine. And you?)
• Walechya. Maimanta kanki. (Good. Where are you from?)
• Holandamanta kani. Iman sutiyki. (I am from Holland. What is your name?)
• Mario sutiy. (My name is Mario)
• Mario, miskita munankichu. (Mario, do you want a sweet?)
• Ari. (Yes!)
• Sumaq. Kaypi. (Very well. Here it is.)
• Sulpayki mamay. (Thank you miss.)
• Tupananchiskama. (Goodbye!)
• Ratukama. (Bye!)

Other useful phrases include:

• Uma sapa kanki (You are big-headed)
• Nuqa kusishani (I am enjoying myself)
• Nuqa Lisette/Joriwan Perupi ch´usashani (I am traveling in Peru with Lisette/Jori)

Askamalla! (That one you may look up for yourselves)
      

Enjoying the 2 for 1 happy hour with a very international crowd in Sucre.

Zeus reading a book

Isla del Sol

Kapitein Keijsper en Stuurman Steins hebben tevergeefs twee uur lang geprobeerd
de haven van Copacabana uit te zeilen. Volgende keer toch maar een zwaantje pakken.

Left: Protests in La Paz organised by the inhabitants of El Alto, the underdeveloped part of La Paz. They demanded electricity and basic sanitation, making it impossible to disagree with their cause even though we almost could not enter the city because of the road blocks they put up.
Right: Headache? Loss of libido? Monthly inconveniences? Take a llama foetus and all will be cured.

Uber-coke smurf Sigmund Freud.
He was the first official cocaine user and eventually died of a nose tumor.
This explains EVERYTHING if you ask us... (doorgesnoven?)

El Rodadero: Lisette going down the natural slide at Sacsayhuaman,
putting even her own life in danger (yes, she broke a finger nail...)

Kind aan huis in het Niños Hostal

Dancing in Plaza de Armas, Cusco

Hardcore hikers (spot The North Fake)

Mikhuna Wasi. Literally: eating house.

 

Girls along the trek

It´s rocket science baby!

De ballonnen vonden gretig aftrek

Llama intermezzo (you honestly thought this was going to be a post without a llama?)

On the summit! (4.400 meters)
F.l.t.r.: Darwin, Lisette, Jori, Christina and Edgar/Guillermo

Left: Schoolchildren who eventually got called inside by their teacher,
not wanting to leave us (and our cookies, fruit and balloons.)
Right: De baas van de club.

ICE-olation

With the cooks and porters, Walfred, Victor, Cesar and Sebastian

 

Lisette trying to lure a cuy (guinea pig). She wanted to cuddle them.
They were terrified of humans. When, 15 minutes later, we saw the cook
of the restaurant walking towards the cuy den with a big knife, we knew why...

Wait a minute, who are you looking for exactly?

Birthday cake number 1: 17th June 6 AM.                                       Birthday cake number 2: 18th June 4 AM

2 and 4 together make Jori´s 7th 18th birthday!

With our travel buddy Christina at Machu Picchu before the crowds arrived

Left: Half-way up to Wayna Picchu, only 5 possible near-death experiences to go...
Right: Relaxing on top of the world

After Wayna Picchu and after the crowds arrived

The classic

Look at the beautiful view!

Dancing the night away with Jori´s PC-friends

Grand view of Inti Raymi...        ...including the llama sacrifice
Favourite pastime of the crowd? Throwing garbage and potatoes at anyone who was blocking their view