The Adventure of Ruan: Living with the Inca’s

Remember the children’s art museum that we visited at the beginning of our time in Cusco? Well, Juan (the curator) put us in contact with an organisation called “Living with the Inca’s.” There are Quechua people that live a subsistence living in the mountains and with this program you can go live with them at a price (about the cost of a hostel, but all your board and lodging is provided).

We met Victoria (the wife) in town. They had an exhibition of the surrounding town’s works (mostly textile) and she was displaying her goods there. We caught the collectivo with her to Ollantaytambo and then got a lift with Julian (her husband) home. Its very high up so VERY cold! They have two children; Enoch and Jumi.

Right, so tomorrow we can help out with the farming, cooking, weaving or general day-to-day stuff to experience how they live. Wrong. We only found this out the day after arriving that they don’t live like most other families. Victoria spend the day around the house (not taking the cattle to feed like most women, as Julian’s sister looks after the small holding) and Julian drives a collectivo to Ollantaytambo twice a day (not farming like most men). And on top of that, only Julian has a good grasp of Spanish. The rest of the family speaks Quechua. Eish.
Not to worry, we took a walk into town and thanks to some wet clay bricks (the main building material here) met another family. They were more typical and when we asked if we could help, they were to happy to put us to work. They knew how this deal worked :)
This was more like it. I wanted to help people somewhere along my travels and now had the opportunity.

The father of the girl that we met was going to help with a community project. He invited me along! Not knowing what we were doing I just followed. All the men gathered and “el maestro” explained what was to be done. Oh, did I mention that this was all done in Quechua so I had absolutely no idea what was happening. Everyone started to dig out and move huge rocks into what looked like terrace farming. Halfway through the day the guys began to warm to me and we had some interaction. Even the maestro came to chat to me before leaving. I was knackered at the end of the day, but felt like I at least helped the community.

Carolina stayed behind and helped at the house where I’d left her earlier. She had helped with the corn which was recently harvested and did some weaving. When I returned, everyone was huddled in the main hut to heat up. We were all given a hot beverage. In this household everyone spoke Spanish, allowing me to follow some of what was said.
I then asked what it was that I was helping out with earlier. They said that the government had sponsored the community to build a trout farm as an additional food source. They eat LOTS of potatoes and thus not very well nourished. And here I though I was helping build farming land! Haha.

The living conditions are very basic. Building are build out of big clay bricks, mud floor and a type of white wash at places to give a “cleaner” look. There is very little insulation, so the nights get even colder. All the meals are cooked on an open flame, usually small twigs and branches. This causes the main hut, only one room, to become very smoky at times.
I got the overwhelming feeling that this is similar to a traditional African way of life. I stared wondering why these people live like this when in the town below the living conditions are a world apart. Ok, there is no electricity here and plumbing is basic. At least this family’s toilet had a bowl, but no roof and a piece of cloth for a door :) But wouldn’t you want to change your way of life. And if you didn’t know how, wouldn’t you want someone to help you? I debated this with Carolina and came to this conclusion. Not all people want to be helped. They might just like this way of living. Who is anyone to judge that they are living under substandard conditions. They might CHOOSE this lifestyle. Not everyone buys into the capitalistic way of living (live to work & get money). Family is the main focal point in these communities. But saying this, I don’t think theses people shouldn’t be offered help.

The next day we started off going to the Sunday market. Here women buy looms to weave with, boys buy spinning tops and there are many clothes to choose from. Later went to an Inca ruin down the road (not at all a tourist hot-spot) and Enoch showed us the top of the hill where the radio tower is situated. A very chilled day, which ended with Carolina doing some weaving.

After three nights, we just wanted to be able to have a warm shower (no showers here. Not sure how or if they bathe) and sleep in a room that doesn’t feel like you’re on Salkantay mountain. A tent would be warmer. No jokes. So we headed back to Cusco.

The trout farm progress after 1 day – Enoch on the way to the market. This is the main street – The market across the river.