Cyhoeddwyd: 21.09.2023
Hello, my dears. Today I was in the small town of Misminay, near Cusco. The place is around 3720 m. I had a lot of respect for the height beforehand. So I was picked up by a nice driver who also drove very well. I didn't know exactly what to expect. My experiences are also twofold. The plan was to stay with an indigenous family, spend the night there and get to know local life. First of all, super interesting. The reality was somewhat different. We then arrived there and I was welcomed with music and a wreath of flowers. That made me super uncomfortable. And I was the only one too. That's not something for Ines. Then I was shown my tent and my bathroom. As you can see in the pictures, completely modern for Ines. Afterwards there was tea. He was really good. Then Maria sat down next to me and weaved. For a long time. It's also their job. But I would also like to have done something. Somehow, anyway. Well, Maria is a really lovely cookie, super friendly and always laughing. Her husband Mario came along later; he was in the field with the animals. Late at night, more and more villagers suddenly arrived. The women knitted and made friendship bracelets and weaved. The men were cooking. When the food was ready, I was invited to the table... alone. I found that really stupid again. I also communicated that this made me uncomfortable and one of the women came along. At 8 p.m. I went to my tent, which was heated and I was given a hot water bottle. It was really cold up there. I slept really well there, really well. At 5:00 a.m. the night was over, when it got light all the animals woke up at once. Donkeys, chickens, cows, alpacas, sheep, birds, dogs, cats and me. The villagers then slowly all arrived again to prepare breakfast. Of course again just for me. Again, the lady with the friendship bracelets had to believe in it. The breakfast was very good and way too much. When that was done, everything was actually cleaned, the kitchen was taken apart and taken away. All the magic just for me. I don't just want to complain, they tried very hard, we had a good time and laughed too. Oh, I wanted to add, the main language is Quechua. What I really liked was this connection between people. They live (in my eyes as a European) in simple mud huts, without a stove. They had next to nothing (but they all had cell phones) and I found them cheerful and happy. They really had fun together. I was supposed to be picked up at 10:00 a.m. Breakfast was finished at 8:00 a.m., I wasn't allowed to help, then I bought 3 friendship bracelets and left a few thalers there. And because I didn't want to sit around for 2 hours, I walked a bit. The area is really awesome. That really impressed me too. At 10:00 a.m. Roland came and drove me back to Giovi's house. I was so lonely at Giovi's house that I decided to move to the city. I needed people. I found what I was looking for at Airbnb. Very close to a friend and his wife. He runs a bar nearby. No sooner said than done, I wanted to take a taxi when it started to rain. Like buckets. It took about 1 hour before I was able to go. In the evening I went to the bar. Needless to say, I had a headache today. But it was great, we had such a good time. Nice end to the day. And today there won't be so much. I'm in town to get a few things, meet up with the girls from Hamburg that I met in Ayacucho and go to the information evening for the trail. And what can I tell you... I'm excited and looking forward to tomorrow
PS: I won't write for 4 days now, I'll struggle over the Andes to Machu Picchu, keep my fingers crossed that everything goes well :)