Loved this town. Not far from the base of Machu Picchu - this town has it all. Really diverse ethnic groups - all who come into town to the thriving market - a kaleidoscope of colors and hat styles. The old girls sat outside the market entrance brewing up corn beer and selling it in massive ( 1 litre) sized glasses. Want a shnort? Hand over a few cents, the glass is dipped into the fermenting pot, and presto - you are on your way to a solid buzz. Have a dollar? 10 litres later you can swing your three or four layers of skirt into the market and not even care if your hat is on crooked or if your leggings are slipping. Seriously - they drink 10 glasses of this stuff while discussing the local comings and goings. The men seemed to come in the afternoon for their quota. The ladies offered us a glass - there are only so many cups/glasses, so you have to wait for somebody to finish theirs, a quick wipe with the community towel, dip into the bubbling cauldron, and you are set. We declined because we were committed to exploring the archaeological wonders that surround this town. Uh huh, and it smelled really bad.


The stone work of the Inka communities built at the top of the mountain was....well.....incredible. That seems pretty lame a description for this place. Breathtaking and perfect and beautiful. Seems those b****** Spaniards arrived during the construction of this empire and the Inkas rolled boulders down the hill onto them, keeping them at bay. Seemed to have worked for a while but we still don't know what happened to the Inka's. Where did they go? Lots of theories but no one knows. The Spaniards? Well we know that story. They came, they built churches on top of the Inka ruins and sent the masses of gold and silver they had ripped off of the Inkas back to Spain and to the Vatican. At least that is what I think happened. I have such a short attention span that I seem to wander off, taking pictures of cute kids and cool hats, just when the facts are rolling out. This blog is the history of the world, Melnik style. Some truth may get in the way of a good tale......

In the end, the Inkas are gone, the Spaniards and the Catholic churches are everywhere, and the scenery and the clothing styles are breathtaking. Never a dull moment here.