The Rainy Season

Feb is the rainy season in Peru and until today it hasn´t been much of a problem. It´s the middle of summer in South America and that means lots of fresh produce and also Carnival. For the past week our little town of Pisac has been one big party. But it´s a wholesome party. The kids run around with water balloons and water guns and have massive fights. I have gotten caught in the cross fire. They also like to throw this colored powder-dust. The other night the kids got me and Anna really good. The other thing they love doing is spraying each other with a foam version of silly string. Today they got me and Anna as we were walking back from the Ruins. Beers are sold in big bottles (like in Brazil) and there is a special type of corn beer that has only 2% alcohol. I haven´t tried that yet. The local ruins - which are quite extensive - were free today because there was a big party up at them. The winners of the dance competition from the weekend had the honor of dancing on the mountain. The whole village was basically closed down and everyone was up there. They carted a huge sound system to project the music up the mountain while several troupes danced. The valley floor is at over 9000 feet, so the party was well over 10k feet. It had been raining off and on all day, and really started to pour up there. Luckily I have remembered the art of layering and bringing my raincoat everywhere. And my peruvian rainbow fingerless gloves. Unfortunately I had decided to wear my sandals and my feet were soaked. I got used to the rain and we walked all over the ruins. They are absolutely amazing and I will have pictures up on Flickr in a day or so. The flowers and fauna are so lush and I probably took too many photos. What really blew my mind were the Incan Terraces. They go all the way up the mountain!!!! I have always wanted to see the terraces in person and now that dream has come true. The mountains here are unlike any I have seen. Huge and green and rocky and magical. I was planning on going to Machu Picchu tomorrow, but there is a transport strike and they have put rocks and trees in the road, so I am delaying. I admit, I am having so much fun here in Pisac with my friends I don´t care that much about making the trek. But hey, I´ve come all this way - I´m going to try for over the weekend. I´m not taking the regular tourist train from Cusco, but from Ollanytambo a town a bit further up in the valley. The Rio Umbanda - which runs through pisac and flows through the Amazon jungle and into the Atlantic has been swelling with the rain. It´s amazing to see the river and remember my time in Manaus, Brazil over 10 years ago - and that this is the same river. I wish I had time to visit the jungle while here.