Chinchero

---

Today Jamie and I decided to visit the village of Chinchero, a little village outside of Cusco that´s known as the ´birthplace of the rainbow´to the Incas. We´re getting used to public transport now, and didn´t have many difficulties finding the bus station. We bought two tickets to Chinchero and even managed to get seats! Lots of bus drivers will fill their bus to maximum capacity - think arms and legs coming out of windows, people´s faces pushed against the windows...there´s not even breathing room by the time they´re finished...it´s crazy! So we´re on the bus and it´s all going well - we´re starting to get a little smug because we´re finding this all so easy. So we get to this little town and the bus is pulled over by the police. There´s an argument with the bus driver - he hands over his paperwork, more arguing. From what we can gather (we´re sitting right behind the driver), there´s way too many people on the bus. The bus driver pulls away without his papers, and turns the bus around. He kicks off about 10-15 people (lots of yelling from passengers), drives 100m back towards Cusco, does a u-turn, and drives back towards the police check-point, this time with an acceptable number of passengers. But the policeman isn´t happy. He boards the bus and starts a very stern, sharp lecture in Spanish to all the passengers. Very quick, snappy Spanish. Very serious expression on his face and occasional short-tempered gestures. Jamie and I don´t understand a single word. Our Spanish isn´t great, but we usually understand a few words and can get an idea. But this time, nothing. I´m starting to get nervous. Are we all going to be kicked off? Does he want to see papers? But after 5-10 minutes, he hands over the paperwork to the driver, and we all take off again. No idea what happened there! But 2 minutes down the road is a patient group of passengers, who now get back ON the bus and we keep going as if nothing happened.

We get to Chinchero, which the Lonely Planet (our bible) describes as ´marginally less touristy´than Pisac. Except we can´t see a single gringo, and the streets seem deserted. Eventually we find the market and even the Chinchero ruins (which are what we came for). The market is beautiful - lots of stalls with beautiful crafts - alpaca jumpers and rugs, gloves, hats, wall hangings, carvings. A lot of the women are traditionally dressed, but it´s not like Cusco where they charge you to take their picture...this is just what they wear. The church is beautiful and the ruins are interesting...lots of terracing, and amazing views to the mountains. By the time we come down from the ruins, the market is packing up, so we head back down to the main road to catch a bus back to Cusco. As far as we can tell, there aren´t any timetables or rules for catching buses. You just wait on the side of the road till you see a bus and you wave it down...so easy!

---

Photos

Chinchero village
The Lonely Planet describes Chinchero as ´marginally less touristy´than Pisac, but when we got there it seemed like a ghost town...