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Published: September 27th 2008
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The Hacienda
Graceful, though inauspicious entrance The Los Ninos Hacienda appears on the right side as the cab bumps along a rock road on the outskirts of a town named Huasao. The traveler looking for a quiet place to adjust to the Andes will like the Hacienda. The Los Ninos hotels are located in the neighborhoods where the children that they support live, and one soon sees that livelihoods in Huasao are meagre. There are now three Los Ninos hotels, Los Ninos 1 and 2 in bustling Cuzco, and the placid Hacienda 15 km east of Cuzco.
I've bought a package that features a horse ride to nearby Inca site of Tipon, followed by a picnic, then dinner, the rooms that are rustic yet very comfortable. The water is hot too, as they were in every place I stayed. I'm appreciating the quiet and clean air that the brochure emphasized. Soon, I'm introduced to Mantai, my horse for the ride to Tipon, and Pedro, my guide. Freddy, manager of the stables, provides brief instruction on the Peruvian use of the reins, and off Pedro and I go. I've ridden no more than a handful of times, and fortunately Mantai knows the route up to Tipon. Our
Mantai
Back at the Hacienda after Tipon. path takes us through fields, small plots for crops and pasture. The Andeginos calmly greet us. Mantai, a brown mare, mostly follows the route, but once in a while reminds me that the rider is supposed to provide some indication of where he wants to go.
The village of Tipon, a few hundred feet before the Inca site is just a few houses, and the lane we are riding over becomes strewn with larger boulders as we near the village. Then up we go over the switch back to Tipon. The sky is blue this day, and Pedro points out the road to Puno lower in the valley, and Huasao is just off this highway.
At Tipon, high above the village, Pedro hooks me up with a guide named Ruben. Ruben tells me all about the site over 45 minutes. Tipon features examples of Inca expertise in hydraulics, terraces, sacred founts, fertility fountains, and agricultural research plots. From here, there are routes to the Machu Picchu, 3 days distant, an alternative to the Inca Trail. Themes of powers of two are all around as the channeled springs, one from each side, join, then part after entering an area
Waters of Tipon
Flowing for 400 or more years where the flow rate slows via hidden baffles, and then split into 4 then 8, then 2. The spring coming from the left, the west side of the hills no longer flows.
Ruben tells me that Pachacutec, son Cupac Amaru Yupanki was the Inca king that oversaw Tipon's construction some 500 years ago.
Our picnic comes during the return trip to Huasao using a different route that takes us on a higher route around the brow of a hill overlooking the village. In the distance we see the Hacienda and the nearby children's kitchen and educational facility funded by the hotel. Pedro who walks with a limp due to being hit by a car four years before points to the tin roof of his house. Pedro returned to employment after Los Ninos hired him. The remainder of our ride takes us by farms, small enclosures, and wondering livestock. I'm looking forward to resting in the Hacienda yard near the pool. Possibly there's a dip in the pool, and then the promised view of the stars in the absence of any major lights at 11,500 feet.
Soon after we return from the horse ride, I'm resting in the
Tipon Backdrop
Overlooking the San Jeromino Valley east of Cuzco. What's up with the pose? lounge chair. A tall Dutch couple reads and snacks, and soon the motel manager beckons us to the wedding, the 'boda.' This is promptly at 3 p.m. The gringo couple is getting married. I chatted with the party briefly when I arrived. The groom's father and mother are present, and the brides mother. While traveling in Peru a marriage proposal and acceptance took place, and the parents were called. The grooms father, in a voice recalling the poet Robert Frost's Yankee accent, performs a civil ceremony. We as the other patrons are asked to join in witness. It is an touching ceremony in an inspiring location the vows include references to two mountains whose strength support the other and two ocean currents, separate yet mixing.
After, I return to the loung chair. The Dutch couple prepares to depart, and I have a chance to look over the grounds of the Hacienda. The main building has six rooms, the reception, and the dining area. The construction is of adobe covered with plaster. The rafters are Eucalyptus lashed with ropes and glue. The roof covering is grass. There are six lodges to the east, behind the horse stables, and a tennis
Tipon Overlook
Tipon Overlook court on the south. The pool water is cool, and when later I decide on a swim, it seems even cooler, as the sun begins to set.
After, there's a dinner, on my own, but for thoughts of my dear spouse, friends, and family. This is a pleasant spot to spend time acclimating to the altitude, away from the noises and fumes of Cuzco. The wedding party dining elsewhere. Mine: vegetable salad, pea soup, wide noodles and grilled chicken seasoned with mainly parsley. Nothing extravagent, but satisfying. The only thing lacking: dessert, only a small cookie. I was hoping for a slice of the chocolate torte the cab driver Abrahim brought with us. I'd have to have some of that back a Los Ninos 1, after I get back from Arequipa and the trip through Colca Canyon to Andague and the Valley of the Volcanoes.
After dinner, I gaze at the stars for a while. The silence is broken by the yaps of dogs in the village and an occasional crowing of a rooster, even at 10 p.m. Upward over in the south, there's the Southern Cross, on its side, and a bright planet, probably Jupiter. This is
Tipon Terraces
The right angles match the terrain. Irrigation channels run along or under each terrace day four in Peru.
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