Heber at 18

This is Heber on Sunday. He does usually smile a lot but likes to look cool so he can use the photos on his Facebook page, so can't be seen to smile too much, he makes me delete from my camera any he does not like, and they were all the ones I thought were best. But what can you do? Boy that age just won't listen now would he? Anyway I like these too. He's grown up so much in past year but still a boy really.

Heber 2012

Yesterday Heber and I met for the first time this time round. He's 18 now and quite grown up. It's hard for me to believe all the years that have flown by since I first met him and his brother in La Policia de la Familia in Cusco, in 2006. I always enjoy seeing him, he's a pleasure to be with and loves to chat and tell me all about his life here in Lima. I was a bit worried for a while back there that he was about to go back to Cusco, but he's decided to stay here.

He's now working and getting trained in electronic/electrical installation work for a big company in Chosica called, I think, Pinturas CPP. He seems to be doing well there and enjoys the work but he's always tired as he starts work every day at 8, which means leaving the house at 6, and he works till 5, so gets home at 7. Six days a week. And not for much money. He will start going to college some time next year, but he will have to go at night.

Still it's better being tired than being on the streets. He tells me that he's known me now for longer than he's really known his father, with whom he is no longer in touch. His mother keeps promising things for him and promising to come to see him. But she never does. He's developed a resistance to these disappointments in his life and knows not to put much faith in empty promises. Luckily for him he is able to live with his aunt, and his uncle is good to him too, and got him the job. He works alongside his uncle and gets his transport to work with him.

So altogether it's been good news from him and I'm really pleased and happy for him, and hope I've played a wee part along the way by supporting him and encouraging him. He seems to think so. He's got himself a girlfriend now and has been with her for some time. He tells me he met her when she used to take his moto taxi to college and he sometimes took her home as well. Which I thought was a romantic wee story. She is studying to go to university, but I forget what she will study. He still says his first boy will be called Donald, though the girlfriend is not yet aware of this. If it's a girl maybe he will call her Donaldina!! or maybe not.. still the thought is nice.

His favourite music right now is Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Queen (Freddy and the boys). He was listening to "I want to break free", when he arrived in Miraflores to see me. He also likes Peruvian music of course. I might put a link to Queen on my fb page just for a laugh.

That's all for now. I will see him again next Sunday, all being well. I know there are a few people who read my blog who also know Heber, so this posting is by way of keeping you all up to date on his life. Those of you who have known him would be proud of him now and those of you who didn't believe in him, well........ what can I say?

I meant to mention, talking about moto taxis, as we were back there, that I had my first ride in one on Friday in Villa Salvador. Along with Flor and Milena, sitting cosily in the back with them, there not being anywhere else of course but the back. It was a short exhilirating ride, shall we say, quite nerve wracking, but we got there. I hope not to have to do it again.

Señor Chan's House

This is the house where Flor meets the kids of Villa El Salvador every Friday. The door on the left is the entrance to the room we use, and where we had the party on Friday night. The blue coloured bit on top of the house , which says INABIF is where Flor meets and talks to the mums while the kids are playing in the room. As you can see it's all a bit basic but at least there's a place for them to go.

Housing & Roads in Villa El Salvador

 

Pictures 1 and 4 are looking to Pacific, which is amost visible, picture 3 is looking to the desert.

News from Peru

I was in a cafe in Miraflores having a quiet coffee and reading Vargas Llosa's book "Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter" when I realised the guy sitting beside me was reading "A Tale of Two Cities" in Spanish, obviously. So we got talking about how good both writers are. He was impressed when I quoted the first sentence of his book to him, but I didn't bother with the bit about it being a far better thing that I do, as he hadn't reach that bit yet so didn't want to spoil his fun. Turns out he is a lawyer, taking a break I assume from the rigours of the law in Lima. He didn't know anything about Neil Morrison unfortunately, but his brother is a colonel in the Peruvian Army. Very strange I thought to myself.

The main news hereabouts right now is the pardon request from ex-president Fujimori who is serving 25 years for human rights abuses and theft from the state of about $15 million. Not a good man, but popular because a lot of folk think he got rid of Shining Path, but really he is a nasty wee fascist. He has a pal called Vlad Montesinos who is also in jail because of various crimes he committed as Fujimori's right hand man. Of course they all say they are innocent. It is said that Vlad has people on the outside doing his business for him and that they have ears everywhere, so won't say anything about him. But it's all there for anyone to read about. Amazingly 60+ percent of Peruvians are in favour of granting a pardon. I don't envy President Humala his decision.

There was a bit of a riot two days ago in a place called La Parada. Big fight with the police, seems like an operation badly planned which went out of control, leaving two people dead and many injured. I worked there for two days last year and wrote about it in my blog. I don't think I will be going back in a hurry.

"I've always imagined him to be hung like a budgie." Rupert Everett on Piers Morgan.

Working boys of Villa El Salvador

Fantastic Party at Villa El Salvador

Our party last night in Villa El Salvador turned out to be a triumph in every way imaginable. Kids loved it. Must have been about forty or more there. They seemed to keep coming. They said it was the best party they have had. People came from around to see what was going on, as we were quite loud.

The childrens' entertainer was superb. She kept all these kids going for two hours or more. They sang their hearts out. Amazing how many songs they know. They seemed to know all the lyrics for just about any song she played. She was accompanied by a DJ and an organist, who both did a great job too. They had come earlier to decorate the place for a Halloween type party and I must say it was looking good. Flor and Milena and myself brought along the drinks and delicacies and all the kids got a little pack to keep them going or take home as they wished.

I had to make a very short speech, in Spanish of course, and I suddenly heard myself asking the kids if I should come back next year, which brought a loud cheer and yes of course I promised to come back. All the kids seemed to know my name, even ones who had not been there the previous Friday, and I waited outside to say goodbye to them all. I don't know if I will be able to go back next Friday as it's quite a journey to get out there, as I have to go to Villa Maria first and then go in a bus with Flor. I don't think I could find my way around there on my own, and in any case Flor would not allow me to.

So got home last night feeling very happy at having made my small contribution to life in Villa El Salvador. And tired.

Meantime life goes on as usual in Villa Maria. Two of our boys, Oscar and Jean Paul, have been chosen to play in a football six a side game against President Humala and two of his ministers and three congressmen. This is happening on 10 November two days after I leave Lima, so I miss my chance of getting to meet the President of Peru. I'm tempted to extend my stay.

All for now. Will post some pics of Villa El Salvador.

Villa El Salvador (2)

So there we were in Villa El Salvador walking along the a dirty dusty track, over the hill and down the other side where we were joined by the two boys. Dust everywhere. Beginning to get dark but had time to take a few pics before dusk came over us. So much dust my clothes and shoes were covered with it.

The houses (shacks) are built on very dodgy ground. It's the start of the desert, so they've built on sand. Obviously not having read the relevant parable, which I'm sure you will all be familiar with, so his Holiness succeeds with his decrees on family planning or the lack therof, but forgets to teach them the parable about house planning.

Of course it's completely illegal to build here as far as the state is concerned but the rules are made to be broken it would seem or in this case have to be broken or where else could they build or live, in the absence of government provision for housing all these people. We are talking here about nearly half a million people, and I can't speak for all the other similar barrios round about Lima.

There is nowhere for the kids in this part of Villa El Salvador to go, so Flor has found a local good citizen who has a place for them. He's Senor Chan, whose father came to Peru from China many years ago and built a restaurant business in Lima, but Senor Chan didn't inherit this business for reasons which need not concern us here, so he's now living in El Salvador with his wife and children. I'm not sure what he does for a living, but he seems to work lots of hours. They have one of the better houses in El Salvador onto which he has built an extension which is like a lean-to attached to the side of his house, which he allows Flor and the kids to use every Friday.

This is about as basic as one can get in terms of accommodation for the kids, but its the best that can be done to get them off the streets. There are about forty kids who use it, though not all come every week, which is just as well really. The room has no furnishings, but Flor has moved the three tables and the chairs I bought for the San Juan centre a few years ago, to use in El Salvador. You can imagine my surprise when I saw these chairs and tables, and my delight that they were being put to such good use. I've never been so pleased with so few tables and chairs in all my life. It made my heart sing. To know that I've done such a small thing and given a little help to these kids is just unbelievably joyful.

And there is one small light in the middle of the room, as Senor Chan is one of the lucky ones with electricity in his house. I was pleased to see him using energy saving bulbs.

There were about 20 kids turned up in the end. Flor gave them a talk on good living and such things. The kids just seemed to enjoy having a place to come. And they all are well dressed, and indeed why should they not be. They want to look their best just like all other kids do.

There were two wee boys there with their mum. It was their first time and they were quite excited and pleased to be there. They are about 8 or 9 years old and work in the rubbish dump to support themselves and their mother. It's a family affair. They told me about their work and knew all the prices. I'll post a picture of them. They seem content with their lot and of course know no other life than working in the rubbish (garbage) dump. Flor will work with the mother over the next few months. When we walk through Villa El Salvador, many of the women come out and talk to Flor. They all seem to know her and want to share their troubles with her. Of which there seem to be many.

So we've decided to have a big party for the kids this Friday and I've given Flor the money to pay for food, drinks, entertainment etc. Flor will decorate the room and the entertainers will bring their own gear to play games and music for dancing I suppose.

So looking forward to my next visit tonight. I never seem to have much time. Don't know where it goes. Seems to be some deep hole where my time and days disappear. Must do better time wise otherwise life will just disappear in a cloud of smoke or something.

"The everydayness of life - of every day." who said that?

Villa El Salvador 2012

Villa El Salvador is another, bigger community on the outskirts of Lima, built on a mountainside by people moving to Lima in search of work and a better life. There are over four hundred thousand people living there, so it's huge, about the size of Edinburgh. It's goes up one side of the mountain from inland and then down the other side until it reaches the coast.

Flor works there on Friday nights with a group of forty kids so she decided it was about time I saw the place for myself. I don't think I've ever seen such poverty. It was a two bus journey from Villa Maria, over roads which don't really deserve the name. And of course the drivers drive flat out as is usual in Lima so that even conversation was difficult and at times impossible, what with all the noise and the bumps, causing us all to bounce up and down as if we were on a trampoline. Sometimes he slowed down for the bigger holes but mostly we hurtled along at breakneck speed, heading for world's end it seemed.

I don't think I've ever seen people living in such poor conditions. These shanty towns, are known as pueblos jóvenes, and I guess are like the favelas of Brazil. The people who live there mostly came from the countryside to escape the poverty there, to end up in these places. I'm trying not to use any derogatory or disrespectful language because the people I met seem to be coping cheerfully if not to say heroically with what life has handed to them. But it's not easy.

The houses are more like shacks, built of wood with corrugated tin roofs, some of the roofs held down by nothing more than a few bricks along the top. Many of them have no electricity or water. Though it is true that more and more are getting electricity and water provided by the state. But mostly the state seems to be non existent as far as El Salvador is concerned. But I'm sure nevertheless that someone is trying to help change things, but it will take huge investment and commitment, which seems lacking, even though Humala promised so much. Mind you he has only been there briefly and it sure ain't got to be like this in a couple of years.

Once we got off our second bus we had to walk over the top of the hill and some way down the other side. There was no road as such, just a dirt track and even the bus drivers of Lima wouldn't be able to take there buses down here. There are rows of houses along both sides, shacks of wood and tin, with no light. Later it was dusk and quite depressing to see these places with no light. It's no wonder they have so many kids, as there can't be much else to do once it gets dark, and the pope won't let them use condoms. So lets blame him for it all.

There are no provisions for the kids, not even a place where they can meet, in this part of El Salvador. Even Flor's work can't provide facilities. It's quite depressing really so how they keep on smiling and surviving is nothing short of a miracle. As we walk along we meet lots of folk who know Flor and want to talk to her. These are the parents of the kids she works with. She seems well known. She is nothing short of a star. A truly amazing woman and who will ever recognise her work. I hope she can keep going for years to come, but she's been having fairly serious health problems,  which are not resolved so far, after a year. Please keep going Flor. For all these kids sake and their families we need you.

You think you've seen it all but then you meet a couple of boys who take you to see the rubbish dump where so many of the kids work to help their families survive. They call themselves recyclers, which I suppose is what they are, as they collect, mostly plastic bottles, for recycling. Even the youngest ones can tell you the prices for all the stuff they collect and know what brings the best prices.

The boys took me down to show me the dump. Their football pitch is beside it. The dump is illegal of course and people from other parts of Lima bring their rubbish here to get rid of it. I assume this is because there is no rubbish collection in their own barrios and El Salvador is at the edge of the desert.

I've just realised this post is getting out of control, so will close it here and write some more later about the kids and where they meet Flor. etc

British Cemetery in Callao, Peru

 

Neil Morrison's burial spot

He is buried in empty spot at centre of photo.

Cementerio Británico

I went in search of Neil Morrison's grave on Monday, having managed to establish by phone that he was buried in Cementerio Británico, which is in Callao, and is also called Cementerio Bellavista. I managed to persuade Francisco to take me for a smallish fee. He drives an old jalopy of a van which is converted for use as a taxi and has been patched and repaired numerous times. It reminds me of the van I used to drive for Kenny B, that summer when Jimmy B's boy wrecked my elbow and almost took my life away. No time to go into details right now.

Francisco likes to drive fast and has no time for stragglers or dilly dalliers. However he was in a more serene frame of mind on Monday and the morning passed with no arguments with other road users. Unlike two weeks back when he picked me up at the airport and had a ding dong argument with another driver, who was probably marginally in the wrong, but whose misdemeanours hardly warranted shouting at him through the window at the next lights, and giving him a mouthful, including advice as to the need to learn how to drive. He then apologised to me for losing it. What could I say, except to agree that the other guy was an idiot.

Callao is the port of Lima, founded by the Spanish in 1537, soon to become the most important port of it's time on the west coast of Latin America. Still is I guess. I'm sure Neil Morrison would have visited Callao on his many voyages, and would have known it well before he eventually moved to Lima in 1879. I reckon many Scottish sailors would have been familiar with Callao, including many from Isle of Lewis. Donald J has sent me a rather lewd song which the sailors sang as they left Callao. All about the professional ladies having taken all their money for services provided. It's not what one would call politically correct so will refrain from quoting it here.

When we got to Callao we were a bit lost, as there are two sites for the British Cemetery, and we were looking for the original one, where burials stopped in 1955, due to lack of space. Francisco shouted at a passing police vehicle asking for directions, so we were driving along side by side with this cop car, who was shouting out directions for us. They then drove off ahead of us, but must have taken pity on us, as they slowed down until we were again side by side, and told us to follow them.

So we had a police escort for the final bit of our journey. Not quite with guns loaded but you get the picture I'm sure. Not the sort of thing that would happen in Edinburgh. As we got near the place the police car stopped and one of them got out to speak to us to make sure we knew where to go. Amazing. Obviously not a lot of crime in Callao to be discovered. Or maybe they are all like that in Callao.

Neil Morrison is buried at plot no 2-K-46 in Cementerio Bellavista. There were a couple of grave diggers busy at work as we arrived, and they downed spades to help us find the grave. We were joined by security with his radio phone, which he used to confirm the information I already had. We found the grave, quite easily in fact. Unfortunately there is no gravestone.

So there I was standing on Neil's grave and I have to admit I felt quite moved and sad thinking of my fellow Lewisman buried there. He seems to have died without a family, at least none that I've been able to find out about and the cemetery office folk don't know who arranged the burial,except that he/she was called J. Martin. Seemingly forgotten by one and all, except for Donald J Macleod back in Aberdeen. Including it seems the whole of Peru, for whom he almost sacrificed his life.

I'm still hopeful of getting some information from Peruvian Army records. Francisco has a pal who was in the army and he is currently trying to help find his army record. I've also written to El Comercio, Peru's biggest newspaper and I've just had a reply from them inviting me to come in to search their old copies. Maybe they printed an obituary for him. So will need to call them.

There are a large number of Scotsmen and women buried in the cemetery at Bellavista, and folk from all over UK and Europe. Many with great big gravestones. Quite astonishing that I made my way there. I've not been to Callao before so was good to see the place. I might go back. Everyone here says how dangerous the place is, and tell me not to go. But they said the same about Villa Maria del Triunfo, and look what I would have missed had I listened to the warnings. But must close this post now. I'm hungry. I see Scotland went down to defeat yet again. As did Peru to Paraguay. Like I said Brazil is not for the likes of us. Levein must go. But please no Strachan!!!

Neil Morrison in the Peruvian Army

This is the story of Neil Morrison, born on the Isle of Lewis in 1850, in Newton near Stornoway, the island capital and famous port. He lived there with his parents and used to watch the ships come sailing in and out of Stornoway harbour, which in those days was a much busier port than it is today.

Neil was an adventurous young man and at the the age of sixteen years he ran away from home and joined a Dutch ship which had called into Stornoway harbour. He spent two years sailing around the world, only returning to Stornoway for two weeks at the age of eighteen, before setting off again on his travels.

He eventually made his way to the USA, where he worked for some years and trained to be a mining engineer. He must have become restless again and he would doubtless have known about employment opportunities in South America from his previous travels and he would certainly have known the port of Callao in Peru, now part of Lima.

So off he went arriving in Peru in 1879 at the time of The War of the Pacific, (1879-1894), between Peru and Chile. Also involving Bolivia of course whom Peru went to defend against the Chileans. I don't have time here to explain the background to this war but it had long lasting consequences and changed the geography of all the countries involved fairly dramatically. It's still remembered with some degree of sadness if not bitterness hereabouts.

Neil decided that there was nothing for it but to join the Peruvian Army. He rose to the rank of colonel and fought at the Battle of Miraflores, which was a decisive battle in the war, where Peru lost 3000 men and after which Chile occupied Lima and most of Peru it seems, though not Cusco. Neil was injured in the battle and bleeding for a long time.

He survived his injuries and because of his bravery the Peruvian government offered him a pension, which was said to be substantial at the time. But with one condition. He would have to give up his Scottish nationality and become a Peruvian citizen. Needless to say your man rejected the offer telling then that he was born a Scotsman and would die a Scotsman. So no pension was paid.

He continued to work in various places in South America in the mining sector including working in a Chilean mining camp which was hit by a large earthquake and sunami which wiped out the whole camp and mine. He continued to wander around South America and is said to have been the first white man to have walked the length of the Amazon basin from Peru to the Atlantic.

He eventually settled once again in Lima where he died in 1942 at t he age of 92 years. He is buried in a cemetery in Lima but which one is another matter altogether.

I've only recently discovered about Neil Morrison. I was told his story by Donald J Macleod , a Lewis historian now living in Aberdeen. He has asked me to see if I can find his grave and any other information about him that I can find. A tall order but I shall do my best. In fact I may already have found his grave. But more later.

Farewell Cusco

It's Monday morning and I'm waiting for my taxi to take me to Cusco airport for my 11am flight to Lima. I've been here four weeks but it seems more like four days. So many things I meant to do but never quite got round to them. Including the trip to MP I'd promised myself and a visit to Elim. Sorry about that Jeremy but maybe next year.

Still I managed to fit quite a lot in and met lots of new people and renewed some old acquaintances.

So it's off to sunny Lima now, or partially sunny Lima. I'm taking a week off and will start at Villa Maria next week all being well.

That's all for now, have the excitement of that flight out of Cusco ahead of me, right over the Andes, and down to the Pacific coast of Peru. What more could one ask for on a Monday morning.

Thank you to all my friends in Cusco and all the good folk at Maximo Nivel for making my trip another special one. Thank you all.

Cajamarca

Cajamarca is a city and a region in north west Peru and is currently featuring in the news on a daily basis, because of the protests and demonstrations going on up there against proposals for opening a new gold mine in the region. The indigenous population are totally opposed to the development and when I read about it and was told the details I was not at all surprised, in fact I would be astonished if it were not a cause for protests and demonstrations, which unfortunately due to state violence have lead to a number of deaths.

The mining company involved is the Denver USA based Newmont Mining Corp, who have been gold mining in the area for a long time. Their mine in Yanacocha, Cajamarca is said to be the biggest in Latin America and the second largest in the world, covering an area of 535 square miles. It provides Newmont with the bulk of it's profits every year, which are not insignificant.  Of course there is a Peruvian front company called Minera Yanacocha but the profits don't stay in Peru, needless to say.

They now wish to expand operations and start a new open cast gold mine, but in order to do this they propose to drain four lakes that are vital to the survival of the indigenous people. They will replace the lakes with artificial reservoirs which they will build. In return they offer 1000 jobs. It's hard to imagine anything more environmentally criminal, never mind socially criminal. Just incredible.

Needless to say the government is on the side of big business, using the jobs argument, but ignoring the huge profits extracted by Newmont from the people of Peru. They offer a thousand jobs at slave wage rates, thereby increasing their profits tenfold or more and putting nothing back into the country they rob. You don't need to be a Marxist economist to understand whats going on here. Naked exploitation.

Guess what side the Roman Catholic church is on? It's not on the side of the poor, that's for sure. The cardinal hereabouts belongs, so I'm told to Opus Dei, the fascist wing of the church, which wields a lot of power. So we can't really expect them to stand up for the poor and defend them against big business, now can we?

The processes used by Newmont to extract the gold, which involve the use of copious amounts of cyanide, are illegal practices in the USA, Europe, Argentina and many other places. The contamination over the past 20 years is huge, but will be as nothing compared to what will happen if they get the go ahead to drain these lakes.

So the basic idea is that the Cajamarcans will lose their drinking water, their water sources for cultivating their land and have it replaced with contaminated artificial water from Newmont's reservoirs, so that the profits of a foreign owned private company are hugely increased.

Of course Keiko Fujimori wants the indigenous people out of the way in an even more extreme way than does the government. The newish president, Humala, won his election last year partly due to the support he got from the indigenous people, and now he turns his back on them.

So all in all a very sad state of affairs. Not unusual in Latin America, over the course of its history since the Spaniards arrived. I will be supporting the people of Cajamarca, not that it will do them a huge amount of good, but at least a few more people will know of their struggle having read this posting. There is much more I could have said about pollution levels and corruption, but enough for now.

Quipus

Life continues much as before in La Policia de la Familia. The boy with no name is still there. He seems content enough with his lot.

Today there were four boys there and one seventeen year old girl with her eighteen month old child. She had run away from the home for adolescent mothers she was living in. Says she doesn't like it there and wants to go back to her parents' house. However they live in Arequipa which is a long way from here and I'm not even sure they know where she is right now.

She has a beautiful daughter and looks after her more or less competently, though I did have to ask her not to leave the kid alone at an open window, which has bars to keep us all in place, but kid could easily have fallen in between bars and window. But you can't really blame the girl. The place is not fit for any children never mind a child that age. One can't blame the police either as they are stuck with the situation, so let's hope the courts sort something out quickly.

One of the boys, Roel, is thirteen years old but looks the size of an eight year old. He tells me that his mother could no longer cope looking after him as she has eight other younger kids at home, so he's had to leave . He says she sent him off in a car with a complete stranger. They live out in the countryside, many miles from Cusco. Whether to believe this story is another matter of course, but it will have some elements of truth. He seemed relieved to be in La Policia.

Then there was Marco who was waiting for his mum to come for him, and had been waiting anxiously all morning. By midday there was no sign of her and this twelve year old boy was very very upset and in floods of tears. Tried to comfort him as best I could but what do you say to a boy who thinks his mum is not going to come for him? It's not easy I tell you. I tried to suggest that maybe she was not well and unable to make the trip , but he was not for accepting that. I gave him a hug and told him I would be back for sure to see him tomorrow morning. But I'm no substitute.

And there's Jose who speaks Quechua and was trying to teach me some, at my suggestion of course. All these kids are bright and intelligent, well most of them anyway, let's not exaggerate, and once they get going they are happy to draw and write for me, and read out loud from the lovely book of poetry I bought to use with them. I doubt they get much chance to read poems otherwise, and it's all poems about various aspects of Peruvian life and history so it's like a wee lesson for them, and they don't even realise it. So all good there.

The poems are in alphabetical order so I ask them to choose a letter and then they read that poem. Today Jose got to read a poem called Quipus, which is all about the Inca counting and recording system, which is like an abacus but different if you know what I mean. The Incas had no written language of course which is why their history is lost to us to a large extent. Jose had never heard of it, despite his knowledge of Quechua, so I was quite quietly pleased with that. For sure he learnt something new today. As well as the poems the book is beautifully illustrated so he was able to see what Quipus look like.

Better get off to bed now if I'm to be there for Marco in the morning.

The Living Mountain

I was told this story by Vivi as we were making our way to a womens' project where Maximo Nivel is doing some work, supporting the project now that it's ONG funding is coming to an end. She was sitting in the front of the taxi as she was recounting it and  it wasn't easy to follow her Spanish but I got the general drift of it and I thought it was a such a great story I asked her to write it for me which she very kindly did. Any mistakes are down to my misreading.

It's an INCA legend and as she was telling me the story I thought of my friend John LLewelyn in Edinburgh and all the things he has taught me, and of Nan Shepherd, Scottish writer who wrote a book called "The Living Mountain", about her passion for the Cairngorm Mountains in Scotland. It also brought to mind Robert Macfarlane and a story he tells in his book "The Wild Places" about a Glasgow man called W.H. Murray, which I will tell you about soon.

Anyway to get back to the legend. It tells the story of two mountains near Cusco, one called El Apu Wanakauri (Huanacaure in Spanish) and the other called El Apu Pillqu Orqo (Picol). The Incas venerated the mountains, the earth, the water, and many celestial objects, considering them to be living, sentient beings. Hence Apu is a Quechua word meaning a god, or sacred, divine being.

The two mountains were in love with the same female being (ser femenino) and proceeded to have an argument over her, which then lead to a fight. Apu Wanakauri had a big sling, similar I imagine to the one used by David to smote Goliath, except on a bigger scale, obviously, which he used to throw a huge rock at his opponent Apu Pillqu.

This rock left a huge crevice or hole in that sacred mountain, which can be seen to this day. However and lamentably for both these sacred mountains neither of them was able to win the love of the ser femenino.

Taita Inty, the Inca Sun God, got wind of what was going on between them and, would you believe it, blamed the ser femenino for causing the fight and as punishment turned her into a pillar of stone and so she remains to this day. I'm going out to try to find her, as the legend has it that she is outside the city. Maybe one of you knows her whereabouts? If so let me know please.

I like this story, and apologies to any of my Peruvian friends if I've got it wrong or misunderstood Vivi's recounting of the legend. Vivi did include the legend of the Ayar brothers in her account which is connected to this one, and is important in Inca history, which is also mixed up with Inca myths. Maybe I will tell you the story of the Ayar brothers another time.

I can hardly believe it's the first day of October today. It's just gone 9 am so better head off to La Comisaria to see what awaits, or who awaits.