on a rain drenched hill

on a rain drenched hill

the bus gets mired in mud

among curious cows

On our way to the temple of the moon, the bus turns off the highway at a little Juntos pueblo with its one wide stone paved street. Beyond the pueblo the road turns into a dirt track winding through pastures as it climbs the steep hill. It's been raining and threatening to rain some more. The bus goes slower and slower the higher we climb. We start to pass a herd of cows when suddenly the bus slides off the road onto the grass, tilts to the right and stops, with the front wheel sinking into mud. The driver tries to back up but the wheels just spin, digging in deeper. We all pile out of the bus to lighten the load, but it's no use, the bus is really stuck. Animated discussion between the driver and Amaru. Finally, Amaru motions us to trek on up the mountain where we come to the secluded site of the temple of the moon with its lovely waterfall. After a ceremony and meditation, it starts to rain again and we reluctantly leave this special spot to walk back down to the bus. A couple of indigenas have brought a wheelbarrow full of stones in an attempt to fill in the deep ruts dug by the tires, but to no avail. Amaru pulls out his mobile phone to arrange for another bus to pick us up at the highway. Silently I say thanks to Claro, the mobile phone company, for providing service to this remote area. We hike back down the hill in the rain to the pueblo to wait for our bus. I am completely soaked from my immersion in the waterfall and from the rain, but after my experience at the temple of the moon, the whole adventure with the bus just seems like an amusing episode in a film.