Puno feria

Puno feria – 

one man pedals a family

with his two strong legs

While we wait for Amaru to shop for food for our picnic at Lake Titicaca, I watch the parade of mototaxis and triciclos transporting people and goods to and from the feria. The passenger triciclos are cleverly designed with two seats in the front and room for purchases between the seats and the man pedaling from behind. Some of them have little awnings for shade and fancy mud flaps. Back at home I have a recumbent trike and it's all I can do to pedal myself, let alone three passengers with their big produce bags and five-gallon jugs. I would love to see this type of zero emission transportation become popular in every town in the world.

red k'eperina

red k'eperina

on blue clothesline with brown hen

and blue triciclo

A typical adobe house along the road between Urubamba and Ollantaytambo in the Cusco region. The colorful striped k'eperina is worn around the shoulders and used for carrying all kinds of goods. The triciclo, with its little flatbed over the rear wheels, is also used for carrying all kinds of goods, like this blue bucket. The little brown hen, resting in the shade, is used for laying eggs. I like the way the door with its faded blue and red paint picks up the color theme, and even the clothesline matches the blue of the triciclo and bucket.

mouth of a serpent

mouth of a serpent

spouting water from a stream

zigzaging uphill

Lost in the maze of the Pisac feria, I turn a corner into an open passage, relieved that I have found my way out of the labyrinth, and nearly stumble into the mouth of a serpent at my feet. The realistic stone head is spouting water into a little pool lined with round stones. A water channel set into diamond paving stones and edged with triangular mosaics of small round pebbles comprises its body. The channel runs zigzag down a very long, narrow street. A triciclo is parked not too far away, between the channel and the adobe wall, and a woman in traditional costume, with a striped k'eperina over one shoulder, is walking toward me up the hill. I stand and stare at the serpent for a long time. There is a mystery here which I cannot grasp. My eyes tell me that the water is spouting up from the serpent's mouth but the street into with the water channel is sloping down. It is like a painting by M.C. Escher. My confused mind scrambles for a logical explanation of this apparent contradiction. There must be a pump under the serpent's head that forces water up from a well or cistern, and the channel is merely for draining rainwater down the hill, as I have seen on many other sloped streets. But the mind-boggling impression remains. Perhaps this is its purpose, to take the mind beyond, into the realm of Amaru, the Cosmic Serpent.

whether unmoving

whether unmoving

or moving, the triciclo

bears its heavy load

These ingenious "green" vehicles are found everywhere in Peru, used for transporting both goods and people. This tirciclo in Pisac, piled high and parked half on the cobblestone street and half on the flagstone sidewalk, seems to be waiting for someone to come out from that open door.