The Inkita side of Cusco

I'd managed to briefly meet up with my Dutch pal Henri before he headed onwards and he recommended I go and stay with the Ramos family at their newly opening guesthouse on the edge of Cusco.

With Independence Day looming it sounded like it could be a more interesting place to stay and I wasn't disappointed. I ended up there for the next 10 days.

The new guesthouse was still undergoing its final preparations and Melly and Nino (2 of the 3 grown up Ramos family children) were busy trying to get things finished. The welcome into the family was immediate and I arrived at the same time as Andy, a friend of theirs from England. The first night I was there we all went out for what turned out to be a banging techno night, the second night (Independence day) we headed into the city centre for another fun night, but without such good tunes.

Morning view from the guesthouse

I managed a few more days paragliding, but conditions weren't great, and stayed on at the guesthouse for the "official" opening to coincide with Pachamama's day on Sat 1 Aug. To celebrate, a ceremony was performed and an offering made to Pachamama: a parcel of different foods, herbs and spices, each given with a heartfelt message from anyone who wanted to make an offering, blessed, sealed and eventually given into the fire for Pachamama to receive. It was a beautiful, sincere ceremony and the spiritual energy from everyone present was palpable.

And then the techno bus opened its roof and the real party started. It was a fun night. Definitely got my techno fix in Cusco.

I went on a 3 day mini break to Machu Pichu after that. I was back on Wednesday night and was straight back in the action on Thursday with some downhill mountain biking. Myself, Andy, Nino and 2 of his downhiller friends headed out to the hills around Cusco. We got treated to the best local routes, warming up on a few fun but fairly full on tracks before we crossed the valley and headed all the way up to 4200m for a long descent back down. That proved to be a gnarly ride! Big steep drops across long technical rocky sections, in dry dusty conditions with little grip: it was not easy. I was pretty happy with how I got on though. By far the most technical and committing riding I've ever done but I was reveling in the laid back ride of a proper freeride bike with a massive front fork. Just sit back and go with it!

It was a pretty hard day but after a little rest and a light dinner we were ready for the days main event: a San Pedro ceremony (San Pedro being the cacti with hallucinogenic properties).

Nowhere near as strong as Ayahuasca, San Pedro is a very spiritual and loving plant with a strong connection to the natural environment it comes from. Our Shaman, David, a big friendly bear of a man, conducted a relaxed and calming ceremony in the garden, and then we took a walk up to the mountain behind the house, with an assortment of instruments in hand and a few snacks for the journey.

"This seed will keep you safe"

It was a fantastic night. San Pedro gives you an enormous feeling of wellbeing and a true connection to the nature around you. To experience it under the guardianship of Apu Pillku Urqu, on the beautiful mountainside, amongst the trees, stars, a crescent moon, the spirits around us and with great companions, was a wonderful and deeply moving experience.

With one hand to the sky and one to Pachamama below, we spun.... We slowly meandered up the mountain... We banged the bongos... I developed a strong and rewarding connection with a shaker of sorts...

This "shaker" led me around most of the night and unerringly found us wood when we settled down to make a fire (the fact we actually managed to start and sustain a fire, from very humble beginnings, was an impressive feat).

There's magic in those.... mussels?

On our way up the mountain we were also joined by 3 friendly dogs who took care of us for the night.

We were up on the mountain for about 8 hours but even when we eventually found our way back to the house, in the bright artificial light I realised I was still well under the spell of the San Pedro, and sleep definitely wasn't on the cards for a few more hours. So I lay in the garden and enjoyed the beauty of the changing light as the night turned to day and the moon was eventually outshone by the sun.

It was a magical way to sign off my stay at the guesthouse and perfect to be able to share it with Andy, Meli, Nino and Gabi.

Heading to Cusco? Get yourself to Inkita Guesthouse!