The Sleeping Giant and the Wobbly Path to Ollantaytambo
After Machu Picchu, Perusa and Peruso's journey leads them to Ollantaytambo. There, steep stairs, enormous stones, and a giant who'd better keep sleeping await.
Fact Check Before the Adventure
After exploring Machu Picchu and the puma deciding to hunt elsewhere, Perusa and Peruso set off for their next adventure.
This time, the path led to Ollantaytambo. A place with terraces, ancient walls, narrow alleys, and slopes that immediately made Peruso wonder why Inca sites weren't simply built next to a cornfield on a flat meadow.
"Then it wouldn't be as safe from enemies," Perusa explained. "Besides, once you're at the top, you have a great view."
"A view is good," Peruso mumbled. "But I'd rather have corn cake."
You can find more about the real place on the page Ollantaytambo Peru.
The Wobbly Path Begins
On their way up the steep stairs of Ollantaytambo, they stumbled upon a group of workers carving boulders.
Peruso, always looking for a shortcut, asked one of the workers: "Why are you doing this? You could just use smaller stones."
The worker scratched his head and laughed. "You're a clever boy. But the construction has to be strong. Terraces, walls, and paths don't hold up on their own."
"And where do you hide the corn cake?" Peruso asked.
The worker looked around and leaned down to the children.
"There are stories," he whispered. "On the opposite slope, an ancient figure watches over Ollantaytambo. Some call her Tunupa or Wiracochan. And some children, of course, immediately claim it's a sleeping giant."
Peruso's eyes lit up. "That sounds like the best adventure ever."
Fact Check: Around Ollantaytambo, a rock figure on the Pinkuylluna slope is associated with Tunupa or Wiracochan. The sleeping giant in this story is a playful Perusa and Peruso version of this landscape motif.
The Sleeping Giant Awakens... Almost
They had barely sneaked through the narrow alleys of Ollantaytambo when they heard a loud rumble.
The ground vibrated as if a giant foot had hit something against the mountain.
"What was that?" Perusa asked, stopping. "Was that the giant?"
Peruso shrugged. "Or maybe Wolli, finally stomping up the mountain after all those corn leaves."
Then an old man came running, wildly gesturing and shouting: "The giant! The giant is waking up!"
Perusa and Peruso looked at each other, their eyes as wide as full moons.
"This is our chance," Perusa cried, running towards the sound.
"Our chance for what?" Peruso asked, following. "To get trampled?"
But Perusa had already rounded the next corner. And then they saw it: a massive rock formation on the mountain that looked like a sleeping man.
The wind swept over the slope. Shadows moved. Something creaked.
"He's breathing," Peruso whispered.
"Or it's just the wind," Perusa said, trying to stay calm, although she wasn't entirely sure herself.
"Wind doesn't have a nose," Peruso said.
"Neither will you if you go any closer," Perusa replied.
In the Giant's Cave
They climbed closer to the sleeping giant. In their story, there was a huge cave there. Small stones were scattered everywhere, and an old altar stood in the middle of the room.
"Maybe that's the cause," Perusa murmured, pointing at the altar. "Something is waking the giant."
Peruso looked around, his eyes searching for a quick escape. "Or we wake him up and then run away very fast."
"No," Perusa cried. "We have to be smarter. Maybe he's not evil."
Peruso shook his head. "Giants are always hungry. And do you know what they like to eat best? Little children with corn cake in their pockets."
But before they could argue further, a part of the cave wall suddenly collapsed, and the rock figure seemed to move more strongly.
The loud rumble filled the air, and small stones trickled down from above. Perusa and Peruso threw themselves to the ground.
And at that moment, everything stopped.
Silence.
The rock figure was still. The ground no longer trembled. And the giant? He continued to sleep soundly.
"Huh?" Peruso asked, looking around confused. "Was that all?"
"Maybe it was just a tremor," Perusa said, standing up. "Or the giant decided to keep sleeping. Very sensible."
"Then we should leave before he becomes unreasonable," Peruso said.
The Escape and the Best Corn Cake in the World
The two ran back to the village as fast as they could, where the workers greeted them.
The workers hadn't noticed the whole drama.
"So?" one of them asked. "Did you see the sleeping giant?"
Peruso, who always had a flair for the dramatic, stretched himself tall and said in a serious voice: "We didn't just see him. We defeated him."
"Defeated?" the worker asked.
"Yes," Perusa cried. "With nothing but our courage and a few kernels of corn."
The workers laughed, and Peruso grinned broadly.
"And now I really want that corn cake you've been talking about all this time."
And so Perusa and Peruso sat by the fire in the evening, with a huge piece of corn cake in hand, reflecting on their latest adventure.
They had discovered the sleeping giant and almost awakened him. But the next adventure was certainly already waiting in the mountains or in the deep valleys of the Inca Empire.
"I bet the next adventure also has llamas," Peruso said with a full mouth.
"Hopefully not ones that run faster," Perusa laughed.
Perusa and Peruso remember: Some mountains look like they're sleeping. Some stories pretend they're about to wake up. And corn cake helps in both cases.
(c) by PeruMagazin
Remember This
- Ollantaytambo is real. The site is located in the Sacred Valley and is one of the most important Inca sites near Cusco.
- Pinkuylluna is opposite. Old storage buildings are located on the slope there.
- Tunupa or Wiracochan is a landscape motif. A rock figure on the slope is associated with it.
- The sleeping giant is fantasy. Perusa and Peruso turn a real place into an adventure story.
- The real treasures are architecture and landscape. Terraces, waterways, granaries, and stone craftsmanship tell the real story.
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- Ollantaytambo.org: Tunupa / Wiracochan as a rock figure on the Pinkuylluna slope
- PeruMagazin: Ollantaytambo Peru, facts about terraces, waterways, granaries, and visits
- MINCETUR, Inventario Turístico, Parque Arqueológico de Ollantaytambo
- PeruMagazin: Perusina & Perusino product and collection pages