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The Sleeping Giant and the Wobbly Road to Ollantaytambo

After Machu Picchu, Perusa and Peruso's path leads to Ollantaytambo. There, steep stairs, huge stones, and a giant who is better off sleeping await.

Fact Check Before the Adventure

Ollantaytambo A real Inca site in the Sacred Valley near Cusco.
Pinkuylluna Well-known Inca storehouses are located on the opposite slope.
Tunupa A giant figure on the rock is associated with Tunupa or Wiracochan.
Giant The sleeping giant here is a fantasy story.
Real Complex Terraces, waterways, storehouses, and monumental stone areas.
Peruso Factor Where corn cake appears, the situation is never entirely objective.

After exploring Machu Picchu and the puma deciding it preferred 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 so safe from enemies," Perusa explained. "Besides, once you're up there, you have a good 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 Road Begins

On their way up the steep stairs of Ollantaytambo, they stumbled upon a group of workers processing 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 really smart kid. 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.

Perusa and Peruso on the way to Ollantaytambo

The worker looked around and leaned down to the children.

"There are stories," he whispered. "On the opposite slope, an old 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 note: 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 Awakes... Almost

They had barely sneaked through the narrow alleys of Ollantaytambo when they heard a loud rumble.

The rumble in Ollantaytambo

The ground vibrated as if a giant foot had bumped against the mountain somewhere.

"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, gesticulating wildly and shouting, "The giant! The giant is awakening!"

Perusa and Peruso looked at each other, their eyes as wide as moon discs.

"This is our chance," Perusa exclaimed, running towards the sound.

"Our chance for what?" Peruso asked after her. "To be trampled?"

But Perusa had already turned the next corner. And then they saw it: a huge rock formation on the mountain that looked like a sleeping man.

The wind swept across the slope. Shadows moved. Something crunched.

"He's breathing," Peruso whispered.

"Or it's just the wind," said Perusa, trying to stay calm, though she wasn't entirely sure herself.

"Wind doesn't have a nose," Peruso said.

"Neither will you if you go any closer," Perusa replied.

The sleeping giant on the mountain

In the Giant's Cave

They climbed closer to the sleeping giant. In their story, there was a huge cave there. Small stones lay scattered everywhere, and an old altar stood in the middle of the space.

"Maybe that's the cause," Perusa murmured, pointing to the altar. "Something is waking the giant."

Peruso looked around, his eyes searching for a quick escape route. "Or we wake him up and then run away very fast."

"No," Perusa cried. "We must be smarter. Maybe he's not evil."

Peruso shook his head. "Giants are always hungry. And do you know what they like to eat most? Small children with corn cake in their pockets."

But before they could argue further, a section 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, getting up. "Or the giant decided to keep sleeping. Very sensible."

"Then we should leave before he becomes insensible," 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, always with a flair for the dramatic, stretched up and said in a serious voice, "We didn't just see him. We defeated him."

"Defeated him?" the worker asked.

"Yes," Perusa exclaimed. "With nothing but our courage and a few corn kernels."

The workers laughed, and Peruso grinned broadly.

"And now I'd really like that corn cake you've been talking about all this time."

Perusa after the adventure in Ollantaytambo
Peruso after the adventure in Ollantaytambo

And so Perusa and Peruso sat by the fire that evening, with a huge piece of corn cake in hand, reflecting on their latest adventure.

They had discovered the sleeping giant and almost woken him up. But the next adventure was surely 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 note: 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 place is located in the Sacred Valley and is one of the most important Inca sites near Cusco.
  • Pinkuylluna is opposite. Old storehouse 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, storehouses, and stone masonry tell the real story.

Products from the World of Perusina and Perusino

Those who want to delve further into the world of figures after the adventure will find suitable books, figures, and collector's items at PeruMagazin.

Gods with Superpowers The children's book for the Inca edition with Perusina and Perusino. To the book Perusina Building Block Figure The brave heroine as a figure for shelves, play worlds, and collections. To the figure Perusino Building Block Figure Cheeky, loud, and finally here for corn cake adventures. To the figure Perusina & Perusino The complete collection with figures, books, and adventures. To the collection

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Sources

  1. Ollantaytambo.org: Tunupa / Wiracochan as a rock figure on the Pinkuylluna slope
  2. PeruMagazin: Ollantaytambo Peru, facts on terraces, waterways, storehouses, and visits
  3. MINCETUR, Inventario Turístico, Parque Arqueológico de Ollantaytambo
  4. PeruMagazin: Perusina & Perusino product and collection pages