The 90's was when I most visited the sacred mountain. I went up with the hope of meeting Daniel Ruzo, Rosario Olivas Weston or his sister Marcela, who I did actually meet. I never imagined I would find the Peruvian head of state.
San Pedro de Casta was ready to celebrate another anniversary, and the preparations for dancing, eating and drinking were well received by the happy people who arrived, and by the tourists also. Very few backpackers went up to the plateau and we were amongst the few. We camped in the Hut (of Ruzo) alone; when I say alone obviously we always had the company of the Monument to Humanity with us.
The day after (28th of June) I got up very early to take in some of the views near the Hut and, when the photographic search was over, we started to prepare a delicious breakfast-lunch, and then we went to rest alongside "the Chinese", "the Llama" and "the Soldier" (petrified sculptures) ...
The morning was warm, clean and quiet. The astral god slowly warmed the rocks, the peace was infinite ... when suddenly we heard a noise that was growing, encircling the plateau. A rowdy noise that seemed to be nearing, and then leaving, or that is how it felt from the position where we found ourselves. The peace that Marcahuasi freely gifts us was broken.
"There!, there it is! It's a helicopter!" we shouted in unison, while it overflew the Hut and returned to the south of the plateau, repeating this several times. They gave us time to arm our cameras, and to ask "Who is it?"
The aircraft made many passes over the plateau, a new way to visit and to arrive at Marcahuasi, and to view it from the sky was a real privilege for whoever was aboard. I've seen the aerial photos of the plateau, published by Daniel Ruzo, but there are no photos of sculptures taken from above.
At one point I thought it may be some military mission, that possibly the terrorists had been in Marcahuasi. I believed also that it maybe was an informative exercise due to the parties of San Pedro de Casta. The thing I never expected was that this craft had aboard the Peruvian President!
After bathing Marcahuasi in that presidential noise, the helicopter was quietening, and started to descend and, to my amazement, was welcomed by "The Monkey", "The Monument to Humanity", "The Tortoise", and "The African Lion" ...
It is 10:30am and I left the place I was at, running to the Hut, and grabbed the recorder. These were instants that my periodistic sense of smell activated. I wanted to know who really had landed there.
I went down, just like someone returning to San Pedro de Casta, and the went up the path behind the tortoise, agitated. I don't know if I walked or ran, but to my amazement she stepped out of the shadows. In front of me was Sachi; of course I knew who she was. With this agitation typical of the altitude, I asked "do you think your father would give me an interview?". She looked at me for an instant, and said "of course, go ahead". The distance between her and the others was almost nothing, but was enough to organise my questions, and in that fight I was in front of 2 adults, 2 children and a spoilt dog.
"One goes sometimes to Marcahuasi, with wind behind you,
you meet good friends, beautiful sculptures ...
But on this occasion I met the Peruvian president.
A blessing from the mountain gods"
A welcome broke the protocols, and a forced presentation that Marcahuasi's silence only knows. Now relaxed, sat on the rocks, looking towards the Monument to Humanity, the cyclops that is most discussed in Marcahuasi. The president asked me point blank "to what medium do you belong". "To none. I'm writing about this place, because I find it very interesting" I replied.
The president, perhaps tired of questions and answers in the capital came here for refuge, without thinking that at 4000 metres of altitude I was waiting for him! I don't know if this meeting was work of the mountain gods, or a prize for my continual returns here. Whatever it was for, I was now interviewing the Peruvian president, Mr Alberto Kenji Fujimori Fujimori, at the sacred mountain on the eve of the San Pedro de Casta anniversary.
The complete interview with Alberto Fujimori will be published in my book.
Read the original post (in Spanish)
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Photos : John Ysrael Guevara