Ollantayraymi, 29th of June

I couldn't have picked a better last day in Ollanta. It's sunny again and the town is full of color. Even sitting in our room at the volunteer house for a rest, I can hear the drums and flutes in the Plaza de Armas. Everyone is dressed in traditional Inca clothing and costumes. I tried to capture some of the color but as always, these photos don't really do it any justice.

On this day each year with the help of the students at the colegio, they put on a production of the Inca drama "Ollantay" at the ruins, which tells a love story. For some reason I thought this was a reenactment of the defeat of the Spaniards by the Incas here in Ollantaytambo, but in fact it is far less gory than that. The pride that everyone felt was almost tangible, to the point that one of the volunteers (Marjo) even said, "I love Ollanta". I had goosebumps.

The drama tells the story of the forbidden love between General Ollanta and princess Cusi Coyllor who was the daughter of Pachacutec. It was a bit hard for us to follow because it is told entirely in Quechua. In the end the general gets the girl but not without his fair share of battle, imprisonment and heartache.

The entire story is told by local people, including Awamaki's own Miguel, who was pretty much the star of the show. He was the comic role and received the most applause. Apparently this is his 7th year in a row playing this part. He really did a great job and we could tell how much fun he was having.

I think we were most impressed by the students from the colegio in their colorful costumes, lining the terraces of the ruins. It was really impressive. The colors were just beautiful. Students from way up in Patacancha also participated, dressed in their colorful traditional clothing (have I mentioned how colorful everything is?). They received the loudest applause. I couldn't help thinking how neat it was that they are all direct descendants of the Incas.