Mud

The Incas had a very special relationship with the earth – two of the levels of their three-dimensional universe are linked to it and it was this soil that they cultivated so successfully which allowed the population to eat to its fill and flourish.

The soil here is fertile – the people are poor but they are not emaciated.

Their animals: llamas, small black pigs, big pink hairy ones, goats and even the dogs look healthy (but muddy!) The red earth is something which I saw and photographed, unaware of its significance, from the aeroplane between Lima and Cusco. Upon arrival I saw it everywhere in the streets – in piles.

When you drive out of the town, along the Rio Urubamba, which runs through the sacred valley, it is everywhere. Red adobe houses grow out of the mud. People and animals live in it. Even the gorged river is itself red. At first I wondered if it was due to the floods of February but apparently not. Mud gives life and is a part of life here.