“Every year all the people come, we never miss”, Doña María, the most fond of Caminos del Inca

The footprint of each vehicle, more than on the route, that impregnated in the heart of the towns through which it passes Inca roads. This is how we were able to experience it on the route of the race through Huancavelica, in the second stage between Huancayo and Ayacucho.

Señora María kindly received us at her grandstand, the corner of a hill where the cars took a curve on the way up in the district of Pampas. Hundreds of settlers were placed on the banks of the road and on that curve, it was the privileged place of Maria and her acquaintances of her.

“Every year all the people come to see if Caminos del Inca passes. We never fail”, says María, who comes from the town of Parcopata, an hour’s walk away “at a snail’s pace”, as she herself says.

It is that this is the love they have for Caminos del Inca. In 2019 the race did not go through this route, so they had to walk more than two hours to reach the tracks where the cars passed.

They know who Luis Alayza is, they know that in 2004 he ran together with his father. They know about ‘Mono’ Orlandini and his orange car. They call the joyners ‘spiders’ and rate each step of the cars, if they go faster or slower than others.

“That’s how we live, we work on the farm,” says María, who speaks to us in Quechua and immediately translates into Spanish between laughs, knowing that we don’t understand the first part.

It is the festival of Caminos del Inca, the people of each town are the heart that keeps this test alive, which this year celebrates its 50th edition. They, each one of the fans, deserve it.

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