Yesterday was the ultimate day for Carnival in Pisac. The whole town goes up to the terrace ruins and has a giant party while watching groups of traditional dancers from the entire Sacred Valley vie for the title of first place. The caretaker of our house, a local Peruvian, said that for sure, yesterday would be a free day. This sounds familiar . . . I’ve heard this story before . . . just last week . . . and was told by the guards that it wasn’t true.

“No matter that Turistico Control told me that there are no free days, ever?” I asked.

He reassured me that the day in question would indeed be a free day. I was still skeptical. I went to the local bakery for my daily Coca-Cola in a glass bottle and carne empanada fix. Conception, the girl who works there and knows me as a regular customer, asked me why I wasn’t up at the ruins. “It’s free today,” she said, “because of Carnival.”

So, Heather and Maria and I decided to splurge the US $3.00 for cab fare up to the top of the ruins since it was already well past noon. On the way up, I decided to ask our driver about it.

“No,” he said. “There are no free days. If you are Peruvian, it’s free. Don’t you have a ticket?”

We explained that we did not. Then our cab driver did something unexpected, fun and truly adventurous. “OK,” he said, “Hide your faces and your hair.” He spoke in fast Spanish. I could only understand the gist of what he was saying, but I got the idea that he was going to help us sneak in.

He stopped the car when we got close to the control station. He motioned for us to put the hoods of our raincoats on and duck down together in the backseat. He gave me a newspaper and motioned for me to put it over my face and hair. Then he hit the gas. We went a little way and then he said, “OK!”

We made it! He snuck us past Turistico Control! He then explained that if we walked down the other side of the mountain toward the market after exploring the ruins that the guards at the other gate would stop us and ask for our tickets. So, he offered (for an additional fee, of course) to wait two hours for us at the top of the mountain and then take us back down into town. The total fee would for the three of us for this scheme would be the same as one regular ticket, so we said yes and thanked our driver graciously.

There are alternate ways to get to the top of this mountain after all!

The verdict is still out as to whether Turistico Control really was open and checking tickets or not. We wouldn’t know, because we were hiding in the backseat of the cab. But I really don’t care.

Well, this post isn’t really about sneaking into the ruins, so much as it’s about going on a free day, so I’ve decided to post this entry along with the Sneaking Into The Pisac Ruins saga. So, this week is Carnival here in Pisac. I’ve heard through the local grapevine that the ruins are free today. Perfect timing as my friend Heather has just arrived today for a two-week visit.

There are two legitimate entrances to the ruins. One is just off the square in the middle of town at the foot of the mountain. From there, the walk up is about one and a half hours. The second entrance is via taxi about 9 kilometers out of town on the road. We all decided to head up to the entrance to the ruins at the bottom of the mountain in town. I wasn’t even sure if Heather, who just landed in Peru after traveling for two days, could make it up to the top because of altitude issues. Turns out that altitude would not be the issue.

We honestly believed that today was a free day because of Carnival – that’s what everyone in town has been saying. So, we were surprised when we got stopped at Turistico Control office and the guard asked for our tickets. “But I thought today was a free day at the ruins because of Carnival!” I said.

¨It’s free to come to the market in Pisac,” the guard said. “But there are never any free days at the ruins! Never!” he yelled.

I was confused by his comment because every day is free to go to the open-air market in the town square. But, Heather and the rest of us were winded from our short hike anyway, so we just went to Ulreke’s and had a few beers. We ran into a couple of other longer-term tourist friends there and asked them what they’d been doing all day.

“Well,” Jake replied, “We got caught up at the ruins without a ticket because we thought today was a free day and they threatened to take us to jail.”

¨What?” I asked. (I don’t even think there is a jail in Pisac.)

“Yeah,” said Sienna, Jake’s girlfriend, “We didn’t have any money on us and we told them that, so they made us give something for collateral and come back with money later. I tried to give them my necklace, but they wouldn’t take it. They wanted my fancy water bottle instead. Eventually, we returned and they let us pay two for the price of one.”

Aha! So, there are no free days, but you can barter with them . . .

Matt and his friends decided to go up to the ruins today – via the alternate route that we successfully took before.

I think Turistico Control is onto us local extended-stay visitors to Pisac because Matt and his friends came home unexpectedly early. They were stopped about halfway up the mountain by a ranger with a walkie-talkie who asked them for their tickets. Matt pretended like he didn’t speak Spanish and they simply turned around after repeated questioning by the security officer and came home.

They said they thought it was strange that as they hopped over the Royal Inka’s fence that some Peruvian kids in a car going by on the road screamed, “Busted!!“

Matt and I and some friends recently made it up to the Pisac Ruins by an alternative – and free – route.

First, I must say that I don’t necessarily think that sneaking into any Peruvian ruins without paying is honorable. However, as I am living here for at least four months, I do believe that paying once is fair and then occasionally going again without paying is fine. That is because I am living here, connecting with the people here and spending my money here.

The last time I was in Peru, in 2005, I visited the Pisac ruins. And I learned then that they are very serious about tourists paying for the priveledge to view the ruins. A friend told me the price for visiting the ruins and said, “Make sure you don’t pay more than that – sometimes they try to gouge tourists at the control center.” So, when I got to the control center and the lady at the gate in the road quoted me a much higher price, I refused to pay it and proceeded to try to walk past the gate and on up the road to the mountain.

She didn’t like that very much. She put the arm of the gate down and called security. Then she and I got into a bit of a screaming match over the price. Thankfully, a taxi driver I knew from Cusco just happened to pull up right then and he helped straighten out the ‘misunderstanding.’ It was explained to me that my friend must be wrong and that her price was the correct one. I paid it and went on. That was then . . .

So, this time, when my friends suggested an alternate route, I was skeptical, but willing to go for it anyway. We walked toward the Royal Inka and found the path at the bottom of the mountain – and climbed straight up for about an hour and a half. We had to stop quite alot. The altitude here (9,800 feet) can really kick one’s ass. My friends were concerned that I might pass out and fall off the mountain at one point because they said my cheeks were ‘bright, bright red.’

We finally made it up and enjoyed a day at the top of the mountain, checking out the ruins. I was surprised that we didn’t get caught, to be honest.