Solar Renewal in Llachon

Fire destroyed Solar Power in Llachon Home
On January 18, a fire in the little kitchen in Asunta and Armando's home in Llachon, on the Capachica Peninsula, started at the 5 gallon propane tank and spread throughout the kitchen. The solar panels were mounted on the roof above the kitchen. When the fire spread to the battery, it exploded. The family had run far from the fire before the explosion, fearing that the gas bottle might blow (it didn't), and no one was hurt. Neighbors rushed to help and buckets of water saved the rest of the house.

This first picture is during the repair, as it will likely be the thumbnail for my Facebook Post, and I don't want to emphasize the battery!

So here is the battery and fire damage:

Panel fell, broke, and burned

Battery. You can see the plates.

Kitchen tools melted and destroyed

When we arrived the power was off!

The family had rigged up power from the neighbors after the fire, bringing a 220volt wire across the field so they could have lights and so Armando could play his electric piano. He is a serious composer and sometimes forgets to eat when he is deep at work. However, a lightning strike that morning had taken down the grid, which is fairly frequent in this town at the end of the power line on the Capachica Peninsula. We prepared dinner by headlamp and ate by candlelight, and decided that the solar system needed to be replaced.

Mariella Sarita, high school student who wants to be a lawyer when she grows up.

Last year the power had gone out all over Llachon and none of the students could study in the dark. Sarita was the only student who submitter her homework! Because her family had solar pwere, she had light to work by. After that incident, one other family in the village installed solar electricity!

Early the next morning, Sam and Armando and Silvano left before breakfast to go to Juliaca to buy and new panel and battery. Only it turned out that a big protest was going on in the city. 

Tires on fire and roads blocked in Juliaca

 They had to walk several more blocks than planned, and store doors were only open a crack until the marchers passed. Happily, they found willing merchants in the solar stores and found some good equipment. The charge controller was located in another room and had survived the fire. Testing it at the solar store proved its worth.

Solar store in Juliaca testing the charge controller.

Assembling the equipment

As soon as the guys got back to Llachon, we started assembling all the parts, including testing the second 100w panel that seemed to have survived the fire. After the soot was cleaned off, it was fine!

Uniting and wiring two 100w panels

 Installing the panels on the roof:

Young Jhoel keeps positive and negative wires separate

Asunta had been working on a new and colorful manta.

Of course, one of the main reasons we went to Llachon in the first place was to visit Kusi and her new 7-week old baby boy. He was slightly premature in his birth, but is progressing nicely. He was awake enough for a little baby bouncing on Tara's part.

Jhoshua with mama Kusi

 It rained all morning in Llachon while the guys were in Juliaca, but we did life--

Jhoel with the sheep

 I actually got to make a drawing from the shelter of their comfortable comedor (dining room) looking out this big picture window. My drawing was in the early misty light, but then the sun came out:

Asunta and Armando actually do have a room to rent for tourists. If you ever want to stay overnight on Capachica, it's a sweet place to stay--PLUS IT'S SOLAR POWERED!

Excursion to Sicuani

Sicuani: hotsprings up the pass and ruins toward Cusco, plus healing waters

Silvano and Ruperta were totally busy last year as autoridades, and had no time to play, so we invited them, their two sons, Ivan and Clever, and Silvano's mother, Eufrasia, to join us for our annual excursion. Sicuani is ideally located just off the Altiplano and over the pass toward Cusco, in Cusco Province. In one direction are delicious hot springs, and in the other is the archeological site of Raqchi. A museum to honor and tell the story of the last Inca, Tupac Amaru, is nearby in the town of Tinta, and the purifying waters of San Pedro are also available.

Hot Springs were our primary goal:
A line of taxis are always ready to take patrons to the Aguas Calientes about 20 minutes south of Sicuani, where outdoor pools of many temperatures are available.

That's Samuel in the blue hat

I spoke up to some splashing boys with some swimming lesson tricks, such as "Take a breath IN when your face is out of water. Blow your breath OUT when underwater." Pretty basic stuff, but children don't often have swimming lessons and many are fearful in the water. Later, a young girl, maybe age 12, who had seen me with the boys, actually came up to me and asked me to teach her to swim! We worked on breathing, and kicking and some standard strokes. She got a LOT more relaxed and later I saw her teaching her little sister about blowing bubbles. So much fun!

The other hot springs in the area are higher up the pass, and we had to contract the taxi to take the group there and pick us up. We had a lovely woman taxi driver who took a lunch break as we soaked and it all worked out. 

The mineral deposits above the springs were a beautiful golden yellow:

Clever in front of the mineral deposits

Water seemed to boil at the source, with Silvano.

The pools were inside, which gave us paleskins a sunburn saving grace. The water was hot enough to need to get in and out to thermal regulate. The whole family fit in the private pool.

Ahhhhhhhh

The Raqchi archeological site is an important one:

It is an important stop along the long Inca highway between Cusco and Puno and includes the most skilled Incan rockwork. 

A small detail that we appreciated was how protruding rocks in a rock terrace served as a ladder:

See how one terrace leads to the next.

Natually, the ladder made a nice family portrait.

The most prominent structure is the Temple of Wiracocha, an enormous rectangular two-story roofed structure that measures 92 metres (302 ft) by 25.5 metres (84 ft). 

In front of the Temple of Wiracocha

This long "hallway" is oriented exactly to the summer solstice of December 21.

A hike to the viewpoint high above shows the whole layout, including the Temple and the hallway.

Naturally, Samuel couldn't pass up a good wind to fly his rainbow kite, with Eufrasia's rainbow manta in the background

The Museum of Tupac Amaru 

In the village of Tinta, just a few kilometers beyond Raqchi, is a tribute to the last Inca, tortured and killed by the Spanish Conquistadores. 

We enjoyed fresh Chicha (fermented quinoa drink) when we first arrived in Tinta.

Tina is also famous for this stone arched bridge from Inca times.

stone arch bridge; one arch eroded

 Early in his life Jose Gabriel Tupac Amaru traveled the vast Incan Empire, trading goods. During these travels, he also saw the cruelty of the Spanish Conquerers.

Eventually, the Spanish famously tied his legs and arms to horses to pull him apart in the central plaza in Cusco. This failed to kill him and they cut off his head.

It's a gruesome tale, but an important one for Peruvian History.

Healing waters of San Pedro

A fountain of deep spring water contains purging minerals. The Taquileños place lots of confidence in the power of this process and Eufrasia wanted to do it. None of the rest of the family was interested, so I joined her. It's a lovely park and people sit around drinking and then running to the squat toilets. Everything is very clean, with buckets of water flushing everything away.You can pay a little extra for sitdown toilets.

fountain

chemical analysis

Gardens and sculptures

Our vacation in Sicuani was full of laughter and education and relaxation. What a pleasure to share this with our Taquileño family!