We’re above 12,000 feet and a stout village woman is carrying my baby on her back.
Slung between the woman’s waist-length braids in a flamboyant blanket, tiny Ingrid is the cooing darling of the ancient marketplace. The air is thin and crisp here in Chinchero, but the sun is strong. In any direction, we are eye-to-eye with the peaks of the Andes and in the shadow of Incan ruins. Suffused in a chuckling crowd of market women in full black skirts, we watch giddily as Ingrid models traditional Quechua baby gear.
“This,” I think, “is why we brought the kids.”
No stroller? No problem. Ingrid helps a local woman model a traditional Quechua sling in the high-Andes village of Chinchero.
Months before, when my husband and I announced that we were planning a trip to Peru’s Sacred Valley, we invariably got two questions. First, “Who’s watching the kids?” Nobody, we answered. We’re bringing them. Cue second question: “Are you crazy?”
While bringing an eight-month-old baby and an almost three-year-old to a place like Peru is a bit different from taking them on vacation in the Poconos, there is nothing so insurmountably challenging about it that it can’t (or shouldn’t) be done.
Challenge number one for bringing small kids to this part of the world is the terrain. The Incas may have been master engineers (their temple complexes would make Escher blush), but their creations are far from stroller friendly.
Now populated by the Inca’s descendants, known as the Quechuas, villages remain paved in ancient cobblestones —where they’re paved at all. Steep terrain, haphazard steps, and open channels make even a stroll to the village square seems like an occasion for hiking boots.
Forget the fish and the bicycle, the old saying could easily go “like a Quechua needs a baby stroller”.
Since wheels are out of the question, we carried our children in backpacks. Beginning our trip in the hamlet of Ollantaytambo, we set out through the morning’s wood smoke and bleating sheep to explore some of the Incan ruins tacked high on a dizzying slope above the village. This strenuous morning hike with our kids in the Andes’ rarefied air made us feel like super parents.
Until we saw what the locals were carrying.
Back in the village, we passed an elderly woman toting enough sticks to shame the guy on the Led Zeppelin album cover. Barefoot schoolgirls flitted about with bundles of alfalfa twice their height. An old man strolled along a lane with an entire tree trunk tilted on his shoulder. The feats —and the scenery —were so unbelievable that we had to get some pictures.
Quechua people carry everything. And never complain about it.
While we were busy photographing the Quechuas and their bundles, the wee people riding on our own backs were turning us into a village curiosity. The locals may have grown accustomed to seeing pale-skinned adult tourists, but our blue-eyed babies were clearly a novelty.
We knew it was time to brace ourselves for an onslaught of affection.
Before we had kids, we’d travel through foreign cities like ghosts, invisible to everyone but the hawkers. Now, with babies in our arms, people are drawn to us.
My Spanish vocabulary, once comprised of the basic phrases necessary to order a meal, can now hold up my end of conversations that include, How old are they?, Your children are beautiful, and, For shame, your baby’s head is cold! (I have also learned that it is the universal prerogative of grandmothers across the globe to be aghast that your baby is not wearing a hat.)
Our kids turn heads and make friends in Ollantaytambo.
When we travel with our kids, we connect with people not as tourists, but as fellow parents. We get to talk to them about things that don’t involve the purchase of goods and services. People are actually happy to see us.
We trade the label of “tourist” for “family”.
Which brings us back to that high-Andean marketplace.
Near the end of our trip, we were were strolling through Chincero’s main square, my baby snuggled against me in a high-tech baby carrier as my husband and older daughter looked for souvenir ceramic bulls. A woman caught my eye, cocked an eyebrow, and held aloft a technicolor blanket. This was just the invitation I was hoping for.
For our entire trip, I’d been marveling at the tidy, origami-like folds of cloth that the local women used to carry their kids. Curious to try, but too shy to ask, I now leaped at the chance to test out a traditional Quechua baby sling.
With a few deft movements, they had Ingrid swaddled and on my back. I was pleased with the result, but sensed from the assembling crowd that I was somehow doing it wrong. With skeptical hands on chins and a few slow head sways of disapproval, Ingrid was plucked from my back. As I waited to feel the readjusted burden returned to my shoulders, I realized that she was already refolded and wrapped across the blanket seller’s back.
Suiting up with a traditional Quechua sling. Apparently, I was doing it wrong.
The woman’s friends erupted in giggles as she led my baby through the paths of the market. Ingrid snuggled against the woman blissfully, cooing and smiling amid the ageless Incan stonework.
Without language and across cultures, we found common ground in one universal truth: everybody loves babies.
These sorts of things just don’t happen to adults traveling alone. And they don’t happen to kids left behind at grandma’s house either.
From the cradle, we are teaching our daughters that this planet is theirs to explore. That their culture is but one of many wonderful ways that the people of the world live their lives. That there is so much that is beautiful and intriguing and delicious and wondrous and exhilarating to see and eat and do in this world if you’re only willing to make the journey.
And for that, I’d carry them anywhere.
.
We Took Our Two to Peru. (And You Can, Too.) by Jody Pratt is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at globetoddling.com.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at globetoddling.com.
Globe-toddling 
You guys are an inspiration! We’re also headed to Peru with 2 (ages 3 months and 2 and a half).
Best,
Samantha
So true. Everybody loves a baby. Or any child. One thing I remember back when we were traveling as “ghosts” the thing that, without fail, could bring cultures together was a chuckle and a smile.
psyched for your new blog!
Love your new blog! You are inspiring me to figure out how to travel more than just seeing my parents. Now to check the couch cushions for vacation trip money . . .
I enjoyed reading your blog post. I completely agree with you on this. I take my kids everywhere. My kids rarely have a sitter. I’m not one to hike anywhere but I do love traveling with my children. They travel well and are always excited about planning our next adventure.
Ahh, I am no more alone about feeling aghast when I see little bare-headed babies on a chilly day. It’s universal; grandmothers are programmed to instantly respond like that!
I loved your story and look forward to future globetoddling stories.
However, for a real adventure you should consider a trip to Redmond WA, home of Microsoft and the predecessors of your beautiful daughters.
As I said before Jody, you amaze me!! Great job with your first entry, I am excited for you and your blog!! (and your continued family adventures!)
wow! Jody, you are a great writer. We keep saying how old should the kids be before we can take them to ……. but you are making us rethink that.
So where is the next Pratt family adventure? Great blog, great pictures, lovely story. I look forward to the next installment.
Wow! Terrific prose, great descriptions, and all so true about what you do with those kids! They will love knowing they were always a part of what you did! And they will always value travel as you do!
Good for you! While we lived in Chile, we contemplated visiting Cuzco and Macchu Picchu but with two small kids, we decided not to risk the chance of altitude sickness and them not being able to tell us how they were feeling. We had plenty of friends who did it also, and they loved it.
I enjoyed reading your stories. As an avid babywearer, I especially loved the part about trying out the Quechua sling/wrap. We traveled to Peru pre-kid, and we especially loved Ollantaytambo. We haven’t traveled internationally with our 18-month-old yet (though we hope to in the near future), but he’s been to 10 states so far.
Great blog; keep up the nice work!
Love your blog!!! My husband and I are going to Peru this April and are trying to decide if we should bring our little one (13 months) or leave him with Grandma and Grandpa. Although I completely subscribe to your theory about strapping your babies on early and showing them this big world, we are also a little concerned about the altitude in certain areas of Peru. Was the altitude a problem for you guys? What did you do/bring with you to help your girls acclimatize? Thanks!
Thanks for the kind words!
As always, you should talk to your pediatrician and not construe any of this as medical advice since I’m not a doctor, but I can tell you that our girls’ doctor wasn’t too concerned about the altitude. Apparently, kids cope with elevation change better than adults do. I scoured the internet for reassurance and the only cases I found of kids faring badly from being at extreme elevation were kids with serious underlying medical issues. That said, I was still a bit paranoid, so I structured our itinerary to go from lower to higher elevation. So as soon as we landed in Cusco, we high-tailed it for the Sacred Valley, spending our first several nights at about 9,000 feet in Ollantaytambo (which ended up being our favorite spot!). Chincherro (at 12,000+ feet) was the highest point we visited, so we left that for the last day.
Everyone did just fine with the altitude. Although I do have to say that packing our girls off the floor of Moray (at 11,000 feet) on the second day left us gasping! 🙂
Bon voyage!
Jody
I am intrigued with your blog. My husband and I love traveling, especially going to uncommon places. We’ve been married for 5 years and no kids yet. We have numerous friends who are so jealous of our travels (you see, they are at home with 1 or 2 or 3 kids) and they always tell us how lucky we are, and that once you have kids, you won’t be able to travel anymore. I think it’s HOGWASH too! We are expecting our first child and we cannot wait to start traveling with a baby. I have never understood why people think their dreams have to be put on hold to raise a child. It doesn’t make any sense. You are definitely an inspiration to me and you have so many wonderful tips!
[…] Hi Jodie, I came across this blog and thought of you! Peruvian babywearing. https://globetoddling.com/2010/04/17/…d-you-can-too/ […]
Thank you for this great post! I am hoping to book a trip for my family to Peru this August and would love any information you could give me on where you stayed or what you did that was suitable for little ones. My daughter will be 18 months old when we travel, so we’re packing the backpack and hoping to have a great few days of beautiful hikes and history. If you are willing to share any of the details of your trip, please email me at dawn.e.gill@gmail.com, I am having trouble sifting through the information available and the nay-sayers that tell us to leave the little one at home!
Thanks again,
Dawn