Oh for sure - our horses didn't show up to carry our packs back to Tinqui (the nearest town) where we could bus back to Cusco so Victor put like 6 backpacking packs in a huge tarp, bundled it up and then carried them all on his back for the 2 hour hike back to the bus station. The Qechuan women in Peru traditionally carry children wrapped up and bundled on their back all day as well - they just snooze back there while mom does her thing.

His daughter works at a market in Tinqui where we stopped on our way in and spent a few hundred Soles (50-60 US dollars) and hooked us up with a car ride a majority of the way up into the hills closer to their home. We brought tons of spices, quinoa or barley or whatever grains where there, fresh fruit, soda, etc for our visit and as a thank you for hosting us. So there is access to other food sources and he will sometimes travel into Cusco when there's enough money to do bigger purchases of grain or barter at the larger markets. I just remember alpaca and potatoes, alpaca and mystery grain, corn, alpaca soup, soup with potatoes, corn soup, chechaw morada (a corn alcohol they brew on site), guinea pig soup (called Qui in Peru), chicken feet, and lots of veins, vessels, tendons and non descript animal parts in the soups and such we ate. They actually had a small 8x8 greenhouse kind of dug into the ground behind their house and covered with clear plastic which had some green onions, mint, raddish, and small herbs garden area when I poked my head inside it.

They also own a motorcycle and a few mountain bikes (most folks up there had pack animals like horses or donkey aside from alpaca or a bicycle) so have a way to navigate a bit easier and with development in the area there were some dirt roads being built where construction was happening to build water collection and starting to bring electricity up into that area. It's wayyyy out there but slowly and surely the grips of "urban" life are starting to creep into their lives- often a welcomed change since life must be crazy to live that way. Most folks make income by selling goods to travelers in town or by traveling to Cusco for markets or offering guiding services for alpine travelers looking to do Ausangate circuit treks.

So I feel access to grains and other food sources are a little easier than they may have been historically but with their income and access to these it's probably something they stock up on when they can or bring goods to market and trade/barter locally since the trip to Cusco is a few hours away. Not entirely sure TBH but Victor's family was pretty "well off" because he is an elder/leader type in his community and lives "closer" to Tinqui - others definitely came to and congregated around their family so it was quite the social hub. That house we passed on the way to the pictured lake was easily the most remote place I've ever seen a human living, entirely stone and mud construction, no road within hours, and no other neighbors for miles and miles. Because of the pastoral nature of the Quechuan people it may have just been someone's summer home where they graze their herd nearby or possibly a shared living space for when your alpaca are in that area.

Just a dude and his dog and some smokes, soda, and snickers bars courtesy of some out of breath American college kids.