Ollantaytambo, Peru: Where hat stealing is a crime so scandalous

By Kerry van der Jagt
June 13 2015 - 12:15am
Children in Ollantaytambo, Peru.
 Photo: Kerry van der Jagt
Children in Ollantaytambo, Peru. Photo: Kerry van der Jagt
Children in Ollantaytambo, Peru.
 Photo: Kerry van der Jagt
Children in Ollantaytambo, Peru. Photo: Kerry van der Jagt
Children in Ollantaytambo, Peru.
 Photo: Kerry van der Jagt
Children in Ollantaytambo, Peru. Photo: Kerry van der Jagt
Pink, purple or lime green - the brighter the hat, the better.
 Photo: Kerry van der Jagt
Pink, purple or lime green - the brighter the hat, the better. Photo: Kerry van der Jagt
Pink, purple or lime green - the brighter the hat, the better.
 Photo: Kerry van der Jagt
Pink, purple or lime green - the brighter the hat, the better. Photo: Kerry van der Jagt
Pink, purple or lime green - the brighter the hat, the better.
 Photo: Kerry van der Jagt
Pink, purple or lime green - the brighter the hat, the better. Photo: Kerry van der Jagt
Pink, purple or lime green - the brighter the hat, the better.
 Photo: Kerry van der Jagt
Pink, purple or lime green - the brighter the hat, the better. Photo: Kerry van der Jagt

In the small Andean village of Ollantaytambo a crime has been committed. A crime so scandalous, so abhorrent, every woman in town has gathered in the square to have her say. Huddled in two opposing camps, with much scowling and tut-tutting, it seems one woman has stolen, straight off the head of another, a much-coveted bowler hat. The mauve hat in question, stitched with the finest threads and gleaming with jewels, now sits rather smugly on the head of a grinning, wrinkled older woman. And she's not giving it back.

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