ABSTRACT
The events and practices described in this chapter took place in Ocongate, a small Andean town in Southern Peru. 1 It is a relatively busy place, situated on an important though unpaved road which connects the highlands of Southern Peru to the tropical lowlands of Amazonia. Migrant workers, supplies and raw materials travel through daily on the lorries that work the route from Puerto Maldonado to the southern Peruvian cities of Cusco, Puno and Arequipa. The road is important to the livelihood of the villagers. Besides their basic subsistence from agriculture and herding, most people are involved in some way in business. They travel frequently in connection with these business activities, trading products from the local district, from the lowlands and from the cities. Many people also spend at least some time every year working as migrant labour in the cities or in the forest.
