I'm getting a bit lax with my travelpod these days but I have an excuse this time. Was incommunicado in the Andes last week for 4 days. It was a welcome break from the pollution and noise of Lima.
The tourism team in Grupo Gea were exploring the possibility of raising awarenes of the Camino Inca (Inca Trail) in some of the most deprived parts of Peru. The Camino Inca runs from Quito in Ecuador as far as Argentina and the part west of Lima is particularly pretty and unexplored. The team set off for Tanta on Saturday 14 June and it was thought best that I didn't join them at that stage as the altitude is over 4,000 metres above sea level. By the sounds of it, it was a pretty tough 4 days with temperatures dipping to about zero degrees at night. You could argue that I had the luxury tour in comparison. I headed up to Huaruchiri with Hugo (the Grupo Gea driver) on Wednesday morning. The town itself is pretty unspectacular but oddly there are two grand squares with statues, an obelix and inca heads and, of course, the biggest building in every town is the catholic church. A big mix of cultures in one place. The hotel (personally I think they have a cheek to call it a hotel at all) was basic to say the least (one toilet for about 20 beds and one cold shower) and absolutely filthy. We actually had to ask the lady to clean the toilet and shower because they were so bad. If she did, I couldn't tell.
On the first day Hugo and I went walking in the countryside and I'm pleased to say that the altitude didn't really affect me at all (except when I walked up an exceptionally steep hill and then my heart went for a wee sprint). We befriended a little boy who then became a bit of a mini tour guide, which was really sweet. In the evening we went for dinner and I was very pleasantly surprised with my vegetable tortilla. Surprisingly there are four 'restaurants' in the town. I definately didn't want to know what went on out the back but invariably it was outside and there probably wasn't any water for hand washing. Very tasty though (or 'muy rico' as they say here). We then wandered through the dirt roads of the town as far as the lights in every direction as the town is so small.
The following day, we got a message from Eric (the tourism team manager) via a person who had seen him the night before (mobile phones don't work there) to say that there were 15 people so there was no room for me in the Combi so I had to stay behind on my own. Hugo dropped me off about 6km south of the village and I slowly wandered back along the road. Take a look at the photos - the countryside was beautiful. The very first thing that I encountered was a red llama almost as tall as me and, knowing that redheads can be a bit feisty (I don't know why you are thinking of me in that context - I'm not a true redhead you know!), I was a little concerned that it was eyeing me up just a little too closely and walking in my direction. I put my head down and just kept walking at a steady pace expecting a bit hackle at any minute (they are of the camel family) and, much to my relief it stopped and just kept looking. Phew! I really don't remember the last time that I felt so relaxed and chilled out - the sun was shining, the countryside was beautiful and I was alone with nature (apart from a very occasional person on the road). Heaven! I popped into the hotel when I got back and, as it was such a lovely day, I headed in the other direction of the village. I didn't wander too long (about an hour) before heading back as I thought Hugo was due back at about 1pm (2-3pm in Peruvian time). By 5pm I was starting to get a bit upset as I thought that something had happened and I was going to be left in this town on my own for the night. I wouldn't have minded so much except that I only had my dictionary to read. The first group didn't return until just after 6pm when I realised that I had misunderstood Hugo. Doh! Managed to get sunburnt quite badly on my arms - I really hadn't expected it to be warm and had brought loads of layers of clothes with me but no sunglasses or sun cream. I will get organised one of these days.
On the way to dinner in the evening, there was a bit of a commotion with the Mayor's dog, Blanca (kind of a huskie with really odd, almost white eyes - hence the name). I had never heard a noise like it in my life and the next thing I see is Blanca carrying this rather large rabbit down the street between her jaws. Eric successfully separated the two and the poor rabbit was in shock for some time afterwards. We don't know if it survived the experience - Diego carried it off to safety, out of sight of Blanca. I'm hoping it didn't end up in anyone's soup and that it was just in shock.
The following day, the others were absolutely shattered so many of them just slept for the day. I met Ricardo, a bit of a celebrity in South America, as he walked the length of the Camino Inca from Ecuador to Bolivia in 6 months a few years back to rediscover it. I headed out for a walk with him, Anna Maria (a Columbian girl who has studied in America for 5 years) and her friend Emily from near Boston. We chilled out on the edge of a cliff to admire the scenery. Anna Maria and Emily started singing (they were in a choir together) but it was a bit too school choir stuff for me so I endeavoured to take photos of bugs for Steve (rather unsuccessfully I might add). We then headed a little further along when Ricardo scaled this really high wall. I was behind him and, to cut a long story short, I ended up falling quite badly down the canal (at least it was dry at the time) beneath the wall and landed on my back. Aowwwwwhhhhhhh! I think I was lucky that the canal was narrow as I think it broke my fall. Needless to say, my pride was hurt more than anything else and Ricardo felt terrible for not waiting to help me. He has published a book on the Camino Inca but what I want to know is, how did he keep his trousers so clean (there are lots of photos in the book) as the dust was absolutely everywhere and I was absolutely filthy with it. The walk back to the village was really tough - a pre-incan pathway that was really long and steep. Was glad to get to the top.
I have to say that I really was expecting the food to be pretty awful but was pleasantly surprised. The potatoes (did you know they come from Peru?) were scrummy and the cheese - omigod! Heaven! It was so fresh. I also discovered a leaf that you put in hot water (can't remember the name) to drink but it was scrummy too. There were no reprecussions later on which I was relieved about bearing in mind how vile the toilet was!
On the Friday night the tourism team had arranged a workshop/presentation with the town. There was a bit of a festival going on and I was thinking, this is a lot of effort for Grupo Gea. It was only later that I realised that it was the town's patron saint's anniversary. The presentation was frequently interrupted by the band playing outside (there is no such thing as sound insulation in this country)- di di d-di di d-i and then the band arrived in the room where the presentation was taking place along with a statue of the saint and about 100 people. There was then a town meeting about (what I later found out) having a bull fight and how much the tickets were going to be. There was then lots of dancing and a bottle cracked open. It was all rather official with minutes being read out and everything. I got the impression that the mayor wasn't too happy with the final decision reached but had to pretend to be happy and dance anyway. Very odd experience! Half the town then left the room again and we continued with our presentation.
On saturday we took a route back to Lima that has only been available for a few months. You really didn't need to go to the gym after 5 hours on a dirt track - my bones were shaken to the core and my butt was hard as nails afterwards. On route we stopped to ask directions at a farm and were given the most enormous apples I've ever seen. We later discovered a pre-Inca burial site that has been pillaged and the graves (like little stone huts) are now exposed with the human bones still there but many are smashed to pieces. It was at this stage I noticed a bird of prey and then to my absolute amasement, we realised that there was a pair of condors! Wow!!! They are huge birds and when they flew close, they left their imposing shadow on the mountainside. I really understand now how someone can be inspired to write poetry about them. This really made my week! We then headed on and just before we started to reach civilisation, we saw a huge eagle landing in the field on the side of the road. It was enormous!!! I was awestruck. If I see no other wildlife while I'm here, I will still be happy. My only regret was that my camera was stuck in my bag and buried beneath a load of other stuff in the boot of the combi. Awh well, it probably wouldn't have done them justice and I don't think I will be forgetting the experience in a hurry.
Had planned to head to Cusco this Friday for Inti Raymi (festival of the sun) but haven't got my finger out to book anything yet. The Camino Inca is allegedly booked out until mid September, which I am thoroughly disappointed about but have a few contacts here who know of other, better, hikes in the area.
Well, hope you are all well and enjoying the sunshine. There isn't much in Lima that's for sure. Keep in touch!
Dympna xox
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