Escape to the mountainous land of Incan gold!

  Cajamarca, Peru
Thursday, December 14, 2006

For the first time on this trip I purposefully head away from the beach to see something else inland, I am excited. The bus ride is the best yet - big, adjustable seats, aircon and free drinks and snacks! I certainly got some strange looks and had plenty of questions from the locals at the bus station in Chiclayo regarding my huge boardbag. I quickly got bored of the laughter in response to me explaining what is inside. I also developed some witty responses to them telling me there are no waves in the Andes.

On route to Cajamarca

more photos up top........


As we wind our way through the Andean foothills towards Cajamarca I am having a chat with my doctor regarding how best to fix my fragile stomach and shoulder. The prescription presented is something I can live with - a good comfortable bed, good food and pleasant surroundings. My doctor insists that I find a good hotel in Cajamarca and pamper my self for a night or two. I argue with him for a short while about the expense and how its not proper for a surfer/backpacker, however he stamps on these arguments with force......after all, this doctor is inside my own mind.

I get a taxi from the bus station, attracting more looks than usual with my boards, I am now 3,400 metres above sea level (I dont fancy the trudge down to the beach for a dawn session!). I tell the driver to take me to a three star hotel in the city centre, we pull up at the Las Americas Hotel and it looks perfect, inside is modern and comfortable with big leather sofas and marble floors. I present my scruffy self to reception and they organise a room for me, my bags are whisked away and I am escorted to my room to inspect its condition. I am delighted by what I find....a double bed with a proper mattress, carpet on the floor, hot water and that most incredible of inventions....a toilet seat. Luxury! After a hot shower and shave I return to reception and they try to check me in again, I look like a different person.

I ask for a restuarant recommendation where the food and wine is excellent, they direct me to La Pascana on the edge of town. After a short taxi ride I am sitting in a huge, beautifully decorated room with wooden pillars and ceilings. I am sat alone and only one of the dozens of other tables is being used, I am eating early for Peruvians. I order a bowl of Criolla soup, a prime steak cooked rare and a half bottle of a quality Chilean red. Its a good job I am hungry as the soup is almost a meal in itself....it is a rich mixture of spagetti, mince beef, onions and a fried egg! I recognise it as a perfect hangover cure and use it many times more in Peru for that purpose. The steak is cooked to perfection and is deliciously tender, the wine accompanies it perfectly. I am happy and with a full belly for the first time in days.

I return to my comfortable room and have an early night, I am out for the count when my head hits the pillow. The room and meal for the night only cost me 23 quid,  my doctor agrees this is an absolute bargain!

The next morning I take a walk up a small hill near the central plaza to see the Inca seat. It is a large slab of rock on which, many hundreds of years ago, the great Incan leader Atahualpa used to look over his great city and ponder.....what exactly, who knows? Most probably, what to do with the huge amount of gold he had at his disposal. As it turned out, these rich deposits of gold, were his undoing. The Spanish conqueror, Pizarro, had heard of these riches and was determined to make them the property of Spain. When he arrived in Cajamarca, (the second city of the Incan empire at that time) he took Atahualpa hostage and demanded that his people fill a huge room with gold from top to bottom, or else he would behead their leader.

This didnt pose a problem at all for the Incas and they probably filled the room in the space of an afternoon with all sorts of pots, pans and beautifully crafted work. However, Pizarro simply said thankyou very much, took the room full off exquisite gold and the head of their leader. What a git!

On my way down the hill, I got chatting to a group of young lads. They asked lots of questions about England and football expecially. I tell them about my trip and surfing they get very excited about the Womens World Champion who is Peruvian and Nolberto Solano, the only Peruvian footballer I know. I showed them some photos and surf vidoes on my camera and took one of the group. They wanted to put some kind of braid in my plentiful mop of hair, I declined but bought a wristband from one of their stalls that was in the colours of Everton FC instead.

The Young Ones

The best looking church

I spend a week in Cajamarca, enjoying good food and my comfortable bed. There are plenty of flash restaurants and swanky hotels for such a small town. This is down to the huge deposits of gold which are still being mined, providing employment and riches for many Peruvians.  I arranged a mountain bike trip to some local historic sights like Otuxco, an ancient burial chamber cut into rock and some natural hot springs where the aforementioned Atahualpa used to bathe. I make some good friends with locals working at my hotel and they take me on a couple of nights on the town. I am pretty much the only western tourist in the town and get lots of stares and questions, but I am used to that by now. I dont speak English for about 6 days and really improve my Spanish, which is great. I have a few friendly discussions with the many shoe shine boys that hang around the main square, mainly regarding why I dont think my flipflops need shining up with some spit and polish!

Otuzco2

I buy some Christmas presents for my mum and sisters, ceramics and handwoven Alpaca (a close relative of the Llama) and post them across the world. As Christmas approaches, more white faced tourists begin to roll into town and I say my goodbyes to my Peruvian friends to return to the beach and the true backpacking style, budget....