Ayacucho

So I stayed 2 nights in Ayacucho and like all South American towns, it had a lovely main square.  This one was flanked on each side by colonnaded terraces. 

Ayacucho, also known as the City of Churches, has more than 33 churches from many different periods.  Although I didn´t get to go inside any of them, I did enjoy the variety of architecture.

One afternoon I took a bus up to Santa Ana which is supposed to be a craft neighbourhood.  I think going to places in the afternoon isn´t always the best idea as opening hours are fairly erratic here, even in the cities.  There was one lady running a corner shop who invited me in to see here embroidery work.  Unfortunately, I don´t have room in my bag for souvenirs but it was nice to see her work anyway, and quite difficult not to buy anything!

View of Ayacucho from Santa Ana

Santa Ana looks over the city so I climbed further up for a great view.  Unfortunately, someone put a mobile phone mast right in the way of the view but what can you do.

The next day I took another combi bus to Quinua visit a monument to commemorate the Battle of Ayacucho (9 December 1824) where Peru won its independence.  The monument is 44m tall and it has a small display inside it and you can also climb up some wobbly stairs and ladder inside.

The monument in Quinua (unfortunately with the top cut off)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After walking down to the main village, again famous for its pottery but everywhere seemed to be closed, I visited the museum which explained further about the battle and Peru winning independence.  The actual signing of independence took place in a room on the site of this museums.  The museum doors were open but there was no one in the ticket office so I left the entrance fee and helped myself to a ticket.  As with most places I´ve been to so far, I was the only visitor.

The outside of a shop decorated with traditional ceramics from this area

Before catching the combi back to Ayacucho, I bought some fresh Andean cheese and bread from an old lady in the market square.  They are all very sweet and don´t seem to overcharge me because I am travelling on my own and I can have a little chat with them in Spanish.  The cheese reminded me of the cheese in Venezuela – a bit like the texture of haloumi and quite salty.  Super delicious with the bread.

The combi bus I took back from Quinua to Ayacucho

Huancayo to Ayacucho

Having just returned from Machu Picchu, I now need to try to remember what I did before this…

I liked Huancayo.  I stayed in a hostel a little bit out of town which meant catching a combi bus to and from the centre.  This mini buses are not designed for anyone even a little bit taller than me so getting on and off without hitting my head (or someone else´s) is always a challenge.  Can´t complain at s./0.70 (about 20p) a ride though.  The town was quite busy with a lovely plaza (square) and was a crazy mix of modern and old. 

I booked a local tour (in Spanish) to the various local craft villages where they do weaving, silver work, carving etc but when I arrived I was the only person so the tour was cancelled.  The lady tried to get me to join an archeological tour instead but this didn´t interest me so much.  Luckily I managed to get my money back and set off to one of the villages on public transport instead.

On the combi bus I got talking to an old, traditionally dressed lady who looked about 100 years old.  You see a lot of traditionally dressed women here wearing the bell shaped skirt with lots of petticoats, leggings, a warm jumper, a traditional hat and carrying their goods or a baby in a brightly coloured blanket tied up and carried across the front of the shoulders.  You wouldn´t believe the size and weight that they can carry, even the old ladies!

Entrance to Hualhuas

I visited a village called Hualhuas (about and hour from Huancayo) which is famous for its weaving and textiles.  It´s a tiny farming village with a few shops selling crafts for tourists.  Many of the shops have people weaving on looms for you to watch them at work.  Having lost my wooly hat on the train, I purchased a nice new hand knitted hat that would come in very handy for the night buses and the trek.

Weaving looms and alpaca skin

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Having time on my hands, and as tickets are cheaper on Mondays, I took in the cultural sights of the local multiplex cinema.  Films are subtitled here so I went to see the new Planet of the Apes film.  It seems to be a running theme for me to see this type of film abroad – I saw the last Planet of the Apes film in Florida, King Kong in Venezuela and now this one in Huancayo.  The cinema was nice and the film was ok.

I took a crazy night bus to Ayacucho.  Imagine 8 hours on an old bus on unpaved roads winding through the mountains and you get the idea.  I don´t know how the lady with the small child next to me managed.  By some kind of miracle I managed to sleep most of the way!

I took the bus with a French guy called Sebastian who stayed at the same hostel in Huancayo so we went in search of a hostel after arriving at 5.30am.  Unfortunately, the bus station had moved since the last edition of the Lonely Planet was published so after starting to walk into town, we had to admit defeat and catch a taxi.  Turned out the hostal that was recommended in Sebastian´s book was a bit out of my price range so I went to find something cheaper.  For the princely sum of s./15 (about 3.75) I got a small single room with a shared bathroom in a hostal (like a guest house or small family run hotel) close to the market.  Their roof terrace had a lovely view.

View of Ayacucho from the hostal roof

 

Inside the hostal (I didn't realise the woman was breastfeeding until I uploaded this picture but it's completely normal to breastfeed wherever you like in Peru)

Sorry for the lack of posts…

…but I´m having trouble finding a computer that is compatible with WordPress and that will also let me upload photos.  More to follow shortly…

Lima to Huancayo by train

So, I´m a few days behind with this thanks to the varying internet connections I find.  Fingers crossed this post will go through before it times out…

Most people I spoke to hadn´t heard about the train from Lima to Huancayo.  After a last ditch attempt at the tourist office in the main square of Lima, they sent me to a supermarket with a ticket outlet.  As well as selling tickets for the train, they mainly sold concert tickets.  As tourist class was double the price of clasico class, I opted for the latter (even though the woman said tourist class had heating). This would turn out to be the best option.

I found a nice old taxi driver to take me to the train station early in the morning for a reasonable price. He gave me lots of interesting facts about the buildings we passed on the way, we talked about Peruvian food, and of course he asked me if I was married and where were my kids.

Clasico class turned out to be like a regular second class local train in Europe.  The difference with this train was that it reached almost 5,000 metres above sea level (4,782 metres to be exact) as it wound its way through the Andes, shaking constantly from side to side as it went.  Here are some facts…

– it was the idea of a Polish engineer called Ernest Malinowski who once claimed he could build a railway anywhere a llama could climb.  He was right.

– it took 40 years and 10,000 men to build it, including many Chinese workers.

– the train passes through 69 tunnels, 58 bridges and 6 switch-backs (as in backtracks every now and again to get on the right track).

the train

I sat with a French guy and two young Peruvian guys who got an offer on train tickets and had some time off work.  The view was amazing and the route really is a feat of engineering.  We passed through several climates including, cloudy and rainy, hot and sunny, cold and sunny as we moved through the mountains.

Unfortunately, when it did rain, the train didn´t really hold up and there was a leak in the roof.  A couple of engineers came long to fix it with some sticky tape and a couple of cloths.  Of course, this didn´t stand up to the rain and we soon had a convenient shower in clasico class to accompany the toilet with the best views ever (if not best smells but it did have toilet paper!)

not a feat of engineering

Fortunately I didn´t suffer too much from altitude sickness thanks the prescription tablets I bought over the counter and some coco leaves the French guy kindly shared with us.  There was a nurse on hand though to supply oxygen to anyone who needed it (many old Peruvian people did).

la fiesta!

The train arrived only an hour late and as we were approaching Huancayo, the attendant said they were having a party at the back of the train if we wanted to join in.  I guess the people in tourist class were just no fun.  On reaching the back of the train there was an open sided carriage (it was pouring with rain) and we were given silly hats to wear while they played super loud reggaeton and salsa (of course).  A bit random but everyone was into it dancing with everyone and their families.  The small tired kids looked less pleased about their parents partying in the rain….

Huancayo was a nice city.  Not too big and a complete contrast of old and new. You see traditionally dressed ladies with babies or good tied to their backs walking through a glitzy shopping mall.  It was also safer than Lima so I could happily walk around or take the crazy combi buses.

Huancayo

I also went for a walk up the hill for a great view of town and ran into a shepherd with some sheep on the way.  You never know what you are going to see next in Peru.  One of my next posts will be a list of random things I´ve seen and some silly photos.

Lima

Well, first of all, excuse me for all the weird typos – this is the joy of using internet cafes abroad with their crazy international keyboards.  I,m lucky if I can get the @ in most places without trying every possible key combination.

So Lima wasn,t as grim as I had expected.  In fact, there was loads to do and I ran out of time as I wasn,t in a hurry to do anything after I arrived. I managed to buy a ticket for the tourist train from Lima to Huancayo, which only leaves on a Friday, and I didn,t want to spend another week in Lima. 

I also managed to get around on public transport thanks to the efficient Metropolitano.  No, this isn,t a metro or underground but an express bus service with an oyster card system that runs north and south through the city.  I was staying in Miraflores very close to one station.  Unlike London underground,s outrageous prices, one trip on the Metropolitano only costs s./1.5 (about40p).  I think it opened in late 2010 so the buses are all new and clean (although rush hour is still like being a sardine in a can, whatever city your,re in).  I also had fun taking the little crazy mini buses that run around the city.

Highlights included a temporary exhibition at the Museo de la Nacion about the Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path, a Maoist insurgent guerilla group in Peru).  This was a series of grim concrete rooms on the upper floor of the museum displaying grim and graphic black and white photos of the killing and destruction carried out by the Sendero Luminoso from the 80s until now. The setting in the museum was perfect for the exhibition and the captions and information were informative.

Another highlight was this crazy lights/laser/fountain show called The Magic circuit of the Water in Parque de Reserva.  This is a series of fountains in a park set up in 1929 that have been developed into a tourist attraction (mainly for Peruvian tourists for some reason).  Think of the Jeppe Hein Appearing Rooms fountain on the Southbank on a grander scale.  There was a series of fountains with music and lights, and some interactive ones.  The main attraction though is the laser/projection light show on one of the fountains, which is incredible in a very cheesy Las Vegas kind of way.  I can hardly describe it (there are an array of videos on youtube if you are curious) but people were mesmerised by it.  I thought it was a good use of one pound.

I also got to share my first pisco sour (a cocktail made with pisco, lime juice, syrup, egg white and bitters) with Patricia (friend of a friend) who was a great host and tour guide on our evening out in Miraflores and Barranco!

The packing nightmare

I suspect I will look back on this post at a later date and give myself a good laugh at what silly things I had been worrying about!

I already knew that I was crap at packing light but I like a challenge.  I finally finished packing my rucksack and day bag and they are full to the brim!  This wasn’t quite the idea as you might remember me saying that I was only going to travel with hand luggage (how I laugh at that now!) and all the ‘experts’ I consulted said to only fill the rucksack to 75% capacity (to leave room for souvenirs and stuff picked up along the way).  Those ‘experts’ must have had 60 litre packs.

What I wanted to take...

 Here is a photo of what I originally wanted to take.

Some of the items removed after much umming and ahhing (and you’re probably wondering why I even wanted to pack them in the first place!)

– epilator (good old razors will suffice).

– neti pot and salt sachets (I’ll just have to have to blow my nose more often)

– a million packets of tissues (2 x packets and 2 x washable hankies packed    instead.  Why did I think I needed to take so many??!!).

– I cut down the sizes of the various little blister packets of medicines.

– 1 x pair of socks, 1 x pair of pants, 1 x vest top, 1 x bra. 

 

– mini playing cards (assuming everyone else will have these)

– yoga mat (I’m totally gutted about this but I will have to manage without one until I get to Australia).  Anyway, my practice shouldn’t be defined by a mat.

 

Bulky things that have stayed in:

– 2 x second hand books.  The Conquest of the Incas by John Hemming (recommended by Susana in textiles conservation.  I’ll have to read it as quickly as possible to get rid of it – it’s hard back and super thick) and 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (in case the Incas book is as dull as it looks by its cover).  I’m gutted that I couldn’t find my carefully packed away English language copy of The Open Veins of Latin America to finish reading.

– a rolled bandage thing in my first aid kit.  I might ditch this post Inca Trail hike, or cut it down to make it smaller.

– mini essential oils kit (probably not essential for most people).

– waterproof rucksack liner (in the event of rain on the hike to Machu Picchu)

 

Things that will/might get ditched  or used up along the way:

– printed out PDFs of travel guides. 

– beanie hat, gloves, thermals (packed on the basis that it’s cold in the Andes at night).

– spare reading book.

– contents of first aid kit, packets of probiotics, bottle of vitamin pills.

– err, whatever else I discover to be completely non-essential along the way.

 

And here is the final packing result!  This was only achieved thanks to some stern advice from Paco (via the magic of Whats App).  Note that the fleece is going to be taken out for the flight (like that will help!)

 

 

Now all I have to do is cross my fingers that Iberia don’t live up to their reputation for losing luggage on a more than regular basis…

      

Hasta luego!