Shortly after Machu Picchu, Katie returned to California to guide on the American river.Brittany and I decided to take a route in Peru, less traveled. After a quick visit to Ayacucho and Huancayo, We based ourselves in Tarma; a city that I believe to be a good representation of life in the Peruvian Sierra. It is a city with access to many commodities.
The streets are full of market vendors selling an abundant variety of items: you can buy clothes, electronics, and even some foreign food.You can buy dog food and dog poison (bought to kill dog accused of eating a chicken) at the same place. There is beautiful and cheap produce, pirated DVDs, blender vendors, shoe and clothing repair, stationary, and so on. When traveling the cheapest place to eat is always in the markets.
The environment of this Peruvian city feels rustic, yet urban and modern at the same time. Many women wear big skirts with many layers beneath.They keep their hair long and in braids, atop their head is always an ornamental hat offering an abundance of practical sun protection. It is often that you will see one of these women carrying a baby on their back, cradled in tradition Peruvian clothes lined with color. Due to insufficient infrastructure trash is not an uncommon sight. It is not romantic, but it is real, it is different, it is familiar, it is interesting.
From Tarma, we took many day trips. We also spent some extra time with my friend Rachel who is in the Peace Corp in TarmaTambo. We experienced her tiny town, where we saw some quaint Inca Ruins at high altitude. We stayed with artisans in San Pedro de Cajas (a local capital of atresania).They are the parents of another volunteer; Laura. On the way back from this site we saw Gruta de Huagapo, supposedly the largest cave in South America. Finally, before returning to Tarma, we got a ride with some Peruvians eager to show off their homeland. The ride included a free detour to a trout farm and lunch. During this last chunk of time in Peru, we even had time to sneak one more waterfall into Brittany’s time in South America, with a trip to San Ramon.
After hand washing all of our very-dirty clothes and hanging them up to dry, it rains. Solution: rig up some drying lines in the room.
Artesians in San Pedro de Cajas
Gruta de Huagapo
Waterfall San Ramon
Since Brittany took Quira back to the States, this was also my goodbye for now to our Colombian fox.
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