Everyday is a Winding Road

About a week ago I was lucky enough to cross paths with two Canadians here in Chincha Alta. Pat & Jose stopped by the house and brought me and my temporary siblings along on a tour of the area, and that my friends is when things started looking up! This week Pat flew off to Cusco for a few days to see all he could see before returning home. Jose lives and works in a near by area called Chincha Baja. Here he is working on a

project to provide education to women in Peru and once the weekend got a little close was when the adventures really began!

Bright & early Saturday morning Jose pulls up and off we go for a road trip to remember. Just Jose & I ready to drive up into the mountains to a small village called Yauyos. As you can imagine, there were very few dull moments along the way. The first pit stop of many landed us in Canete, where they’re famous for making cat soup. Unfortunately we didn’t have the time or appetite to try such a feast, but maybe next time. Here we saw many many street bbqs where every person had a job and no one was left dangling by the sidelines. I saw women prepare a duck for lunch. It was an experience & one I’m alright without repeating.

Our second little excursion from the road was not far from LunaHauna. Here Jose & I wanted to see a small but deteriorating Inca site. It could have been accidental or on purpose but somehow we thought it was a good idea to crawl through the hole in the fence so that we could get up close and personal with history itself. It was ironic because as we were investigating the site I looked up & realized there was a tour in progress. One that we were supposed to have been on, paid for and kept a great distance from the ruins- but that would have been way to easy, wouldn’t it? Don’t worry though we didn’t end up in jail or anything like that.

After our break & enter we had lunch at Casa Hacienda. The trout was bigger than my face, but I put a pretty good dent into it, as my appetite is starting to reappear. This road trip introduced me to many Peruvian secrets. I saw donkey’s carrying water, cacti as far as the eye could see, fresh water rapids, multiple bridge constructions & met a lot of people along the way.

As Jose drove the car, I was in charge of the map and directions. Now, anyone who really knows me would know that directions & map reading are not really strong points on my resume; however, I was a co-pilot and was determined to succeed. Well, let me tell you this about that; do not ever depend on signs. They lie, or go missing and then you may or may not go an hour and a half further than need be! Though we may have ended up a little further than necessary we ended up driving a nurse up the mountain to be of aid to someone in Yauyos, because this little village in the sky is without a doctor so of course in my eyes it was all meant to be.

Now let me describe to you this Yauyos place. First of all is up, far far up into a bloody mountain. It’s so far up when you look down the cars look like little specks and the river is similar to a blue line. Yes, I was a little afraid. But I think you would too if you were driving 10 km up on a winding road that was constructed out of a mountain and only meant for ONE car, when very often it is needed to be TWO lanes!!

Once we made is up the winding road, the adventures only got more interesting. When I opened the door to my hotel room I realized I had two roomies, two black fury roomies that meow. As you can imagine I was far from impressed and they both got the boot. After getting the cold shoulder both spent the night in the hall guarding my door from any trespassers. Being up in the mountains was a great experience. We were able to explore at night and go to mass in the morning. The people of Yauyos are very friendly and ready to help at whatever cost. The women there dress differently than in Chincha with sombreros, ponchos, skirts and pants. Yauyos is also different in the sense that they don’t have a griffo, or gas station. On our way down the mountain we wanted to fill up, to prevent us from getting stuck which I thought was a fabulous idea and what ended up happening was an experience in itself. The man in the store prepared five gallons in different bottles and poured each bottle into Jose’s car, one at a time. Though the method was a little foreign we made it back alive and with a little gas to spare. Unfortunately the altitude did get the best of me and I was a little green in the face and experienced some instant dashes to the bathroom but all in all the trip was a great break from Chincha and one I will never forget.