December 30, 2010
How many countries can you travel through in 9 month. I just counted the countries we have visited. We are in Peru, the 9th country, in the 9th month of our journey.
When I received this travel plan, back in Mexico last February, I was told, it would be a 9 month journey. I have known all along, that the end of the Ruby Road is at Lake Titicaca. Then we can do, be and go wherever we want. Maybe a new plan will follow.
The road to Balza, the Peruvian border, was unbelievable. A continuous steep climb on a dirt road that got smaller and smaller until it was just a single dirt track to Zumba, where the busline ends. I had met a young Israeli on the bus, together we continued on a pick up truck to the international bridge and entered Peru. Sky just ran accross the border and in to the Customs building, while we had to get several stamps from immigration and police, located in different shacks. There are no bus services from Balza. A little Moto taxi arrived, to take us to the next village 3 km down the road. When Sky heard the taxi, he came out and jumped on. We travelled by auto, with 4 adults and a 6 year old child in the rear seat, 2 passengers in the front and the driver for 4 hours. Sky was in the back and probably the most comfortable. At some town we switched to a Micro bus, thinking it would be better, alas it was not.
Jaen, the first major town, where we spent the night, appeared chaotic with hundreds of moto taxis buzzing through the streets and very few cars. We finally arrived in Chachapoyas after another 5 hour ride in a car with too many occupants.
I loved the country side we had come through, but would probably never again want to endure that much physical discomfort getting somewhere, when there are other options available.
A visit to Kuelap, a pre-Inca citadel, high in the mountains (3000m)let me forget soon, the road less travelled. Karajia and Pueblo Muerte, where whole mountain sides are full of tumbs, mostly unearthed, are amazing places. I spent Winter Solstice walking among our dead ancestors. Most of these sites have little protection, or just a small portion of it is included. It is very common for farmers to find bones, vessels, painted masks while clearing a hillside and keep the goods in their house. It took me a couple of days getting used to the roads in this part of Peru, where they are generally dirt, steep, narrow, far and very curvy. The trails to the sites or hiking anywhere match the roads, leading along steep cliff sides and over rickety foot bridges. Peruvians are manic drivers, who will pass other cars in the dead of a curve, but I got used to it. Gocta, a 771 meter high waterfall (3rd highest in the world)was another highlight near Chachapoyas. There are great treks in the area, but the rainy season started, so I opted to head to the northern coast instead.
I wanted to see the Moche Temples of Las Huacas del Sol y de la Luna, famous for their beautiful polychrome friezes. This time we booked a comfortable overnight bus to Trujillo and arrived rested in Huanchaco, a small beach and surf village.
At first I was not too excited about the coast. There are big waves, undercurrents
and the village is surrounded by dessert, with hardly a plant sticking out.
After a couple of days there, the village started growing on me. It had a really good local feel, the people were very nice and there were relative few tourists.
I decided to stay for the Christmas Holidays.
On Christmas Eve, about 6 pm, a procession arrived in town. Apparently the procession had left a few days ago, carrying the Virgen de Socorro and San Pedro 13 km to Trujillo for the Blessing in the great Cathedral and was now returning back home to their own church. This was not anything I had ever seen before. From the outside it looked more like a carneval parade, with people in costumes, except for the Saints and Virgin being carried. Soon I learned, the first group of dancers were the black mask beings, representing the evil existing in humans. The second group were the demons and devils of the other realm. The demons had these amazing headmasks and very colorful costumes, dancing all the time while making deep growling sounds. They represented the dark spirits on Earth and around humanity. Infront of the Virgin and Saint Pedro, who met up with San Jose in town were a group of girls in angel dresses. All this was accompanied by great fanfare, fireworks, poems, speeches, music and gifts of flowers being presented to the Virgin.
It was amazing to witness the love and devotion of the people to their Virgin, so much beauty, joy and love. I felt half drunk in this flow of hightened energy and continued with everyone else to the church for the midnight mess. After church the families share a sumptuous dinner and exchange gifts. At 2 in the morning you could see lots of kids out in the street playing with their new toys. Christmas day business is as usual, except the beach was packed with families from Trujillo comming for the day.
My next stop was Lima, but when I arrived there, I wondered why I wanted to be in Lima and instead continued on to Ica, to an Oasis nearby, called Huaca China.
That place was great. A very small community of 200 people living around a lagoon, surrounded by huge sand dunes stretching far out into the dessert. Sky and I hiked a few large dunes in the evenings. He especially enjoyed the run down. I also tried out sandboarding. Great fun....!
Nasca and the great Nasca lines are next on our itinerary before turning back inland to Cusco.
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