Huanuco and Huacachina

In the week I had before I had to meet my parents in Ica, Camilo finally asked me to be his girlfriend. If anyone had asked previous to him asking if we were already together, I would have said he was my boyfriend anyways. But we finally made it official after months of flirting and having fun together. So I started to look for somewhere relatively close to Lima (within 10 hours) to go check out before my parents came to Peru. A traveller had told me that he really enjoyed Huanuco. It's 9 hours from Lima and in an area I hadn't been yet, so off I went. I found the cheapest bus I could that left during the day so I could enjoy the changing landscapes as I left the desert of Lima to the mountains of Huanuco. Of course, the bus ended up leaving about 2 hours late, cutting my daylight hours significantly. In the end it too just over 10 hours to get there. The scenery I did get to see was still spectacular nonetheless. 

Peru never ceases to amaze me with the variety and beauty of the landscapes it provides. Every 30-60 minutes there can be a drastic change  so much so it's like you're in a new country every time. Driving from Ontario to Nova Scotia in 15 hours, generally everything looks the same before you hit Nova Scotia. So I find it pretty fascinating to take a long distance bus during the day here if I'm not going north-south along the coast. Once we left the desert, we hit some beautiful green, mossy, rolling mountains that looked as though they belonged in Ireland  (I didn't think to take any pictures at this point). Next we headed up over the mountains passing 4000m+ above sea level. There was snow on the ground and the clouds were so thick I could barely see 3 feet out the window. We then made it to Laguna $@),,6/82&; near Morococha*** where there's any icy blue lake surrounded by yellowy-green mountains. Next we flowed into mountains full of geological striations that had been flipped on their side at some point in their history. To finish off with the colourful sunset we were in planes of green lush fields. The city of Huanuco itself is beautiful with multicoloured houses spattered up the sides of green mountains with red earth poking through. 

When our late bus arrived near Huanuco a passenger told me we had only reached an outer suburb of Huanuco and I should wait for the terminal downtown, this made sense, so I listened. As the bus proceeded to drive along the outskirts of the city and come out on the other side, I quickly realized there would be no other stop and I had to go ask the driver what was going on. They let me on the side of the road but luckily I had realized early enough that there were plenty of taxis to take me into the city. Turns out there's not a lot to do in Huanuco. I spent most of the first day wandering around and got dinner with a French couple staying at the hostel. The next day it rained all day and was supposed to again the next day, so I decided to take the night bus back to Lima because I missed Camilo and could see him in Lima. And that's when he actually asked me to be his girlfriend. He took me to the bus station to send me to Ica to see my parents and he finally mustered up the courage to ask me. It was pretty hard to leave him in the bus station after. 


Right beside Ica there is a desert oasis called Huacachina. I decided to relax and stay there till my parents arrived. It's a very quiet and relaxed spot, though expensive because its just for tourists. The sand dunes around the oasis are huge. There's also a reserve around the are, so the dunes go for miles in some directions. The first day here I thought it would be fun to climb a dune. I left around 930am hoping to get back down before the sun got too hot. Turns out by 10am the sand is way to damned hot for my poor sensitive feet. I stupidly only wore flip flops, which were completely useless and  it was easier to walk bare footed. Going down the dune, I basically burned my feet. Luckily I wasn't the only moron burning their feet, on my way back down some people were just starting to head up. 

There's usually some pretty awesome sunsets along the coast, so I figured at night I'd climb a different dune I the direction of the ocean. Apparently the ocean is further than I thought, so I couldn't see it up on the dune, but the sunset was spectacular. The progression from blue to yellow to pink to neon red was gorgeous. And to top it of the red soaked dunes behind me had an almost full moon rising above them, the city and the mountains beyond. I went up again the next night to the highest dune I could find and the sunset was even better, even though the moon was covered by clouds. I got absolutely drenched in sand though. The wind at the top of the dunes blows sand everywhere. I've never been so completely covered in sand. When I got back to the hostel I let my hair down and a lot of sand showered all over me again. But it was worth the views. 

Spending time with some goats

I started to explore other areas of Lima with Camilo the week before I left for Huancavelica, apparently there is a good sized Chinatown here. The chinese food here is basically the same as it is at home. Central Lima has a lot of nice architecture from when after Spaniards invaded, with a lot of very grand and detailed buildings. Plaza San Martin and the main Plaza dÁrmas are huge and almost European, definitely a nice spot to check out. Camilo convinced me to go see a movie in the theatre which ended up being a bollywood movie that was fairly entertaining in a ridiculous way, but any time they spoke whichever Indian language, there were Spanish subtitles. Anytime you take a bus out of Lima it takes at least an hour to get to the outskirts of the city - it´s a ginormous city compared to anything in Canada. Lima can be a nice city and I´m sure anyone could find anything they wanted there.

Most people at the hostel only seem to stay for a day or two, so there have been a few different groups that went through. The first couple days everyone was speaking English. Monday night had a few different Brazilians arrive, who weren´t travelling together. So I quickly learned that I can understand a fair bit of Portuguese when I try to listen. Tuesday morning breakfast was again all in Portuguese, and me responding in Spanish. Wednesday morning had a bunch of French people arrive and some of the Brazilians also spoke French, and the other Brazilians had left. So everyone switched over to French. I´m really glad I can understand these languages or I would be pretty lost! Someone also spoke Italian to me the other day and I seemed to understand what they were saying. Up until that point I was not able to practice my Spanish very much!

I met Camilo when I was working at Let's Go Banana's in Cusco in September. We have been keeping in touch a lot and he invited me to go with him to visit his grandmother in a small village in the mountains. I thought it would be a great opportunity to see some more of Peru from in a non-touristy way and spend some time with him. We had become very close over the last few months. We took an overnight bus out to Huanta, Peru, about 10 hours east of Lima. From Huanta we had to take a small combi (minibus/van) another hour or so to a small village, then walk about 15 to 20 minutes to an even smaller village to get to Camilo´s grandmother´s place. The village really was tiny and during the day it's like a ghost town because everyone is out working in their chacras (fields). I don't think they ever get any tourists, everyone called me gringa (white person) and spoke to me in Quecha and seemed surprised that I didn't understand them.

Camilo's grandmother is 81 years old, but you would never guess it. Sure her face is really worn and old looking, but I've seen the woman wield a machete, she's strong and tough. Everyday she gets up around 5am and goes to check on her various chacras or talk to the neighbours, then breakfast and lunch are made and eaten (yes one right after the other). She would always yell at us to get out of bed if we were not awake by 6am, she thought we were just being lazy, but we thought it was better to cuddle than get up and do things. Once everything is consumed and cleaned, she gets her goats ready to take them out to pasture about 2 km from her house. The chacras she takes them to are covered in forests of thorns and cacti. Around 5pm she brings the goats back, makes herself and the other animals dinner (cats, dogs, guinea pigs, chickens). By 8pm it's bedtime. We basically helped her with her day. Camilo mostly cooked everything and then we would help her bring the goats to pasture and return to get them in the afternoon. One day we chopped down some dead trees using the machete and a hand-saw. We had to carry te wood back using mantas (the colourful cloths you tie around your shoulders with the contents folded on your back). It was my attempt a being a Peruvian, and it's surprisingly easy/comfortable to use them.

Camilo - the Peruvian version of a lumberjack

The moutains and the scenery there were amazing. Most of the scneey looks like something that might have inspired Dr.Suess. One tree eapecially looks like it with is curvy branches and bendy growth. In the bus station before we left Camilo's mom warned me that it would be very cold and rainy when we arrived and I should prepare myself for it. Turns out the rainy season on the specific moutain we were on doesn't exsist this year. It was constantly hot and sunny for us. You could see every other mountain in sight would have rain clouds streaming down heavy rains but our mountain would be cloud free and super sunny. This happened multiple days in a row. I should have taken a picture of all around to demonstrate. It was funny and strange, but I didn't mind not having the rain. It did rain a few times during the night, but that didn't affect us.

Lima Lima Lima

I've been getting a lot of flack because I got lazy about updating this blog. So for Peru - round 2, I'll try to get back to updating more often. I got a nifty new camera for Christmas as mine is still 'being repaired' in a store in Trujillo. It's been there for almost 2 months now. I called yesterday and he said maybe one more week. If it ever gets fixed, I'll have a friend from Huanchaco go pick it up and they can keep it if I don't end up going back there.

On the plane ride down from Toronto, there was an amazing sunset/moonrise going on. I was on the east side of the plane so I got to watch the full moon rise above the clouds in the colours of the sun. It was gorgeous. I tried to take some pictures but they didn't quite capture it. 

On the plane I already made a couple of friends with the two people sitting behind me. One was a young guy travelling similarly to the way I started my trip and the other was an older man coming to Lima for 4 days on business. I was telling them about what I was doing in Peru before and the man gave me $40 to buy something for someone in need whenever I come across them. He said that he prefers to directly give money to people in need and for some reason he trusted that I will pass it on, which of course, I will. Sometimes the world is a nice place.

It seemed like the trip was off to a good start, until I got to customs. I have now met the grouchiest Peruvian woman. As a tourist you are automatically given a 90 day visa, with a maximum of 183 days in a calendar year. Since it is a new year, I asked for the maximum and she proceeded to tell me that it did not exist. Anything beyond 90 days, you need o apply for residency. This is a complete lie. I had a longer visa the last time I was here. She was just being flat out rude. Now if I want to stay any longer than 90 days I need to leave the country and reenter or pay the $1 a day fine and risk more trouble if I ever want to return. Oh well!

I had never been a fan of Lima each time I´ve been here in the past, though I have never stayed here for more than 24 hours. In Peru if you take the bus anywhere, you almost always have to pass through Lima and get connecting buses. I came here probably once a month because of this before. Every time I was here, it was overcast, grey and dingy. The city never seemed to have much life to it. Lima has a population of about 9 million people, it´s huge. A lot of travellers had said they really enjoy certain areas of the city and people from here always say how great it is. 

So here I am, trying it out. I´m staying in an area called Surquillo, on the edge of the tourist district called Miraflores. While Miraflores is quite nice and very clean, it does not feel like Peru. All the stores are North American chains and it feels like a suburb. I walked down to the cliffs one day and saw a nice looking park overlooking the ocean. Once I arrived at the edge and looked down, I found myself staring at a giant mall built into the cliffside. It was rather odd. It looks like a really nice mall and it has amazing views of the ocean, but it really caught me off guard. The beaches of Miraflores are all rocks and about 10 feet wide, then you hit a major highway before the cliffs start.
  

Further down the beach ear the districts of Barranco and Chorrillos the beaches start getting sandier and much more crowded. Barranco is a really pretty neighbourhood full of older growth trees and beautiful architecture and is considered to be the artist district, though it didnt really seem that way. I was wondering around there and a girl stopped to ask me if I spoke English and we were headed the same direction, so naturally we ended up spending the du together. She is one of those lucky people who knows someone who works for Air Canada and she decided 2 days before to come to Lima for a week for almost nothing. I found the guy from the plane and turns out he's also someone who knows someone at Air Canada! They both paid round trip between $200 - $300. I hadn't met many other Canadians down here before and neither of them spoke any Spanish or had a clue why anything was, so it was fun to show them around and help them out. 

Lima seems alright. Still is not my favourite Peruvian city and I'll need to explore some of the other districts, but it is alright. There are a lot of nice parks, especially along the cliffs overlooking the ocean. Though, there are very few walkways down to the ocean to sit on the small crowded beaches. There hasn't been a lot of sun since I've been here, but when it does come out, it sure is strong! I got super burnt the feat day here and the sun barely showed, it was mostly overcast with some splotches of sunshine. The humidity here is almost comparable to Toronto in the summer, it's not quite that hot, but nearly. Having fresh ceviche (fish 'cooked' in lime juice and other flavours, served cold) again is really nice. I'd been waiting for Camilo to arrive back in Lima from Cusco before we set out on our mini adventure together and now we're ready to go on Friday! He's been back a few days now and we've done a few things around the city together. It's been nice seeing him again and I'm pretty excited to go the the mountains with him. I don't really know where we're going or what we'll be doing, but I know it will be great!