Huancavelica

Published on: Fri, 12 Sep 2008 07:32:50 -0700

Interminably rising mountains. Trees and plants giving way to oxygen starved altitude and rock, occasional patches of snow on the higher peaks. Clear blue sky, no clouds. The winding dirt road clings to the mountainside, carved out of natural pathways that have existed for centuries, dropping off precariously to the right, just beyond the wheel of the car, into mile-deep chasms. Gray and brown hues with clumps of mottled green grass and moss drawing moisture from between the barren stone. Stone everywhere- scattered in the valley below, stone houses with thatch roofs, stone fences and corrals, small pyramid shaped piles of stone cleared from the fields, fallen stones in the road. Rounding a hairpin corner (hairpin a possibly unnecessary adjective, as all curves in the mountains are such), a herd of wooly llamas climbing the hillside to escape the intruding motorcade, brightly colored decorative and owner-identifying ribbons attached to their ears. Occasional groups of blunt faced Alpaca, less even tempered, spit-in-your-face-if-you-get-too-friendly cousins to the Llama, both animals distantly related to the camel. Occasional walkers along the road; women with traditional fedoras, brightly colored woven shawls and long dresses, men wearing peaked knitted caps with earflaps protecting the side of the face from the bitter cold and wind that drops the temperature to 5 degrees centigrade in the early mornings and evenings at 4,500 to 5,000 meters above sea level. We lowland dwellers reminded sharply of the reduced oxygen level when attempting to climb more than two or three steps up the hillside during rest stops (gasp, gasp). Crystal clear, freezing-cold deep-blue lakes nestled among the mountaintops. Native Quechua language falling lyrically but incomprehensively on Spanish or English accustomed ears. Children and adults in the villages with sun, cold and wind-burnt cheeks (pale gringos deeply empathizing after only a few hours in the environment). Strange dishes of roasted cuye (guinea pig, with tiny feet and curved-tooth heads attached), and 5 spicy varieties of alpaca meat (donīt be fooled - neither animal tastes like chicken). Offered drinks of pisco (grape distilled alcohol) drunk only after spilling some on the earth as a traditional offering to the gods. Impacting stories being retold of Spanish colonization at an abandoned mercury mine: when a baby girl was born to the Indian women, there was great rejoicing. The birth of a son meant breaking a leg or arm of the child so that deformity might keep him out of the mines, where an average of 80% of the workers did not return. Going from 5 degrees to 27 degrees and leveling out at 17 degrees centigrad during a short three hour descent from the mountains onto the pacific coastal plain. A land of contrasts: desert, above the treeline mountains, and Amazon jungle in one country. A short distance outside of Lima - Inca ruins, thousand year old pyramids in worship of the sun god, mounted stone upon stone and covered from top to bottom (before the arrival of the greedy Spanish) with gold overlay (like a piece of the sun had fallen from the sky wrote one of the first Spaniards to arrive.) Galleries rebuilt from ancient foundations where 12 to 15 year old girls chosen from the upper classes of the Inca population were kept and indoctrinated into the rites and honor of their eventual sacrifice, drugged at the end to keep away any last doubts about the honor of having their blood spilt upon the floor of the temple. Sophisticated astronomical observatories marked by the coordinal points of north, south, east, west. Colonial Lima, with century old ornate cathedrals and balconied houses in the midst of skyscrapers, office buildings, hotels and casinos. Block upon block of stores selling silver work (who can possibly buy that much silver?). Traditional craft work. Scarves, sweaters, wall hangings made from llama and alpaca wool, as well as the coveted vicuņa an endangered family member that still lives in the wild of the mountains and whose wool is considered the finest in the world (a scarf - $450, a shawl between $800-1,000).

Author: willum37
Keywords: Peru Images
Added: September 12, 2008