Another Chicha, Please!

One of the great joys of traveling is when the totally unexpected happens.  That serendipitous moment that stays with you for the rest of your life.  This happened yesterday in the small town of Cajabamba, about a 3 hour bus ride from Cajamarca.

Some Belgium folks that we met told us that we had to got to Cajabamba on our way to our destination town of Huamachuco.  We would arrive on Sunday, when Cajabamba has a huge market that sprawls all over the town.  We left Cajamarca early and for three hours on the bus had amazing views of Andean mountains and valleys.  These aren´t the gigantic Andean peaks around Cusco and the Sacred Valley, but beautiful rounded mountains with farms going up the sides.  Small villages are everywhere and one of the villages we passed had a livestock market with lots of cows, bulls, pigs, goats, sheeps and chickens for sale.

When we finally arrived at Cajabamba, we discovered that practically every street in town was torn up for sewer work.  Even the town square was totally blocked off with blue tarp and was being reconstruced.  The sound of very loud trucks, backhoes, and those hand held things that tamp down the dirt was everywhere!  Que lastima!!.  It was horrible and I was so bummed that we came to this town.  So we decided to forget this place and get on the next bus to Huamachuco, our original destination.   The next bus would leave at 4;30, or 4 hours from the time we arrived. 

The market was going gangbusters and indeed it spread all over town.  Many ladies in the local straw hats were selling everything you can imagine.  Many had potatoes, a local product, many kinds of which I have never seen. 

We wandered all over town and after awhile heard music coming from high on a hill.  Down a large staircase came a bunch of young women and girls, all dressed up in what I can only describe as chicken outfits.  They were covered in yellow feathers and were followed by a 5 piece Peruvian band of flutes and drums.  We followed them down to a house, where they all went into a courtyard where there was already some kind of party going on.  We looked in the door and were immediately invited in by a local guy, a lawyer named Manuel.  We watched the girls dance to many songs played by the band (pictures are on our Facebook page) and were handed a plastic glass which contained a yellow liquid...the famous chicha of the Andes.  Chicha is a beer made from corn that has been made here since at least the time of the Incas.  It tastes a bit sweet and bitter and is quite tasty.  It was a bit of a risk since this is made from the tap water, but I figured what the hell.  All the big wigs of the town were at this party, including Mr. Mayor himself.  Mr Mayor was taking pictures of us, as I am sure it is unusual to see a foreigner at this party, and just a foreigner in this town at all.  They were all very nice and more chicha was offered and drank, the band played on and the girls got to eventually stop dancing and eat some lunch.  So you see, you just never know.  What started out as a kind of bummer turned into one of the highlights of the trip.

So were barely made our bus to Huamachuco and had another beautiful ride of 3 hours.  Huamachuco is a town that is barely visited by tourists, although it has two great ruins, Marcahuamachuco and Vircochapampa.  It also has the largest town square in all of Peru and this square is filled with topiary of things like llamas, conquistadors and a kangaroo.  Don´t ask, I have no idea.

The main ruin to see is Marcahuamachuco, a huge fortress perched on top of a 10,000 foot hill above town.  Archeologists don´t know much about it, except that it dates back to around 300 AD.  When we arrived at the hotel, we met a nice Peruvian tourist from Lima named Javier.  He said we love to come with us, so this morning we all took a combi (local mini bus absolutely filled with people as much as they can squeeze in) for the 10 minute drive to the base of the hill.  From here, it was a one hour 900 foot climb to the ruins.  When we signed in, a local guide and his brother took us around the ruins, which stretch about 3 kilometers across the top of the hill.

The place is pretty impressive and we spent about 3 hours walking around.  But finally it was time to start the long path down and then the long walk into town.  Lucky for us, when we were on the road a pick up came by and picked us up.  They even took us right to our hotel!  It is here I would like to mention how friendly Peruvians are.  Except for the occasional robber, Peruvians are friendly and very polite.  I really like the people here.  They are always willing to help you and are all very interested in who you are and where you came from.

Now it is time for a short word from our sponser.  There is one special food here that I have learned I cannot do without.  This little item has given us energy when we were feeling low and just makes you feel good.  It is just about the best chocolate bar on the face of the earth and I have to admit we have introduced this little gem to a couple of fellow travelers and they, like us, have become addicts.  This is the Sublime chocolate bar, with peanuts.

 Okay, back to today.  This afternoon, fairly late, we decided to hike to another ruin, Viracochapampa, about a 45 minute walk from town, down a steep hill.  We walked through back roads past small houses with folks doing their daily stuff and eventually followed what we later learned was part of the royal Inca road into the ruins.  We were met by Pedro,  the very polite and well uniformed guide and caretaker of the ruins.  He had us come into a little room, dark with dirt floors, where we filled in the usual book, who we were, our nationality, passport number, etc.  Then we led us around the ruins explaining everything very well in his very polite manner.  Unfortunately, it was starting to get dark and it was starting to rain pretty hard, and we had a long slog up the hill back to town.  By this time is was absolutely pouring and we were lucky to hitch a ride in a taxi.  But the taxi, although he tried very hard, just couldn´t make it up the dirt road.  So we had to get out and walk, along with a local lady who was in the car.  She just shot up the dirt road, although all she was wearing were sandles and we were wearing hiking boots with Vibram soles.  We finally made it to the top of the hill, absolutely soaking wet and were able to get a local tuk tuk (called moto taxis here) who took us to the hotel.  So here we are, tired, wet and hungry and it´s time to go get something tasty to eat.  You see, we forgot to bring a Sublime to the internet cafe.