Walking around Ayacucho.

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Hello all,

Hope you´re managing to keep warm over there. Been checking out the UK weather reports and very glad to be where I am!!

Vicki, Wendy and I decided to go for a wander around some of the parts of Ayacucho that we hadn´t seen yet. We decided to miss lunch at the house so we weren´t restricted for time. I went equipped with a bottle of water, a bottle of Inka Cola, two packets of Dorritos and some Peruvian chocolate to make sure I maintained my energy levels (my excuse and I´m sticking to it!!).

We took a taxi to the Mirador in up in the hills. This is a tourist area with a large white cross. Some of the earlier photos of Ayacucho included in the blog were taken there.

We headed down from there through an area called Carmen Alto which was really pretty and very traditional.

From Carmen Alto we headed down towards the river planning to walk along there, which we did, although I have to say that a nose clip would have been helpful given the smell!! There is a big sign up at the point where we started walking which says that anyone dumping rubbish in the river will be prosecuted. Wish I had taken a photo of it. You´ll see from the photos I did take that no one pays it much attention.

I´m not really going to say much about our walk as the photos are self explanatory with their comments. They´ll hopefully give you a further insight into Ayacucho. One comment to make is that Ayacucho is kinda like Glasgow in the sense that there are numerous small parks etc dotted around the city. These aren´t quite on the same scale as some of the Glasgow parks or anywhere near as green, but make a nice stopping point all the same!

When we arrived back in town, we wandered through the markets. I finally found the courage to take some photos of the meat stalls to let you see. As I said, if you are quasi vegetarian, being here would make you decide to become veggie!! The chickens look like they have been totally petrified when they were killed, and the meat in the markets is all manually handled and exposed to the open air (numerous flies and bugs etc!!).

In the markets there are also areas where they keep the live animals for sale. I find this pretty distressing as they are all cooped up in tiny cages in a hot stuffy market area. Have attached some photos. At one point, one of the ladies selling the live produce caught my eye and asked what I would like to buy. I explained "Soy vegetarian - no tomar carne" which means "I´m vegetarian and don´t eat meat". She immediately responded that I should eat meat as I needed to fatten up and build up my muscles!! Didn´t have sufficient Spanglish to explain that I´ve been this size and shape since I was 17 regardless of whether I ate meat or not!! Have to say though that I definitely look and feel a lot skinnier here. Can see it in my photos and feel it in my clothes. Needless to say I´m losing weight in all the wrong bits!! Typical!!

Mum - do you remember the time in America when I was a wee girl and you had to hustle me quickly out of a dime store as I was about to release all the wee birds from their cages?? Well - I feel like that whenever I see the animals in the markets, but that is how the people live here. They had roosters, chickens and chicks, ducks and ducklings, guinea pigs and rabbits all cooped up in these cages.

Some of the nicer areas of the markets and the fruit and flower sections - very bright and colourful. The cheese stalls are also very interesting, but exceptionally smelly!! The cheeses are all made by hand by the ladies selling them.

After leaving the markets, we headed to Gringo Plaza where we spend a lot of time in the evenings. Have attached some photos to let you see how it looks. We then headed down to the main plaza (more photos attached) and then to the prison market, so called because the market is located in the original Ayacucho jail. Managed to finish the shopping I had to get for my cousin Sharon and we then headed home.

Whilst we were out, Wendy regaled us with the tale of one of the youngsters who was leaving today. He was out last night and had apparently stayed up all night (probably partly the reason I had very little sleep!!) as he was due to catch the 6am bus to Lima this morning and then a connecting flight home to the USA. He did make the bus, but hadn´t bothered to purchase a ticket in advance. As a result he wasn´t allowed on as it was full!! Understand he headed for the lunchtime bus instead. No idea how that will impact his onward travel. Reckon it serves him right and he´ll learn a tough lesson. Incidentally this is the same boy who overslept and missed his flight for his trip to Macchu Pichu!!

Internet in Ayacucho was out again for an hour or so, but now successfully restored as you can see.

Had a nice hot shower before dinner which was bliss!! After dinner Wendy , Vicki and I headed off to the Gringo plaza where I had a beer before bedtime. Whilst there we were serenaded by a guy on the pan pipes. He was really good and played El Condor Pasa!!

After that was home and off to bed. Will have an early start tomorrow with my new roommate arriving off the Aero Condor flight first thing.

Caio for now!

Lesley

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