Blogs from Ayacucho, Peru, South America
February 22nd 2012
After the heat of the jungle, it was time to head to the mountains for some cooler weather. This was a fine plan, except your correspondent had forgotten that he had not been at high altitude for quite a while and suffered accordingly when he got off the bus in Huancayo. Why, am sure you are wondering, has he suddenly mentioned this town in the Andes. The answer is simple – we were to stay here. Our accommodation was to say the least, quirky. Instead of spiders and mosquitos, this time we shared it with a dog, a cat and two parrots. One of the parrots would shout “hola” anytime the phone rang. Wendy looked on in astonishment as I tried to have a conversation with him, as did the parrot. He was obviously confused by ... read more
Its my dental decay...and I´ll cry if I want to.
Published: May 20th 2011South America » Peru » Ayacucho » Ayacucho
May 20th 2011
I believe in Karma. I think if you do something horrendous, Karma will find you and she will kick you in the face. Hard. You cannot escape the sweet justice of Karma. She keeps the world in balance. Just like if you do something good, you will be rewarded. However, lets face it, us humans dont often stretch ourselves to do something nice. Therefore we only have real experience with the hand of retribution. Which brings me to my week. Here I will take a short pause to ponder....what the fuck did I do to deserve this week? Karma got beef with me. So let me begin.... Firstly....Barclays bank can go fuck itself. Ok, I forgot my pin number. But I forgot my pin number because some cunt of a person stole my bag before I ... read more
April 26th 2011
When someone told us Ayacucho was holding Peru’s (and possibly South America’s) biggest Easter celebration, we were a bit sceptic, but intrigued none the less. So we decided to leave Pisco for the Easter weekend and arrived 8 hours later in Ayacucho on Thursday to find a fairly quaint place. However trying to book into a hostel, we realised that they were all completely full up and families were offering their rooms to rent for a ridiculous price. We found the most dingy hostel you have ever seen (but were thankful just for the bed), and then went to find a program of the weekends activities (which unfortunately was only offered entirely in Spanish). In my broken Spanish I understood that there was an “Easter” performance happening the next morning in the town square, so we ... read more
April 9th 2011
This is not easy to write so I do not know if it will be easy to read. Often when people heard I was going to Peru, they assumed that it was going to be a non-stop party. A way of escaping the monotony and boredom of life. I am the first to admit that I have no real aspirations career or money-wise. And I suppose many of you think its easy for me to leave behind England for a 4 month fiesta. Now, don´t get me wrong there are fun times and there are experiences I would never have if I spent all my life in England. I want to be here. And as such you have to take the good with the bad. Yesterday I attended a funeral for a 10 year old boy. ... read more
March 24th 2011
Hello again mis amigos! Yes I have deserted Old Blighty once again, for pastures Peruvian. So I am going to bring you all up to speed... I left Friday evening, and arrived Sunday morning in Ayacucho. Now look at that sentence again. Yeah...two days. Two days of my life either sat in a plane or in an airport alone. The journey was horrendous. The stuff of nightmares. First of all I had a 12 hour flight to Rio in Brazil. Now that was alright. It was a night flight so pretty relaxed. Then a 9 hour wait in Rio for my 1 hour flight to Sao Paolo. The wait was tedious, but better than the 24 hour wait I done in Lima last year. Then Sao Paolo...this is where the faeces hits the fan. I have ... read more
October 13th 2010
Omdat we tijd zat hebben en Peru groot genoeg is hebben we besloten dat het goed is als Thieu wat extra gaat reizen. Hij wilde graag Huancayo en Ayacucho bezoeken en dat kan mooi in weekje. Op zondag geprobeerd nog een vlucht naar Lima te boeken maar dat ging hem natuurlijk niet worden. Internet boekingen in Nl kunnen soms moeilijk verlopen, probeer het maar eens in Zuid-Amerika. Na 3 maal proberen te betalen met de creditcard heeft Thieu het maar opgegeven. Maandag maar weer eens proberen. Natuurlijk was het betaalbare ticket $136 op maandag alweer weg. Mocht hij nog willen vertrekken op dinsdag dan ging jhet $160 kosten voor een enkeltje. Het wordt tijd dat Ryan Air ook hier gaat rondvliegen. Dan maar kijken wat de opties zijn met de bus. Niet alleen krijg je dan ... read more
July 16th 2010
I havent posted anything for a while and I apologise for this. I am suppose to be keeping you all updated but a combination of laziness and lack of words has hindered me. So I have aorund 6 weeks left which is scary. The time has gone really fast. I have been spending most of my time with the disabled children. It has been really rewarding and it will be so hard for me to say goodbye to them, especially one of the little boys who I am in love with. Not in a horrible perverted way. Shows the kind of friends I keep when I have to explain that. I know you all...you filth fiends. Gut your minds out of the gutter. Anyway the house is still a hole but I dont really care anymore. ... read more
10) Wari and Quinua, from Under the Influence of Altitude
Published: July 17th 2010South America » Peru » Ayacucho » Ayacucho
July 11th 2010
It is a chance to get out of town and see the region. The antibiotics have taken effect; both sides have called a truce. With enough toilet paper in my daypack to hold me over, I am willing to make a go of it. The Wari, whose decline started somewhere near 1000 AD, controlled what is now all off Peru before the Incas. They left behind a city on a hill about twenty miles outside of today’s Ayacucho. It is an area that covers a little less than four square miles. Its ruins are an ongoing archeological project; much has already been excavated. Machu Picchu it is not. Bare retaining walls of smaller piled stones rise as high as thirty feet. It was once the protective shell of the community. Nowadays, they share dry, undulating landscape ... read more
9) Ayacucho, from Under the Influence of Altitude
Published: July 14th 2010South America » Peru » Ayacucho
July 10th 2010
For the longest time I have looked forward to seeing Ayacucho. A classic university town, it has shed its notorious reputation as the intellectual birthplace for the Shining Path. Nowadays, the Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) has left Ayacucho behind and has taken to the jungle for the economic pursuits of drug trafficking. In its wake is a vibrant and energetic city reborn yet still eschewed by the foreign masses. From Lima it is a long ride. From Huancavelica it is a shorter one, but completely hideous. Coming north from Cusco is a twenty-plus hour affair, which brings into question why anyone would take the risk of long-distance bus travel in Peru. Rosalinda and I have dragged our belongings to our room two blocks from the Plaza de Armas. The sun’s rays are waning. We are shattered ... read more
8) I Can't Feel My Knees, from Under the Influence of Altitude
Published: July 12th 2010South America » Peru » Ayacucho » Ayacucho
July 9th 2010
The problem isn’t getting to Huancavelica from Huancayo to the north. It is trying to arrange any sort of transportation from the departmental capital moving south to Ayacucho. This missing link assures that foreigners will not go out of their way to spend time in the area. Until a bus link is established, Huancavelica will remain very quiet and its potential underdeveloped. “Four?” Then there was a very deafening pause, “In the morning?” “I told you, that’s the only way we can get out of town without going back to Huancayo.” And I am NOT going back to Huancayo, so help me! I failed to verbalize that last point to her. Rosalinda was discovering the ins and outs of getting around Peru. Moreover, being from Juliaca in the flatlands of the south around Lake Titicaca, the ... read more
