Blogs from Cajamarca, Peru, South America
March 24th 2012
20.–24. mars 2012 Cajamarca. Som avslutning på året vårt som bosatte i Lima, er vi nå på en 6-7 ukers tur nordover i Peru og Ecuador som ryggsekkturister. Reiseruta er grovplanlagt. Vi har ikke bestemt akkurat hvor vi vil stoppe opp eller hvor mange dager en stopp vil ta. Det eneste vi vet sikkert, er at vi må tilbake til Lima for å fly hjem i begynnelsen av mai. Eventyret startet hjemmefra i Lima kl 03:00 for å nå flyet til Cajamarca kl. 05:10 (med LCPeru). Cajamarca ligger oppe i fjellene nord i Peru. Kvelden før hadde vi bestilt rom på hotell Laguna Seca (www.lagunaseca.com.pe), 7 km utenfor byen. Dette er et spahotell med varme kilder og ligger ca. 1 km fra Los Baños del Inca, det berømte badet til den siste incakongen, Atahualpa. ... read more
March 12th 2012
Het verkeer in Lima is crazy. Op de piektijden staat er overal file en is het in krioelende hoop auto's. Alles rijdt kris kras door elkaar. Je moet hier niet gek op kijken als de auto die op een vierbaansweg op de rechterbaan voor het stoplicht staat links af slaat. Het resulteert in flink wat claxonneren maar het werkt. Naar Pachacamac reden we over de Pan-American Highwaydie op sommige stukken in één richtig 5 banen breed is. Benzine is hier een stuk goedkoper als in NL. Toen we gingen tanken betaalde Patricia 12 solles voor 1 gallon. 1 gallon is 3,78541178 liter. 1 liter benzine kost in Peru 0,90 euro. Het openbaar vervoer zijn hier allemaal busjes die een bepaalde route rijden, daarnaast rijden er heel veel taxi's. Ik verplaatste me dus hoofdzakelijk met taxi's. Voor ... read more
Le carnaval à Cajamarca, au Pérou.. un carnaval haut en couleur!
Published: April 3rd 2011South America » Peru » Cajamarca » Cajamarca
April 3rd 2011
Après Copacabana et le lac Titicaca côté Bolivien, j'ai fait un long voyage pour me rendre de Copacabana à la frontière Pérouvienne, puis Puno, Arequipa, Lima et finalement, Cajamarca, et ce, sans arrêt dans ces villes, sinon le temps d'attendre mon prochain autobus. Soit, ce fût plutôt long. Pour l'occasion, je me suis offert la meilleure compagnie d'autobus de Pérou, Cruz del Sur, qui offre le meilleur service et confort, incluant même du wifi à bord de ces autobus. Quoi que la connexion fût plutôt mauvaise, j'ai du me résigner à ne pas en faire usage... Avant le départ, on vous filme à votre siège et vous demande gentiment de regarder la caméra pour quelques secondes, question sécurité.. En cours de chemin, on joue même au bingo.. idée d'occuper les passager un certain temps et de ... read more
November 7th 2010
Dnesni den zacal opet brzy. Uz o 5 jsme byli vzhuru, abychom stihli bus, ktery mel jet o 6/podle mistnich/, ale nakonec dosel az v 7. Cesta nas vedla z Tinga do Cajamarcy a podle pruvodce to mela byt skutecna natrasacka prdeli... zadny asfalt, jen ujezdena zemina, misto tak pro jedno auto a pod vami sraz tak 300 metru. Docela zazitek jako z filmu, kdy se uz vidite na dne kanonu. Nezbyva vam jen se modlit - pokud verite nebo verit, ze ridic cestu zna. Okolni scenerie peruanskych And byly neuveritelne a nakonec jsme byli radi, ze jsme tuhle cestu jeli, i kdyz po 11 hodinach toho mate vic nez dost. Po ceste se stavelo na snidani, na obed, pro nas neobvykle, pro mistni normalni. Dalsi zvlastni veci bylo rozdavani pruhlednych plastovych pytliku cestujicim-nejdrive jsme si ... read more
June 11th 2010
South American Wanderings We left Galapagos a month ago now, semester ended, visas expired and we were sent flying back to Quito where the Andean climate was crisp and cold and beautiful…such a change from the humid sea level of the islands. Sad to leave but the time was right to move as I suspected I´d feel. After leaving we spent a week at the home of one of my teachers about an hour out of Quito. A beautiful German woman called Judith with a big mud brick home, horses, chooks, children. We spent our time debriefing about uni, discussing conservation and planning and dreaming future research ideas. Riding horses in the golden light of the late afternoons, cooking delicious food. One day we climbed to the first refuge of Cotopaxi mountain, Ecuador's highest volcano…at ... read more
June 7th 2010
For individuals traveling on their own Peru is not really the best country. Apart from the main tourist centres and big towns like Cusco, Arequipa or Lima it is quite difficult to find proper hostels with dormitories, shared kitchen and other social facilities. Especially in regions that are less touristic traveling is all about guest houses that are like mini-hotels without any shared facilities and only private rooms. Thus, I found myself spending loads of time only with myself after Angela had left Peru. I usually do not mind spending time on my own and I even enjoy traveling alone for several days. But after I left Huaraz I simply had too much time all by myself. Therefore, I was not very amused when I heard that I was supposed to be the only person on ... read more
The impact of Chuchuhuasi (or something similar)
Published: June 6th 2010South America » Peru » Cajamarca » San Ignacio
June 6th 2010
The reason why most tourists visit the area of Chachapoyas is the archeological site of Kuelap which is supposed to be the second most famous ruin in Peru besides Machu Picchu. I knew that Kuelap would and should be my last Peruvian site - after spending more than five weeks in Peru I had the feeling that I had seen enough ancient Peruvian stones...I was Peruvian-sites-brain-dead. And I will definitely not forget this sightseeing tour. :o) I was the only foreigner in a group of crazy Peruvians and after the trip to Kuelap the whole group got completely drunk on Chuchuhuasi (Was that the name? If not it was something similar at least...), a local drink that tastes like a sweet whiskey liqueur. As a result, we had quite a crazy bus ride back to Chachapoyas ... read more
May 31st 2010
The city of Cajamarca looks like a mini-version of Cusco. It was this place that Francisco Pizarro came to in order to start the conquista of the empire of the Incas. Atahualpa, the last Inca emperor who was in town on this way to Cusco offered him two loads of silver and one load of gold that would cover his whole body up to until where his hand would reach. Pizarro took the treasures and still beheaded Atahualpa. After two nights on the bus and a day in between visiting archeological sites around Trujillo it was time not to think too much about ancient ruins (Even though I could not resist visiting Cumbe Mayo whose rock formations somehow reminded me of the Mühlviertel ;) the perfect time to spend a rainy afternoon in the Baños del ... read more
April 11th 2010
Arriving in Cajamarca from Trujillo, it was a pleasant change to be welcomed by cold and wet weather. The overnight bus was annoyingly too short, arriving at 5:30 in the morning, but luckily most hostels are 24 hours, so I was able to arrive at mine around 7ish. After resting a bit in the hostel, I headed straight for the main square with the aim of booking whichever tours interested me. In the end I booked 3 half days tours for a total of 10 pounds for all 3, including all transportation, entrance fees and a guide, which was surprisingly cheap. (There was one tour, which I didn’t book, which sounded bizarre - basically observing farmers calling their cows over to them one by one by calling out each cows’ name). Some of the tour agencies ... read more
February 21st 2010
Cajamarca - Carnaval From the humid jungle to the mountainous, dairy capital, and largest Carnaval celebration in Peru we went. Cajamarca is definitely my favorite spot in Peru. It is absolutely beautiful and the people there are very kind. It is surrounded my green mountains, full of day hikes and pre inca ruins. It has an awesome plaza de armas, that is absolutely wild during Carnaval. Carnaval was full of parades, elaborate costumes, reynas, dancing, live music, parties in the plaza that went on all night long for 4 days with people singing and dancing while passing around bottles of warm, homemade liquor mixed with maracuya juice. The last day of Carnaval is a "mourning" celebration. Las viudas (widows), which are actually men dressed as old woman from each barrio compete to see who does the ... read more
