Huancayo, city of Wankas and festivals!

Huancayo, home to the Wanka tribe and city of festivals, 3280m (10,760ft) in the Andes and 380 kms (236 miles) from Lima, was our home for 3 weeks. We fancied taking one of the most beautiful train journeys in the world from Lima to Huancayo, it's also the highest train journey in the world reaching a height of 4815m (15,800ft), but it only runs once a month, a schedule which defies the most organised travel itinery! And our travel itinery wasn't organised anyway!

Huancayo comes from the original quechua words "huanca-ayllu", meaning people or town of stone. There are many archeological sites of the Huancas (also known as Wankas) around the valley, but the tribe only covered a small part of Peru. The Spanish (conquerors of Peru in the 1500's) changed the city's name to Huancayo, meaning 'incontrastable', that is, a city with no comparison to others, due to the fact that the Wankas were very heroic in various wars, and most spectacular in their resistance to the Incas (who were the conquerors before the Spanish). The Incas would normally assimilate conquered tribes into their culture but the Wankas were unique in maintaining their own cutural heritage. More recently Huancayo had been the headquarters of the brutal terrorist Maoist group, Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path), the shine soon faded, however, when their leader, Oscar Ramirez Durand was captured in 1999! Since then Huancayo has been a safer place.

Anyway enough of the geography and history lessons! We stayed with a great Peruvian family with about 10 other volunteers. The family headed by Tino run a small volunteer and cultural exchange organisation called Tinkuy Peru. I (Gerry) taught English to a group of teenage boys in a local orphanage. With their little English and my little Spanish we had a great laugh! Denise helped Tino in developing a curriculum for the under 5's nursery he hopes to start. Tino is a master weaver and teaches weaving to the volunteers, using 3 looms which dominate the living/dining room. Denise knocked out a uniquely designed rug (or is it a bedspread?). We really enjoyed our stay with Tino's very friendly family and a great bunch of volunteers.

I give more details about the trips we did while in Huancayo in the next article.




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