Happy days in Peru


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South America » Peru
April 19th 2007
Published: April 19th 2007
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Right now i am in Chiclayo again, having a brief stop to look at the huge market here, especially i was curious about the witchcraftsection, it boost some cery photogenic stalls with masks, carved sticks and dolls. And if you want a luckamulet-this is where to go. They are eager to sell.
Whie others-are eager to talk. One elderly lady in the clothingsection joked about me taking her with me back to Norway-"yes, to sell her as a mummy to a museum" the nearby collaegues joined in. An other one was destined for circus.

Maybe somebody has heard that i like food...a few days ago i had a very satisfying foodexperience. Catacos, a big village not far from Piura a little further north is known for food-and craft. The huge craftmarket has a nice selection of pottery, basketry and woodwork-some of it the good stuff. Anyway, i trawled the streets after my lunchspot, found a restaurant with a menu featuring quite a selection of the regional dishes. But it was a little too expensive, and it loked in a way a little too upmarket-"sivilised" you could say. I felt that something was lacking, and continued my search. In an neighbouring street i found IT:a typical one storey brickbuilding nannouncing almuerco (lunch) and cicha (the traditional maizbeer drunk here since dawn of time). It was a big room with earthfloor and a few tables where a few locals enjoyed their food. An elderly couple, clearly in love, shared a mug of cicha.
I was reeived by a....sufficiently fed......indian woman, she looked a little surprised. The typical gringotourist generally is too afraid for their stomachs to eat criollofood in criollosurroundings.But we soon reach an understanding-seco de cabrito-goat stew-and cicha for me. Shhe then went into her kitchen to prepare the food-over open fire. The chicha was sered in those carved bowls traditionally used, from a piece of pottery witch design i last had seen in the museum of archaeology in Lima. The food was good, the chicha plentifull, the criollomusic loud enough to be noticed. It was with a great feeling of fullfillment that i left the place.

The road between lowland Piura and highland Huancabamba is something to remember-and something that will be remembered. The first coupla hours it go trough flat, dry lowland with small brick, concrete and bamboosettlements witch scream "i am the place that God forgot, the devil left and the army didnt want". The leg to remember is a long section of road more or less carved high into the vertical mountainsides. The road is dirt and gravel and so narrow many places that the bus only has a few centimeters clearance to the abyss. While watching out the window, i once saw part of the right backtyre going in open air. That was a moment of adrenalinerush. Another memorable eperience on the way back is how i was brutally awaken from a little nap:by a waterfall sending an arm in trough the wide open window and into my leap. Luckilly my camera was safe and sound inside a plasticbag.

My reason for visiting Huancabamba was its status as the capital of Shamans. In the area there are many clever shamans receiving visitors not only from Peru, but from neighbouring countries as well. Here you can get all services-healing, fortunetelling, you can cast a spell over your neighbour, secure good luck. The touristoffice at the busstation has a list of certified shamans, and arrange the booking, all you have to do, is paying. The shamans have their price.

At 4 am I together with a group of three peruvians left for Salala, the village where our shaman live in-he has a big house and a shining 4x4 Toyotajeep that match his prices. After having greeted the shaman, set up the deal and paid, nothing more happened for four hours. Hours that i could have found good use for in my hotelbed. But closer to ten, we lft th villge on mules, heading for the beautifull Lago Shumbe two hours ride away. I loved the trip, the landscape up there is amazing, clean, green and with huge dimensions. The Andean mountainrange isnt known for tinyness!
There are so many detail in those ceremonies, chanting, praying to the lakespirit...and terrifying enough-a bath where we had to do a ritual cleaning wirt a stone from the lakebottom while standing in the cold water in a 3200 meter above sealevel lake-before submerge into it. Before beeing allowed to dress again we were blessed from all the four directions. The altar was a wowen carpet on the cround. In front of it there were ritual swords and one of those carved sticks. On the carpet it was figures of a bull, a lion, a godess and some shells.

In the evening, starting at nine pm so it was total darkness, a 6 hour ceremony (and endurancetest) syarted in the shamans ceremonyroom, richly equipped with ritual objects, on the walls there were a big collection of photos from earlier, presumeably satisfied customers.
One of the more interresting parts of the session was the fortunetelling, the shaman was under the infuence of the halucinogenic san pedro cactus, the client too got a sip of the juice, but i donbt think any of us was under any conciderable influence-other ceremonies and rituals are far more hardcore in that respect. That is often said tat fortunetellers tell the customer what he or she want to hear. Here the picture was more nuanced....the father of the two other, witch was brother and sister, not a young ma anymore got some good news that he and his children clearly were satisfied with-before tellig him that in your life i see a nicely decorated military graveyard.....the dark room got even darker. As to myself.....africa will play a part in my future, i will start my own business and i will met a probably noneuropean girl that i eventually will marry. She is probably not latinamerican, more likely asian. Well, i have very little against asian ladies so why complain?
Alo our wish were transfered to the spirits in quite a logical way actually. The shamans helpers walked from person to person with a shell filled with sugarcanealcohol. We said our full name an blowed three times into the liquid while thinking about our most desire wishes. The alcohol was then consumed by the helpers trough their nostril-poor fellows-while the shaman chanted. The shamans and their helpers are the likn to the spirits, so putting wishes that way into tem, is like purring a letter into a mailbox. Bad spiritual infuence was getting rid of in a similar way, only this time the helpers went outside puking.
500 soles is what you have to pay for this, mules not included, but food in its most spartanous edition and a bed in a dormitory is included. It definitely is recommended s it give a unique insight into an important element of andean culture that under other circumstances is a world closed to the average tourist.

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