(And this is part of that story.)
First you need to know a little more about the country. Peru is a very diverse and multi-cultural country- it is divided up into 3 main sections- The coast (Costa), the Mountains (Sierra) and the Jungle (Selva)
Each of these areas are completely different. Different climates, different food, different scenery, different wildlife, different customs, sometimes different languages even!
My whole time here so far has been only in the coast. I have traveled quite a bit, but only in the coastal region.
It NEVER rains here in Ancon. Like, Never.
The ground is made up of dust, rocks and sand (and seashells!)
I live about 5 minutes away from the beach (as I write this, I am as red as a lobster from enjoying the sunny sand a little too much the past few days)
We don't eat guniea pig. We don't have a pet llama or alpaca. We don't wear ponchos.
The mountain country is very different.
I think most people think of the SIerra when they think of Peru. Thats where you will find the llamas, people eating guinea pigs, herds of lifestock, and women with broad hads and embrodered skirts, and little kids with rosy cheeks.
We (Pastor Walter, Clarisa and Myself) left one day after breakfast (bread, ham, cheese and coffee)
to join some other pastors and go visit a campground in the mountain country.
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| The group! lovely christians! |
We walked to the bus station corner, took a open taxi to another city, and then met up with 5 other pastors and took this van the rest of our journey.
Every year they have a peruvian pastor conference and wanted to find a new location to host it.
The journey by van was about 3 1/2 hours.
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| This is the van. |
Most of the way was unpaved, narrow, rocky roads high in the side of the mountain.
The altitude is about the same here as Breckenridge Colorado.
Immediately as we entered the mountains I began to see a different Peru.
When we arrived at the campgrounds- I came face to face with my first Peruvian llama!
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I was very excited to see the llama....( but sadly, the feeling was not
reciprocated… at all)
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| i am pretty sure he hated me :( |
I also saw my first real mango, banana, avocado and gaunabana
trees!
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| Árbol de Plátano a.k.a Banana tree! |
We ate at a road-side restaurant in the little town of Yangas. I had Trucha-
Fresh river trout!
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| Fresh, fried trout, french fries, rice, salad and of course- the most popular drink in Peru- INCA KOLA-* | * the psychedelic yellow liquid! taste a little like bubble gum... but you gotta try it to understand the addiction. |
On our way back through the mountain passes, we were stopped
by construction workers and told that we couldn’t go back the way we came for 2
more hours because they were working on the road!!!
Eventually, we found another route on the other side of the valley…
A very bumpy but good solution.....
until we found out that we had a BIG problem.
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| 2 lovely sisters in Christ. The one on the right is my "Peruvian mom"- Pastora Clarisa |
Now I know very little about cars (especially when the problem is
explained to me in Spanish...)
I am not sure what a belt does, but it had snapped
in half… Even I know that’s bad. (And I
know absolutely nothing of cars.)
2 of the Pastors hitched a ride to the city to buy a new
one, and meanwhile the girls got out and walked and the men pushed the van.
Here are some of the sights I saw in the middle-of-nowhere-countryside
of Peru.
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| Mountains! |
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| More mountains! |
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| Is it just me, or is that a JOHN DEERE TRACTOR In the middle of a valley in the middle of peru? |
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| little farm houses |
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| this okie girl felt quite at home in the country side- tractors, cows.... feels like home |
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| Goats! (or cabras) |
Finally by sunset (hours later), and by slowly making our way in the van (with pushing, gliding down hills, and making a make-shift belt out of rubber
and sacks…)
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we met up with the pastors with the new belt, changed it and headed
back to Lima!
A bus, and taxi later and we made it back home!
Whew! What an adventurous day! But we made it back about
9:30.
Covered in dust but all in one piece
(I suffered the only injury- a goose egg
on my head- the result of a metal van roof with a sharp corner and a big pot
hole.)
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