Day One

by Stephen · November 7, 2014

We´re back from our week long “loop holiday”. We started in Lima, then went to Ayacucho and Huacavelica by bus, then took a couple of mountain trains to get to Huancayo and back to Lima again.

Here is a link of the route in Google Maps, with the alternate driving route shown actually being the return path of our “loop”.

I´ll have to dig up one or two of the pictures we took on the bus itself. The seats were as wonderful as had been promised (160 degree recline advertised all over the bus), reclining so far that it was possible to turn and lie comfortably on your side. It was roughly ten hours, with lots of winding mountain switchbacks as it got later and we climbed up into the Peruvian Andes. The fact that our seats were on the second level of the bus emphasized the winding road by swaying gently when the bus went around corners. Morning announced itself with some bright Andean sunshine slipping through the cracks in the curtains into the bus.

We arrived early in the morning and found that the bus terminal we were using was only a few blocks from the center so we walked in and admired the very blue skies and bright sunshine. Lima has been very grey over the winter and we found ourselves almost physically stunned by the brightness of the sun in the mountains. Ayacucho is 2.8km above sea level so the nice thin air over our heads certainly made things look sharp and very bright.

We walked through the central square on the way to the hotel, and then down a pedestrian road past a church to get to our hotel. Below are a few pics. We were VERY pleased to see that our hotel room had a lovely big balcony outside with a couch and table in case one decided to watch the sun go down with a glass of wine.

In the picture on the pedestrian walkway, note the woman walking away from the camera. She is sporting what we found to be a quite standard countrywoman look from the highlands. It consists of a flat cowboy hat, skirt with petticoat and apron and a brightly colored cloth “bag” thrown over one shoulder. That bag is made by placing the brightly colored cloth on the floor, putting your stuff to be carried (often a child) in the middle, and then tying up the corners. Depending on how its done, it can either be a backpack with a loose strap or a tightly bound duffel to be put on the roof of a bus.