Peru Travel Report 4: From Huaraz to Chavín de Huantar

From Huaraz to Chavín de Huantar

Chavín de Huantar has a somewhat unconvenient location, so that you are almost forced to return to Huaraz after your visit. But it's worth the trip. Chavín de Huantar features an archeological site which was considered the oldest in Las Americas until the exploration of Caral where I had gone before.

Archeological site of the Chavín culture

Spacious tunnel system

But moreover, in Chavín de Huantar you can really experience the life in a small village which is mostly left out on the tourist routes due to its remote place.

Although the bus trip from Huaraz takes several hours, it was really entertaining due to the breathtaking landscape.

Think terraces...

 Lagoons...

 Steppes...

Ok, this is not really a steppe. For some reason I deleted all my pictures of the beautiful steppe. Saving memory...

 ...and a very nice seatmate who explained me a lot of his hometown near Chavín.

You also noted the state of development of Peru's countryside. My seatmate announced excitedly that later we would pass a tunnel. Wow. It turned out to be a single-lane rather short pipe, but long enough to be pitch-dark due to the lack of any lights. When I asked if it was normal in Peru that tunnels didn't have lights, he didn't really understand what I meant. So, I suppose people don't even think of the possibility that there could be light. Well, we passed safely and without any approaching traffic. But how will these single-lane tunnels work when Peru develops further and there will be more cars on the road?!

In Chavín I also discovered several liquid delicacies, which I then had almost every day on my trip. I started with Agua de Quinua (Quinua water) and proceeded to Emoliente, which described different mixtures of medicinal herbs. I especially liked the one with alfalfa and aloe vera. All of these beverages are taken warm or even hot, so they are perfect to wake up after the freezing Peruvian nights and to pick up pace.

Agua de Quinua

I really had a good timing, because the day I visited the town, there was also a culinary fair with local delicacies. Although mostly meaty stuff, it was still impressive to see the variety, for example of different kinds of tubers:

Peru, home of the potato... "The" potato? Well, rather the millions of different types...

The return trip to Huaraz was also kind of interesting. I didn't have such an entertaining seatmate anymore, but instead I saw a lot of canvassing...

At this point I still didn't understand why different candidates used such strange images. Later, someone explained me that illiteracy in Peru was still very high and these pictures would later appear on the ballots together with the names. So illiterate people could still recognize their candidate by the image.

I also wondered why people would "deface" their house with such ads. Apparently people either get a little amount of money, or they are promised a job if the candidates wins the elections. Well, who knows...

The other thing which made the trip more entertaining was to find out that you could just tell the bus driver to let you off if you had to pee. So, at some point we stopped and almost all of the guys left, formed a line next to the bus and relieved themselves, while the rest of the group was watching the spectacle from the window. Strange. And it felt somehow "wrong" to take a picture of this ridiculous situation. Sorry.

In generel I felt that people didn't really want to be "papped". So I mostly made my shots "undercover". This especially works great when the bus stops somewhere, lets people of in the middle of nowhere and you can sit at the open window and grab some unique memories... Travelling in Peru is an uncomparable experience!