CAMINA EL AUTOR: Juancho's travels in Peru

Neat video: "Lima, Higher Up"

2012-02-25T14:52:00.002-08:00

I recently received the link to a really cool video, with amazing -and amazingly beautiful- images of Lima from the air. I immediately knew that I needed to share it as well.

In Spanish: "Madre Mar" documentary

2012-02-20T19:53:00.001-08:00

Madre Mar is a documentary created by a quintet of Peruvian friends to warn the rest of us about the pressing need to conserve Peru's marine ecosystem and resources in the face of the growing pressure put on it by indiscriminate fishing practices and pollution. (Unfortunately it's not been subtitled in English.)

Chinese New Year in Lima

2012-01-21T23:35:00.000-08:00

On the eve of Chinese New Year, I thought I'd share these photos taken by Liz in Lima's Chinatown during the Chinese New Year holidays in 2008.

Tickets

2012-01-14T13:46:00.001-08:00

My tickets for this year's trip to Lima are purchased!

Happy Holidays!

2011-12-09T22:22:00.001-08:00

Ornaments on this year's tree.

La Tarumba!

2011-11-07T19:43:00.000-08:00

Near the very end of our stay in Lima Willy, Elba, Toya, and Orlando invited us to the La Tarumba circus show in the southern district of Chorrillos.

La Tarumba is a locally developed circus that seeks -and manages- to combine circus with music, song, and dance. Among its directors and performers, for example, they count Amador "Chebo" Ballumbrosio, of the famous musical family from the city of El Carmen. Ballumbrosio, son of his much-admired namesake, brings an Afro-Peruvian musical sensitivity and rythm to La Tarumba.

La Tarumba started in the 1980s as street performers. In the early 1990s they managed to establish an HQ in a house in Miraflores, and in 2003 they were able to purchase their tent. According to their website they felt at then that they were finally "a real circus", and committed themselves to putting on a show a year, every year.

So far, they've kept their word.

This year's installment was Quijote, based, of course, on the story of Don Quixote de la Mancha written by Miguel de Cervantes. It is a story that is well-known in Latin America, Cervantes holding a similar place in Spanish-language literature as Shakespeare does in English. Moreover, Quijote's tenacity of struggle against all odds and his daring to dream of a better world resonate with Latin American's own history of struggle.

The windmill scene

La Tarumba did a wonderful job at creatively bringing the elements of the story to life in the circus ring

Don Quijote

By the end, the audience was visibly moved by the show and Quijote's longing for love and a better world. It really was quite moving and sad, but La Tarumba was not about to let people leave on a down note: Ballumbrosio led the musical ensemble in a rousing number drawn from traditional Afro-Peruvian music celebrating the harvest and celebrating life.

This was my second time attending a La Tarumba show, as I had also gone with Willy and Elba during last year's season. I loved the show each time. I do have a hard time, however, deciding whether first place in the audience's hearts is taken by Ballumbrosio and the musical ensemble, or by La Tarumba's troupe of trained horses.

Convent of Santa Catalina de Siena de Arequipa

2011-10-16T11:05:00.000-07:00

One of the main attractions in Arequipa is the old Convent of Santa Catalina de Siena. Santa Catalina was built in the 16th century to accomodate the desire of the townsfolk of Arequipa for a convent in their city. Informed of thi wish during a visit, Viceroy Toledo, granted the necessary licenses for the establishment of a Dominican convent. As few years later, a young widow, Maria de Guzman, decided to take the vows and enter the nunnery, and in 1580 the convent was formally inaugurated and Maria named "the first inhabitant and prioress of said Monastery."

For four centuries, Santa Catalina was community closed off from the rest of the world, enveloped in a mantle of silence and mystery, which contributed to both idealized imagining of life behind its walls and to lurid rumours. Pehaps each had some measure of truth. Santa Catalina, it is true, was a female-run world that lived by its own rules, laws and customs, dedicated to prayer and religious duty. On the other hand, many of the nuns came from wealthy families and sought to preserve their status and comforts within the convent's walls, bringing servants with them, building -or buying- large personal "cells" with sitting rooms, private kitchens, and running water, and continuing to wear jewelry and gold. One prioress, who tried to curb these practices, was the object of three separate poisoning attempts during her tenure!

At its peak the convent housed some 400 women, about 180 of them being nuns, and the rest servants, slaves, young women boarded there for their education, and women who had been given asylum by the order. In the 1870s by order of the Pope, the servants and slaves were released, being given the choice of remaining and taking religious vows, or leaving the convent altogether.

Several dozen Dominican nuns still occupy a closed portion of the convent. However, earthquake damage in the 1960s led the nuns to construct new quarters at the north end of the convent, fitted now with electricity and running water -in accordance with municipal regulations- and the majority of the convent was largely restored to what it looked like in days past (although most of the upper stories and roof accesses are now long gone) and opened to public tours in 1970.

I have to honestly say that the convent was one of the more memorable places we visited. It is utterly fascinating to imagine the world that its walls must have encompassed, one little changed the course of the centuries. A veritable city within the city, the 5 acre convent has streets, plazas, fountains, a cementary, and districts as any town would, as well as a hospital ward, a laundry, and a communal kitchen. The frequent need for repairs has made Santa Catalina a veritable catalogue of Arequipeno architectural styles through time. I think we took more pictures there than at any other single site

Colca 5: Santa Ana de Maca

2011-10-04T21:43:00.000-07:00

On the way back to Arequipa from Cabanaconde and Cruz del Condor on July 30th, our driver had us stop at the town of Santa Ana de Maca, whose main attractions are a small church and photo opportunities offered by enterprising locals.

Maca, located at 3262 meters (10,702 feet) above sea level, is a small town at the foot of Sabancaya volcano. In 1609 it was made the seat of the colonial bishopric of the region. Today the town lives from farming and a small share of the tourist economy.

The church was built in the 1600s, out of sillar, the white volcanic stone that is characteristic of the region's architecture. It was rebuilt after it was partially destroyed by a fire in 1759.

When we arrived there was a mass going on, and although we were not prohibited from entering, I hung back by the entrance for a bit. I was able to catch enough of the mass to realize that it was a misa de cuerpo ausente, a funerary mass marking an anniversary -likely one month- of someone's death. I chose then to exit and return later.

Outside, however, I was annoyed at a gaggle of European tourists who hung about snapping pictures of the parishioners and mourners as they left, particularly of the women dressed in the colorful traditional attire. I did realize that they had no idea of the solemnity of the occasion, nor were they dissuaded by their own guide, but it still bugged me.

The inside of the church itself is relatively ornate in contrast to the outside, but still less so than so many other baroque churches in Peru. It reflected a small town's best attempts, and evoked a prosperity long gone.

On each side of the nave there were effigies of saints, including a saint (Santa Ana?) in local attire and a 17th Century life-sized Christ the Nazarene. There are also paintings of the Cusqueno school and plenty of gold leaf.

To the left of the altar, in a side nave, there were stored the andas, or litters, upon which the effigies are carried in procession through the town on their holy days. Also kept there was rather detailed, life-sized effigy of the dead Jesus in a glass coffin, no doubt for the Easter Friday procession.

Being at the foot of the volcano and near a geological fault that transects the valley, the church of Maca has suffered damage throughout the centuries. Fortunately it was declared a national treasure in 1980 and has been restored and maintained through funding provided by the Spanish crown.

Next to the church a couple of locals had trained eagles to stand upon tourists' arms, knees, shoulders, or heads. He requested a donation for letting one take pictures with the birds, and no doubt garnered far more that way than if he had requested a set amount.

The birds themselves were quite handsome and surprisingly heavy, as well as patient.

After a few minutes of this we reboarded the bus and continued our way back to Arequipa.

Colca 4: Condors

2011-09-15T19:33:00.000-07:00

Of course, part of the attraction of the Colca and of getting to Cabanaconde is that of rising early in the morning for the opportunity to sight some Andean condors.

The Andean condor is is the largest flying bird in the world. Adult males can attain a weight of 33 lbs, and a wingspan of 10.5 ft, which also gives them the largest wingspan of any land-based bird.

About 15 min outside of Cabanaconde, on the road to Chivay, is Cruz del Condor, a prominence that is not only located across from a prime condor roosting area, but is itself a stopping point for condors as they warm up in the early morning sun, waiting for the thermal updrafts that will carry them up and down the valley, even as far as the coast.

That morning -the 30th of July- we were able to view almost a dozen condors -mostly juveniles, thus still lacking the white ruff that characterizes the adults- circling on the canyon's thermal updrafts, and wending their way down the valley.

By going down a bit further from the overlook platform than I did, Liz, Jacho, and Rafa were able to get a closer look at some condors -the two in the video above- as they stopped at a boulder below the platform. Liz took the pictures below with her phone.

It was pretty neat seeing the condors, specially having the chance to see so many of them at one time. As a child of 10 I had seen a number of them as they flew over the beaches of Paracas (where I was camping with my Boy Scout troop) looking for dead sea lions, but it was always one at a time, and only one or two per afternoon. Over the years Liz and I have also been lucky enough to spot one here and there in our travels - in Huarochiri (in the mountains of Lima), on the road from Huaraz, or high above us, in the skies over Ollantaytambo, so to see a bunch of them at one time, and interacting with each other, in the wild was a true privilege.

Colca 3: Cabanaconde

2011-08-30T21:38:00.000-07:00

On our night in the Colca Canyon (July 29th), we stayed in the town of Cabanaconde, which is the seat of the district of the same name, in Arequipa's Caylloma province.

Beside condors, Cabanaconde is known for the exquisitely embroidered traditional clothing worn by its women. It contrasts from the also highly decorated clothing of the women of Chivay in that the latter employ apliques of sequins and beads to achieve the decoration while Cabanaconde women exclusively use embroidery.

There is also a legend related to Cabanaconde that concerns the Incas. It seems that the Inka Mayta Capac arrived one day with an "army" and built terraces in the valley. There, this "army" build terraces and planted corn at various levels, and once it had sprouted, departed, ordering the local Cabana people to not touch the crop until the Inka's return.

Seven years passed until Mayta Capac returned with another "army", this time of farmers, who harvested the ears. The corn had in the intervening years differentiated itself into seven varieties adapted to different conditions in the valley, and thus gave rise to the Cabanaconde corn, which is famed for its quality throughout the south even today.

Part of the view from our hotel


Ruins of an old private chapel, as seen from the hotel balcony

We spent the night at the Hotel Kuntur Wassi, a place of somewhat ecclectic-seeming design, but friendly service and good food - I had a terrific lomo saltado there (and if you recall what I said previously about eating lomo saltado out you'll understand that this was quite something) and we were treated to a welcoming cocktail, and an after-dinner digestif from a selection of cane liquor macerated with Andean and Amazonian herbs.

An interesting feature of our night there was that the beds were dressed with thick hand-woven wool yarn blankets and the air was so dry and the static electricity so strong up there that in the middle of the night's darkness sparks would flash whenever one rolled over in bed!

It was nice to fall asleep to the baah'ing of the sheep next door and the hee-haw'ing of the donkeys across the way.

Cabanaconde lies near the western, downstream, end of the Colca Canyon and across the valley from the western flank of Bomboya mountain. The mountain is sadly in the Peruvian newsmedia a lot these days thanks to the disappearance four or five months ago of Lima university student, Ciro Castillo. His then girlfriend, Rosario Ponce, was found by rescuers after wandering alone on the mountain, she says, for nine days since she and Castillo argued and went their separate ways. Since the start there were questions raised about Ponce's testimony and the behaviour of the couple in the day, or days, previous to their purported separation. In any case, Castillo's dad has been roaming the mountain since, hoping to locate his son's body, Ponce has been tried in the media, and the case is the talk of the town throughout the the region.

We departed Cabanaconde early on the 30th of July, after a morning stroll and visit to the plaza.

Colca 2: Choquetico

2011-08-19T18:01:00.000-07:00

On the 29th of July the eleven of us, plus my infant niece, who had traveled to Arequipa ventured into the Colca Valley. We had hired a van to take us to the town of Cabanaconde and back to Arequipa on the following day. After passing through the Salinas y Aguada Blanca National Reserve, over the high puna at Patapampa, and through the mountain passes, we descended into the valley near the town of Chivay. After lunch in Chivay we headed down the Colca Valley toward the canyon carved by the Colca River and toward Cabanaconde.

One of the sightseeing stops along the way was at a locale called Choquetico, near the town of Pinchollo. The attraction of the stop at Choquetico -which is simply a stop at the shoulder of the road and a peek over the edge of the cliff- is a pair of carved boulders.

Choquetico is something I had not know about until I noticed what looked like a representation of a carved boulder on a model of the Colca Valley in Arequipa's Museo Santuarios Andinos. My interest piqued, I made sure to ask our driver about it and was pleased to confirm that indeed we would be stopping there.

The reason for my excitement was that what I expected to see, and indeed did see, was an ancient carved boulder made to resemble the terracing on the slopes opposite, on the other side of the river, or at least what they looked like in pre-Inca times.

There are a few similar image stones scattered throughout the Peruvian Andes, perhaps most famously at Saywite. They were apparently instrumental in fertility or rain ceremonies directed at the earth.

If one looks at the photos one will notice the presence of a well atop each stone, with channels leading from it. It seems that chicha or llama blood were poured into the well until it ran down the channel to the terraces carved into the stone, as water from the mountains above would flow down the slopes to water the agricultural terraces. In "watering" the stone's terraces the priests thus symbolically watered the valley's slopes.

Overlooking the site are a pair of tombs placed high up on a cliff. They would be nearly invisible but for the red paint applied by the ancients - in the Andes red was a color assiciated with nobility (the Inca royal "crown", for example, was a red tassel at the forehead). Bothe tombs were sacked long ago, but their presence underscores the sacred nature and ritual nature of the site to the ancient Collaguas -as the people who inhabited the valley before the Incas arrived were known.

Colca

2011-08-17T19:18:00.000-07:00

After about three hours on the road, we suddenly descended from the heights of Patapampa into the Colca Valley, near the town of Chivay. Chivay, at the eastern, and upriver, end of the valley, is the economic and administrative hub of the area. There, one must buy a Colca "Tourism Ticket".

That seems like a bit of an imposition, since one is simply paying to enter the valley, and the roads are public after all, but the regional government has allowed the Colca communities a certain autonomy in running local affairs and permitted them to impose that fee on tourists, so it is as it is.

Near Chivay

At this point, the Colca Valley is just that, a valley. It's a highly agricultural area, and nearly every available hillside is covered in agricultural terracing, some predating even the Inca presence in the valley.

Near Pinchullo

It isn't until near the town of Pinchullo that the river has carved out its famous canyon. By then -shortly outside of Chivay, in fact- the road asphalt runs out and the road turns to one of packed-earth, until it nears Cabanaconde, our destination at the other end of the canyon. At this time of year -winter, and the dry season- the road was bumpy, dusty, and slow, but traversable. I'd hate to imagine what it woud be like at the height of the rains in January or February!

Cantuta blossoms. Peru's national flower.

Near Cruz del Condor

At Cruz del Condor

Volcano Alley

2011-08-16T20:57:00.000-07:00

There is a string of volcanoes in southern Peru that runs from the department of Moquegua in the south, up through Arequipa, and ending in the southern provinces of Ayacucho. Part of that stretch, a bit to the north of the city of Arequipa, is known as Valley of the Volcanoes.

The road to the Colca Valley from Arequipa does not pass through or near the Valley of the Volcanoes, but at a stretch along the Arequipa-Colca highway, across the plateau of Patapampa, one can not only glimpse the southern extremity of the valley, but on a clear day one can take in about 20 snowcapped, mostly volcanic, peaks.


On the left are the volcanic summits of Mt Ampato -where the naturally-mummified body of an Inca girl, subsequently nicknamed "Juanita"- was found, and Mt. Sabancaya. On the right is Hualca Hualca.

In the photos above, you may notice piles of stones. Those are apachetas, offerings left by travellers at the high passes as a gesture to the wamanis or apus of the mountains. There are a lot of them at this spot because, not only is it the high point of the road - 4,910 meters (16,108 ft) above sea level- but it is also a stopping point for viewing the vista of volcanoes, known as the Mirador de los Volcanes.

Liz the Explorer, at the Mirador de los Volcanes. Behind her in the distance is Mt. Chachani.

Salinas y Aguada Blanca National Reserve

2011-08-16T12:15:00.000-07:00

To get from Arequipa to the Colca Valley one leaves the city and skirts around Chachani volcano, following the Arequipa-Juliaca highway, and then takes the turn-off toward Colca. On the way to Colca one must cross the Salinas y Aguada Blanca National Reserve.

The reserve encompasses 366,936 hectares and contains a number of fresh- and salt-water lakes and ponds -for which it is named- plus bogs and other high-altitude wetlands, as well as dry puna, volanic deposits, and snow-capped volcanoes. It was created in 1979 in order to protect the fauna, flora, and natural landscape of the area, and in particular to preserve habitat for vicuñas and guanacos - wild relatives of the domesticated llamas and alpacas.

The average elevation is above 4,000 meters a.s.l. - for example, at one spot where we stopped for a break the elevation was 4,225 m. (13,861 ft. a.s.l.), and at the Mirador de los Volcanes the road passes 4,910 m. (16,108 ft. a.s.l.). Having been in Arequipa for a couple of days already seemed to have helped a bit with the altitude.

ICEFALL

At one point along the way the road passes through the blown-out caldera of an extinct volcano. While that's pretty impressive in itself, it is made even neater by a rather large icefall beside the road.

VICUÑAS

For the visitor, even ones just passing through, one of the primary attraction of the national reserve of Salinas y Aguada Blanca is the chance to see some wild vicuñas.

The vicuña is a wild cousin of the llama and the alpaca, and is one of two nondomesticated South American camelids - the other being the guanaco, which also inhabits the reserve but is rarely seen. Vicuñas wool is among the finest in the world, and a garment made from it can easily fetch (US)$1000 or more. The vicuña population in Salinas y Aguada Blanca is managed by the peasant communities within the reserve, who annually gather the animals for shearing, and patrol the reserve against poachers the rest of the year.

We were lucky enough to spot vicuñas both, on the way to, as on the way from, Colca.

Vicuñas live in small herds of one male and a handful of females. Young males are kicked out of the herd, and wander for a while, until they establish herds of their own or they are strong enough to chase off another male and take over his harem.

Which means that this individual was likely a male a year-old or thereabouts.

VIZCACHAS

Another animal which occurs at those altitude, and which is normally quite shy as well, is the vizcacha. Being usually described as similar in appearance to a rabbit, but really being much more like a chinchilla, vizcachas nest in crevices and spaces in between and under rocks throughout the Peruvian Andes. They are sometimes hunted for their pelts and for food.

We were lucky, on our way back to Arequipa, to catch some sunning themselves on the rocks piles that had been left from clearing the roadbed through the Patapampa plateau, at above 4,800 meters a.s.l. (15,750 ft.).

Yanahuara

2011-08-12T14:28:00.000-07:00

About 1.5 miles from the city center liesYanahuara, a district of the province and of the city of Arequipa. Yanahuara is a mainly middle-class area which is known as one of Arequipa's more "traditional" and picturesque neighborhoods. Many of its buildings, particularly in the area known as "Yanahuara Vieja" (Old Yanahuara), are constructed from white sillar stone, amongst them the Church of San Juan Bautista, on Yanahuara's main square.

Church of San Juan Bautista (1750)

The Church of San Juan Bautista (i.e., St. John the Baptist) was built in 1750, with an addition completed in 1783. With it's ornate carved sillar entryway, it is often regarded as one of the most representative examples of mestizo Baroque architecture in the area.


Liz and I at the mirador, with Misti volcano in the distance.

Next to the park and church there is a mirador, or lookout point, comprised of a sillar arcade, decorated with inscribed quotes from famous arequipeños. From the mirador all of dowtown Arequipa can be glimpsed, along with the three volcanoes - Chachani, Misti, and Pichu Pichu- at whose feet the city lies.

The view from the mirador.
Chachani is on the L, Misti in the center, and Pichu Pichu on the R.

Arequipa is famed throughout Peru for its cuisine and mongst Yanahuara's other attractions are a number of well-regarded picanterías, or restaurants where traditional, old-style regional foods are served.

Clockwise from top L: Chupe de camarones (crayfish stew), and Liz at picantería Sol de Mayo;

spiced pork and beef steaks at Picantería Nueva Palomino; Kola Escocesa (Scottish Cola), a regional soft drink;

Arequipeña beer; Chicharrón de camarones (deep-fried crayfish) with fried yuca, at Nueva Palomino.

More on Arequipa

2011-08-12T09:46:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Arequipa is in the southern Peruvian Andes, at an altitude of 7661 ft (2335 m) above sea level. It is Peru's second largest city and a hub of political and economic life in the south of the country.

Plaza de Armas

In the past, Arequipa competed with Lima for clout as Arequipeños resisted the centralization of economic and political life in the capital. Though Arequipa is a friendly, welcoming city, arequipeños are a proud lot and not given to suffer indignities lightly. Over the years they have even staged a number of uprisings and rebellions against limeño authority. In fact, in the airport and in souvenir shops around town one can buy a "passport" from the "Independent Republic of Arequipa" - offered with tongue very-much-in-cheek, of course. Today, Arequipa is currently one of the fastest-growing cities in the country and, as trade with Chile and smuggling into Bolivia have increased, its economic clout is once again on the rise.

The city of Arequipa -which is the capital of the department of the same name- lies at the foot of Misti volcano, and is flanked on the north by Chachani volcano, and on the south by Pichu Pichu volcano. A bit to the north lie a number of other volcanoes -Ampato, Sabancaya, Coropuna, etc.. Some of them -including Misti- remain active though -mostly- quiet.

Misti volcano

Being in a volcanic zone, it is not surprising that Arequipa is prone to earthquakes, having been almost utterly destroyed in 1582 and, again, in the 1780s. More recently, it experienced strong quakes in the 1950s and in 2001 a quake with a 7+ rating on the Richter scale severely damaged the cathedral and hundreds of homes and historical buildings.

While there, I remembered my mom having mentioned that one thing she found charming about Arequipa was that, with a dose of great common sense, the stones of the Plaza de Armas' archways had all been numbered so they could be more easily put back in place after being brought down by quakes.

I looked up and, sure enough, there were the numbers!

Of course, all that the volcanoes bring is not just woe. Not only do they add beauty to the landscape and water from their snow packs, but they have also literally provided arequipenos with the building blocks for their city.

For centuries, arequipenos have been using sillar, a local white volcanic stone, as building material. Sillar has become a signature of the city, and has given Arequipa its nickname of the "White City".

Arequipa's cathedral

Visiting Arequipa it was easy to see why so many consider it their favorite city in Peru. The streets are clean and traffic is relatively light, the food is great - as are the people- and the clean, dry mountain air and frequent sunshine make a marked contrast to Lima's winter damp and overcast. And, in the background, there are always those beautiful, snowcapped volcanoes ...

We're back

2011-08-12T08:24:00.000-07:00

Yes, we're back in California and all is well here, though we had a sprinkler system failure and parts of our lawn paid the price of insufficient watering. The kids and the animals are all well and healthy.

After the apartment in Lima, our house here seems so loud and busy, what with the larger amount of furniture and stuff, and all the movement and noise generated by two kids, a big dog, three cats, and three hens moving through and around the house and yard!

Arequipa

2011-08-05T22:04:00.000-07:00

On the 27th a group of twelve of us ventured south, to the city of Arequipa, located at 7661 ft (2335 m) above sea level in the Andes, at the foot of three volcanoes - Chachani, Misti, and Pichu Pichu.

Misti volcano

We stayed at a nice little hostal, the Hostal Las Mercedes, in a building erected in 1936 in a Belle Epoque style. The hostal was furnished with original period furniture in the lobby and sitting room, which lent the place a grand -if somewhat worn- air.

Our hotel, the Hostal Las Mercedes

The Las Mercedes staff were all very friendly and helpful, making staying there a real pleasure.

Grau Bridge over the River Chilli, with Misti in the background

The hostal is a tucked a bit out of the way, next to a bypass by the river, bit it is a relatively easy 10 min. walk from the main plaza, which made it a convenient base of operations for exploring downtown Arequipa.

Arequipa Cathedral

Apartment

2011-08-05T21:10:00.000-07:00

Among the things that have been keeping us busy in these last days in Lima there has been a bit of shopping and housekeeping.

One of the things we promised ourselves on this trip was that we'd not leave Lima without having obtained a dining room set. For a while it seemed that we'd not be able to keep that promise to ourselves, but then we wandered into Saga Falabella on Ave. La Marina again and found a set we liked.

In addition, we purchased a print by a contemporary Lima artist I like, German Kino Ganoza, who goes by the nickname of "Cherman".

So, bit by bit the apartment is coming together and reaching a "finished" stage - at least in the main parts (The bedrooms still need a bit of work).

Lima Book Fair

2011-08-01T23:33:00.000-07:00

Last night, after resting up a bit after our return yesterday afternoon from our trip to Arequipa (more on that later), Liz and I walked to the Lima International Book Fair. The fair -which this year is in its 16th yearly "edition"- has been held for the past couple of years in the Los Proceres park (also known by its old name of Mata Mula) here in Jesus Maria.

As always, the book fair was a great draw, pulling in enough booksellers and publishers to fill almost 140 stands, including representations from Venezuela, Argentina, Ecuador, Turkey, and China. Even late on a Sunday night it was packed with people and the line of parked cars stretched for a couple blocks from the event site.

I got some nice books there, but I am most pleased with a facsimile edition of Garcilazo de la Vega's 1609 treatise, Primera Parte de los Comentarios Reales, que tratan del origen de los Yncas, reyes que fueron del Peru, de su idolatria, leyes, y govierno en paz y en guerra: de sus vidas y conquistas, y de todo lo que fue aquel Imperio y su Republica, antes que los Españoles passaran a el. That book, known in English as the Royal Commentaries, was a landmark history and description of Inca Peru as it was the first written by a descendant of the subject of the book - Garcilazo was descendant of Inca emperor Tupac Yupanqui. Lima's Universidad del Pacifico decided to mark it's 40th year of publishing by printing the full-size facsimile edition of the book.

An original copy of the Comentarios Reales displayed in Garcilazo's childhood home in Cusco

On the way home Liz and I mused about the success of the book fair, which draws people in droves, day after day over almost two weeks, and hat makes such an event possible here, as contrasted to the USA where book fairs are smaller and shorter events, with far fewer publishers represented.

Arequipa

2011-08-01T13:09:00.000-07:00

On the 27th Liz and I, and my cousins and some of my nieces, traveled to the southern city of Arequipa. We stayed there until the morning of the 31st, and while there took in the sights and took an overnight trip to the Colca Valley, currently regarded as containing the world's deepest canyon.

We've now got just over a week left here and so are getting rather busy wrapping up loose ends before we head back to the US.

2011-07-26T20:03:00.001-07:00

As I write we have finished packing for an early-morning departure tomorrow to the southern city of Arequipa, a trip that will include a night spent in the famous Colca Canyon.

Unlike the trip to Cusco, where it was just Liz and I, this time there's eleven of us making the trip. Should be fun, with lots to see, and everyone is looking forward to eating some of the cuisine for which Arequipa is famous throughout Peru.

Pisco Day

2011-07-26T19:40:00.000-07:00

Sunday was National Pisco Day and at the Circuito de Aguas there was a pisco and marinera festival, so we headed there to enjoy the fountains and have some pisco along the way.

The city had shut down the large, record-setting fountain in the park and in the esplanade around it there had been set up a number of booths run by various pisco producers. We got to try some pisco sours and classic chilcanos, but the stars were some chilcanos at the Sol de Ica booth prepared with pisco infused with fruits, vegetables, and herbs. We tried a blackberry or mulberry chilcano that we weren't that impressed with, but we had our horizons expanded by a chilcano made with sweet basil leaves and cucumber slices, and a spicy one made with aji-infused and ginger-infused piscos.

In addition, we got to watch part of the game between the Peruvian and Spanish national sub-20 teams being played at the National Stadium next door, as it was broadcast on a giant screen at the water park.

Lima Water Park

2011-07-25T19:44:00.000-07:00

Last night we -Liz, Diego, Rafa, Miranda, Jacho, and I- headed to the water park -the Circuito Magico de Aguas- as it was host to a pisco and marinera festival for National Pisco Day.

We had quite a time getting to the park as it also happened to be the night of the inauguration of the completely remodeled National Stadium, right nextdoor, with a game between the national youth soccer teams of Peru and Spain. To make things worse, the president arranged for the national soccer team which placed 3rd in the Copa America in Argentina on Saturday to be at the stadium, so the crowds were huge inside the stadium and outside.

Eventually, we made it into the park after 9 o'clock and had a really nice time wandering through the gardens and enjoying the fountains.

Most of the fountains are strictly for viewing, some coreographed to music -as in the one in the video above- but there is one that is interactive and a perennial favourite:

No matter what the season or the weather it is always filled with young people trying their luck at avoiding getting soaked.

Rafa and Liz managed to get through with only their shoes getting wet, but Jacho got hit in the behind with a jet of water!

Feeling better

2011-07-22T18:52:00.000-07:00

In coming to Peru people tend to worry -and rightly- about intestinal problems, but we tend to forget that, as in the north, winter here is also flu season. After being laid out for several days with a flu I've finally starting to feel human again.

We went with Willy this morning to take a handwoven Cusqueno blanket to be framed for the living room, and then spent the afternoon at his apartment chatting after a family lunch gathering.

As I write, it is Friday evening and we are sitting at home watching Peru's sub-20 female volleyball team play Egypt in the 2011 World Cup, and I'm chewing on BUK cough drops.

BUKs -or pastillas BUK, as we call them in Spanish- have a long history with our family, as our great-aunt Alicia -Mama Pali's sister- used to own the Dover pharmacy on Ave. Arenales, and she would give us a pack of BUKs as a treat whenever we visited her at the pharmacy.

Don't know what we'll do later, if anything, but we're looking forward to the weekend and to next week's trip to Arequipa.