Day 2: Cómo se dice "Never a Dull Moment"

Today was muy interestante.  We started our journey towards Huancavelica around 7:30am and stopped less than an hour later to have the muffler soldered.  The “auto shop” had a pit dug into the ground that you drove your car over and then the mechanic climbed into the pit and soldered our muffler.  In the 30 or so odd minutes we spent standing on the side of the road under gray clouds, we saw some random chickens, a few motor bike taxis, and countless trucks honking at us as we took pictures.

Once we were on the road again, we stopped about 30 minutes later at Tambo Colorado, an Incan ruin site.  It was absolutely breathtaking, with the fog lifting from the mountains in the distance and admiring architecture from hundreds of years ago.  The adobe bricks were well crafted and stunning, and the paint they used (which I’m convinced was derived from cinnabar, although I suppressed my urge to vandalize Peruvian history and scrape some off for analysis) was still obvious today.  It was a true labyrinth and I’ll be the first to admit I lost my way more than once.  But being that Nick, Susan, Javier, and I were the only ones there, it wasn’t much of a problem.

Back on the road again…we saw llamas and alpacas wandering the countryside.  They’re absolutely gorgeous animals, but stubborn as all hell when you try to get them to move out of the road.  Ichu was growing like crazy everywhere you turned and it was hard to imagine that smelting operations had once eliminated it from every surface.  We stopped at a small roadside store to buy bread for our tuna/peanut butter sandwiches and I had a glimpse at a rural Peruvian home as I attempted to use the bathroom, but quickly realized the smell was far too overbearing and the skill required was beyond my capabilities.  So we set off with our bread for lunch and to feed the stray dogs.

About four hours outside of Huancavelica, Javier, in a not-so-calm voice, informed us we had a flat tire.  Not only did we have a flat tire, we had a tire that had blown out in seven, yes seven, different places.  After some scuffling with the tire, a slight amount of shivering, and lots of dust, we all said prayers that the weak-looking front tire didn’t blow out on us and that we found a place to inflate the slightly flat tire we had just put on (which, by the way, we did, and had time to feed a lonesome stray dog a piece of bread).

About 30 minutes outside of Huancavelica, the snow that Nick promised we wouldn’t see started to fall.  It was cold, wet, and hail-like.  Not at all my ideal weather for August.  But in the snow, we saw more alpacas and llamas, and a fox, who was gorgeous and also enjoyed our bread.  We drove the remaining 55 kilometers on the one lane, drop to your death road without any further problems and arrived in Huancavelica a little tired but mostly alright.

When we pulled into town, there was a band playing on the main plaza (which is right across the street from our hotel) and a massive amount of construction occurring.  Not only was the band playing then, but there’s still music now, and apparently it’s a talent show as a part of the Huancavelica founding celebration and it will continue until 1:00am, and there’s more to come tomorrow (oh, goody).  Dinner at the “steak house” wasn’t that bad.  La crema de espárragos sopa es muy delicioso.  And the fact that my dinner cost about $2, minus a beer, didn’t hurt either.

The town itself is gorgeous and the people are fairly friendly.  It’s really cold.  I’m wearing long underwear, a sweatshirt, and sweat pants (thanks, Jeff!) and I’m still freezing.  I’m going to put my earplugs in and try to get some sleep.  Tomorrow is our first community meeting and sampling day and I’m excited and can’t wait to see how it goes.  More detail on Huancavelica will come tomorrow when I’m not so sleepy and I have a day with minimal travel.  Adiós amigos!