Today we drove from Puquio to Abancay a distance of about 305 kilometers. The roads were much better today and we made good time, except for stopping to take photos! We left our hostel early this morning and walked through the local market in Puquio, buying fruit for our breakfast. A Quechua woman and her daughter were selling tuna - the fruit of a cactus - which they peeled for us. All of the fruit was very cheap - about one sole (33 cents) for a kilo - and we had a hard time buying only enough for the two of us! Most of the people did not know how to charge for ½ or ¼ of a kilo. We also saw women who had come to town with loads of alfalfa which the local people buy to feed their cuy, or guinea pigs. Almost everyone raises guinea pigs for meat. We also met a friendly market woman and her husband who were very concerned that we planned to drive all the way to Cuzco. They thought it wasn’t safe and wanted us to stay in Puquio.
We crossed more beautiful mountains at very high altitudes and met a Quechua father and son at the site of bus wreck. The bus had overturned the previous day when the driver fell asleep and they were out looking at the scattered remains of the bus. More adorable llamas grazed where there seemed to be very little for them to eat. A few miles later we passed a house on the highway with llama pelts laid out to dry on the pavement and a woman putting llama meat out to dry, too!
We ate lunch in a small town on the river, where the main entertainment in the square was a shop showing videos with everyone gathered around the door to watch.
I tried taking some very low light photos after dark in Abancay. I’m still a little nervous walking around at night carrying my Leica’s, but so far, so good!
1 comment:
Great photos! The llama pelts look like some sort of strange roadkill/massacre though.
Post a Comment