Deepest Darkest Peru: June 12

Again we woke up far, far too soon, this time to the pop pop popping sound of fireworks at six am. It's a common sound here, I think that people here are just perpetually partying but I also read somewhere that in the favellas of Brazil, gangs use fireworks to warn members about an oncoming police raid, so I really hope it's not that. By 9:20 all four volunteers were at the plaza ready to go on a tour into the countryside.

Alison, Joyce, and me

On our way there we saw yet another parade in the plaza, there must be one a day if not more here! The van that took us was small and the driver was crazy. He almost got us into a crash when he tried to overtake on a corner and another car came around it, but luckily there was room for three cars side by side. Yikes! It was cool to see what the country looked like outside the city. Ayacucho is nestled in high, dry, Sierra mountains that are covered in brown grass and huge cactii. The tour guide explained how most of this mountainous land was controlled by the infamous Shinning Path gang group, and brutally so. Uncooperative police officers could have their tongues cut out, be tortured and then killed. Even now it's not a good idea to go roaming through the countryside at night.

A giant stone used for animal sacrifices

A tree they call the little fat girl! Also a hallucinogen

Each notch in this religious building was a shrine to a god

The mausoleum where people were buried in the fetal position

We then arrived at the Wari ruins. The Wari were the first people to successfully survive in this harsh landscape, and their empire not only survived but thrived, with the ruins showing a capital city of 20,000 inhabitants, a complicated belief system involving animal sacrifices, and a mausoleum four stories deep where the most important people like the King would be buried with human sacrifices. The Wari were also masters of stone work which helped them move around the all too precious water. In contrast the hills were so rich in precious metals that they were considered no more precious than scarce wood. Nicole started feeling really bad almost at the start of the tour and went back to the bus. Joyce, Alison and I were still in the ruins when the bus was supposed to leave and had to sprint back to make it. It is really hard to run at 10,000 feet!

The Wari were such masters at stone work they could cut stone beads just a centimeter across

Hello creepy skeleton

The second stop was the small artisan village of Quinoa, and it was very quaint and touristy. Then we went up, up, up this mountain to the site of an old battle between Peruvian Patriots and Loyalists who were loyal to the Spanish crown, who had conquered Peru for themselves centuries ago. The 1842 battle pitted brother against brother with the patriots winning a decisive victory. We had a low point though when we realized the 'lunch' was just a row of street food vendors, something that foreigners definitely can't eat for fear of food poisoning. We ended up eating one granola bar between four of us which was slim pickings.

The artisan village of Quinoa

The obelisk, weirdly gigantic in the isolated countryside

Peaceful enough to do yoga. On a hike by the Obelisk.

After our return to Ayacucho we went to get dinner with a girl we'd met on the bus. Her name is Ava and she's 25, she had just quit her job to travel through South America for six months. Wow, that's the dream life! She told us in Bolivia she had biked death road which was really impressive. And in Cusco she had been in taxi that had run over a local girl! Luckily she seemed okay when the taxi driver took her to the hospital. We were shocked, there have been many close calls here on the streets but to hear that things like this actually happen are terrifying! We also talked a lot about running as she is a seven time half marathon and a marathon finisher! Wow impressive! It's also impressive to be traveling by yourself here!

Dinner with Ava, Alison, Nicole, Joyce, and me. Yay girls!

At dinner things did not improve for Nicole and she called her parents. She had been feeling sick for her entire two weeks stay, and this was the final straw. Her parents booked her a flight to go home the next day so she could see a doctor. We were all shocked and saddened, she had originally planned to stay a whole week longer, but she was pretty sick.
After dinner we went to a market in Ayacucho that sprung up in an old disused prison, with every cell now a different store! I bought a new bag that I really liked!