Living in Peru : your everyday companion

by
Kyle Burk

Perhaps the single most daunting thing about traveling in Peru is deciding where to go. The country is chock-full of places of interest, each with a highly particularized history, culture, climate, and story. During my recent visit to Peru, after much agonizing over where to go, I settled on Cajamarca.

Cajamarca is situated in the northern highlands of Peru and sits at almost 9,000 above sea level—enough to catch you off guard if you fly in directly from the coast, but not quite as high as Cuzco or Huaraz. According to historians, the city itself is likely around 3,000 years old, but it is best known for the events that took place in 1532 and eventually led to the fall of the Inca Empire.

One of the main attractions in the area is the Baños del Inca, a collection of volcanic hot springs just outside the city. According to my guide, Antonio, this is where the Spanish first encountered the Incan Emperor Atahualpa while he was bathing with 3 beautiful young women. I had previously visited a couple of hot springs in Aguas Calientes (near Machu Picchu), and Yura (near Arequipa), but I was a bit disappointed by them, mostly because the water was barely hotter than luke-warm. However, as we approached Baños del Inca, I could tell that wouldn’t be a problem this time. I could see steam rising from half a mile away and Antonio informed me that the temperature of the waters was about 160 degrees Fahrenheit—sufficiently hot so as to give you third degree burns if you happened to fall in one of the steaming pools. Our guide dropped my travel partner and me off at the front entrance and we paid 5 soles a piece for a large private bathroom where we could adjust the water temperature to our liking. The soak was well received as we had just completed a muddy hike to a waterfall on the outskirts of a nearby village.

Back in the city proper, near the Plaza de Armas, is the Cuarto del Rescate, where the Spaniards held Atahualpa for ransom after they captured him (when they received their gold, Atahualpa was summarily executed). For a few soles, you can tour the room and surrounding sites.

Because of a confluence of events and circumstances, I saw very few other tourists in Cajamarca during my 5 day stay. My tour guide blamed the current economy, roadwork on the highway between Cajamarca and Trujillo that has added several hours to the time it takes to reach the city by bus, and the fact that the wet season hadn’t quite ended yet. The latter factor became apparent one afternoon as we were walking back to our hotel. It’s always something to witness the blunt-force trauma of an Andean thunderstorm. The sky opened up and sent the locals scuttling for cover. We ducked into a café to try and wait it out, but the rain wouldn’t stop for another 7 hours or so. Before it was over, we witnessed hail, rain drops so big they couldn’t properly be called drops, and a car crash on an otherwise quiet street. We foolishly hadn’t brought umbrellas with us and got soaked on the walk back to the hotel.

Almost every time I travel in Peru, my first order of the day is to go to the local market and drink some fresh juice. The Central Market in Cajamarca was right across from my hotel and I couldn’t have been happier. The market wasn’t as large as some I’ve seen, but it was definitely one of the most organized and cleanest. In addition to the usual market fare, Cajamarca is known for its dairy products and the market offered a variety of locally made cheeses. The first thing I did after my arrival was buy some queso mantecoso (a soft buttery cheese) and some bread and eat three delicious cheese sandwiches.

In addition to having a clean market, the city itself appears well-kept, a possible result of the city’s wealth which is due, in no small part, to the nearby Yanacocha gold mine, one of the largest gold mines in the world. Before 1994 the Yanacocha mine was jointly owned by three companies, Peruvian, French, and American, respectively. When that partnership collapsed due to a dispute, the case eventually landed in the Peruvian Supreme Court. Due to some…ahem…creative legal work, the American company finally won control of the mine (A senior executive of the American company Newmont, which eventually won control of the mine, appeared in several videotapes and taped audio conversations with the now infamous former intelligence chief Vladimir Montesinos who was on the CIA payroll and was later found guilty of paying and accepting bribes, among other things). As always, because of the use of cyanide solutions and mercury in gold mining, health and environmental concerns abound in the surrounding area.

The highlight of my trip to Cajamarca was a hike through a place called Cumbemayo. Cumbemayo is a collection of rock formations dotted with pre-Incan petroglyphs and an ancient canal that channels runoff from the surrounding mountains. The canal is one of the oldest man-made structures in South America and the precision with which the stones were carved is very impressive. The hike led us through canyons filled with other-worldly scenery and local campesinos attending to their livestock and occasionally selling dried meats or fresh corn. The hike was just a few hours, but it was one of the most interesting I’ve done in Peru. I’d jump at the chance to do it again. Cajamarca is definitely one of the essential spots to visit in Peru. I wish I’d done it years ago.

Add to del.icio.us | |

Thank you for sharing your story. My wife is from Peru and it is difficult to learn about GREAT places. Thank you....Terry and Carmen

Good story from one of the Cajamarca's interesting places. I recommend you guys visit Huaraz in holly week (semana santa) or Marcahuasi (east of Lima), you'll get fantastic moments. Well, there are many fabuluos places to visit when you a re in Peru. Thanks for sharing your experiencies....Wilbert.