Huancayo

This past Friday, Corinna, Cuchuz and I took a twelve hour train trip to the Andean town, Huancayo. The train moved a bit slow, but the trip was beautiful. I really love being in the mountains here. It was beautiful to see the llamas roaming around and Huancayo is off the gringo trail and is known for its handicraft production and trout. Of course, we spent the first night trying to kick altitude sickness (thank god it didn't get me this time).

Saturday, we took it easy and just wandered around the city. There's a really charming park called Parque de la Identidad Wanka that was all stone and full of sculptures about the area around Huancayo. It was really fun to walk around in, especially because we happened to be there while a mariachi band was following around a bride and groom! While mariachi doesn't exactly fit into Wanka identity, it was fun to hear and it great having Cuchuz, who is from Mexico, there to answer all the questions that Corinna and I had about it.

Sunday, we went to the market that sells handicrafts and everything else you could possibly need and/or want. We stopped to look at Andean skirts and were immediately encouraged to try them on, were given hats, and then pointed out all the practical uses of these skirts. We ended up buying them. Don't we look Peruvian now? After the market we took a tour of traditions, which took us to a yarn factory, a jewelry factory, a lagoon, a trout farm, and a convent. Honestly, it was a pretty long day, but some of the stuff was interesting and pretty and I got a sweet deal on alpaca yarn. After the tour, we had 3 hours to kill before heading back to Lima on the hottest bus ride of our lives.