25 May 2003 Celedin to Cajamara (2650m)
It was another quite magical journey, so much so that we decided in part to retrace our steps as will be seen. Joan and I saw a wonderful yellow dawn beak into a clear blue sky and were able to watch from the bus as the rural communities woke up. People who had been cold in bed were sitting on their doorsteps in the morning cool sun to warm. A man on horseback pursued the bus from far behind a bend in the mountainside, but one seen the bus backed up to sharp bend in the road and took his load, then waited for a follower on foot with a heavily laden horse who had just come into view and took his load too for delivery later on the journey. Such was country life.
At 7:30 the bus stopped for breakfast at an isolated cafe, in our case for just a cafe con leche to accompany the brioche we had bought the previous night. I did however use the bano and flushed it with a bucket of water drawn from a nearby tap. As we neared Cajamarca there was a particularly fine patchwork of fields which varied with their crop. I singled out a particularly attractive spot at 9:32 and noted that our journey finished at 10.15, but we never did find it again.
Took a taxi to the Santa Apolonius hotel which was listed as budget category with some mid-range rooms. Ours was fine looking out from our balcony into a courtyard covered with coloured glass. Lots of hot water for my shower but not Joan's. Bargained from 80 to 70 to 60s for three nights on particularly comfortable mattresses with fitted sheets which for once stayed in place.
Climbed the very steep steps to the dominating statue El Quarto del Rescate with impressive gardens. Perhaps I didn't understand it's importance at the time, now thanks to BBC4 now realise it marks the key, but treacherous, defeat of the Incas by the Spanish conquistadors.
In 1460 the Incas defeated the Cajamarca people. By 1532 the Incas headed by Atahualpa successful in a civil war with his half-brother Huascar ruled an Empire stretching from Columbia to central Chile and an army numbered in tens of thousands. He was aware of Pizarro's second arrival in 1528 from Spain but scarcely feared their tiny army. Atahualpa was marching south from his stronghold of Quito to Cusco with his large army to claim and consolidate his new empire.
On 15 November 1532 Pizarro arrived at Cajamarca, then a major Inca city fortress between Quito and Cusco, with a force of just 160 men. On request they were invited by Atahualpa to stay in the central plaza. He arrived to meet them the following evening with 6000 men from the Inca army, but Pizarro's horseback cavalry armed with swords massacred the Inca army armed only with axes and slings. Atapualpa himself was captured and held captive and offered to fill a large room with gold if they would release him. He fulfilled his part of the bargain The conquistadors recorded the seizure and melting down the ransom of 6,000kg of gold and 12,000kg of silver. Atahualpa attempted to arrange his rescue, was sentenced to death and killed.
The Spaniards crowned Huascar's younger brother as puppet Emperor of the Incas and with him were free to march south to take Huasca's previous territory of Cusco.
Found a good Internet cafe for 2.5s per hour, with fair prices for fractions, but found no email replies from Chachapoyas.
26 May
Got a taxi to take us back towards Celedin and drop us on the road side so we could relive the wonderful countryside as we walked slowly back to Cajamarca. He willingly took us to Banos de Inca but was reluctant and expensive to go further, not surprising because the dirt road was deserted and with no prospect of finding a return fare. Nevertheless we were disappointed in failing to reach the spot earmarked from the bus yesterday so we walked 2km further on, but that point always seemed to be around the next headland. Giving up the quest we started to revel in the wonderfully picturesque country side and to take photographs.
Joan for a while walked happily with an indien couple and their son and his bike until I caught up and photographed them which brought an immediate onslaught from his mother. She rebuked me with 'el e nino o Carmen', he is the child of Carmen the local saint and not yours, implying I had no right to photograph him and warning that 'others might hurl stones at me for such an outrage'. Joan is very aware of needing tacit permission to photograph, she often criticises me for haste to get a good record.
There was a long friendly talk with a family of four tending a flock of sheep grazing on the roadside. They asked for our sunhats, the ones we had bought for few pence to use on our camel trek in Jaiselmer India in 1996, and of considerable value as a menoir. Joan was pleased to hand hers over but I was protective of mine which I have to this day in 2015.
Another group cutting wheat would have made a lovely shot, but on Joan's request we were told not to photograph - maybe they just expected payment. Then a lunch of the buttered banana rolls we had saved from breakfast. Tired after a long days walk in the sun, and with 23 photo-memories (a lot in our pre-digital era) we finally accepted a ride back to town in a passing combi.
27 May
Carlos a Dutchman, now teaching electronics at the University Piura on the northern border with Equador, was a great help in organising our flight to Cusco since he wanted one too so as to accompany his mother. It was not possible today so we arranged to depart the following day at 9am.
He told us that the minimum wage in Peru was 410s and that teachers earned about 600s. His sister lived in Rennes worked as a translator married a Frenchman and unlike our son James was now naturalised as French.
A State of Emergency had been declared yesterday and the army were on the streets at the request of the Government. The road block would be lifted and schools would reopen. Cajamarca sent 300,000 litres of milk per day to Lima, emphasising the quantity wasted and farming income lost as a result of the long blockage on the Pan American Highway by hauliers, the one which we had experienced in Trujillo nearly three weeks previously.
28 May Flight to Lima
Aero Condor in fact took off at 1:30pm and landed in Lima two hours later. We took a taxi into the city and blissfully passed through an earthquake without feeling a thing, the epicentre was in the sea south of the city measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale.
The TV was full of army shooting into the air to disperse rioters in Peru Norte and tanks in the centre of Lima. The papers were full of confrontation in Plaza de Armas, Trujillo. They hoped that this would prove the prelude to a new period of stable government with lower taxes on individuals and business but a fair settlement of those with fair claims, and not as in the recent past a return of military government.
We felt lucky to have escaped the north eastern coastal fringe of Trujillo, Chimbote and Chicklayo virtually untouched. Stayed overnight in Hotel Calibe on outskirts of Lima.
3
It was another quite magical journey, so much so that we decided in part to retrace our steps as will be seen. Joan and I saw a wonderful yellow dawn beak into a clear blue sky and were able to watch from the bus as the rural communities woke up. People who had been cold in bed were sitting on their doorsteps in the morning cool sun to warm. A man on horseback pursued the bus from far behind a bend in the mountainside, but one seen the bus backed up to sharp bend in the road and took his load, then waited for a follower on foot with a heavily laden horse who had just come into view and took his load too for delivery later on the journey. Such was country life.
 |
| Nearing Cajamarca, Cactus Hedges |
 |
| HAPPILY WALKING TOGETHER |
Took a taxi to the Santa Apolonius hotel which was listed as budget category with some mid-range rooms. Ours was fine looking out from our balcony into a courtyard covered with coloured glass. Lots of hot water for my shower but not Joan's. Bargained from 80 to 70 to 60s for three nights on particularly comfortable mattresses with fitted sheets which for once stayed in place.
Climbed the very steep steps to the dominating statue El Quarto del Rescate with impressive gardens. Perhaps I didn't understand it's importance at the time, now thanks to BBC4 now realise it marks the key, but treacherous, defeat of the Incas by the Spanish conquistadors.
 |
| QUECHAS PROUD OF THEIR HERITAGE |
On 15 November 1532 Pizarro arrived at Cajamarca, then a major Inca city fortress between Quito and Cusco, with a force of just 160 men. On request they were invited by Atahualpa to stay in the central plaza. He arrived to meet them the following evening with 6000 men from the Inca army, but Pizarro's horseback cavalry armed with swords massacred the Inca army armed only with axes and slings. Atapualpa himself was captured and held captive and offered to fill a large room with gold if they would release him. He fulfilled his part of the bargain The conquistadors recorded the seizure and melting down the ransom of 6,000kg of gold and 12,000kg of silver. Atahualpa attempted to arrange his rescue, was sentenced to death and killed.
The Spaniards crowned Huascar's younger brother as puppet Emperor of the Incas and with him were free to march south to take Huasca's previous territory of Cusco.
Found a good Internet cafe for 2.5s per hour, with fair prices for fractions, but found no email replies from Chachapoyas.
26 May
Got a taxi to take us back towards Celedin and drop us on the road side so we could relive the wonderful countryside as we walked slowly back to Cajamarca. He willingly took us to Banos de Inca but was reluctant and expensive to go further, not surprising because the dirt road was deserted and with no prospect of finding a return fare. Nevertheless we were disappointed in failing to reach the spot earmarked from the bus yesterday so we walked 2km further on, but that point always seemed to be around the next headland. Giving up the quest we started to revel in the wonderfully picturesque country side and to take photographs.
 |
| Not so happy Indien Lady with Nino de Carmen |
There was a long friendly talk with a family of four tending a flock of sheep grazing on the roadside. They asked for our sunhats, the ones we had bought for few pence to use on our camel trek in Jaiselmer India in 1996, and of considerable value as a menoir. Joan was pleased to hand hers over but I was protective of mine which I have to this day in 2015.
 |
| SHEPERDESSES |
27 May
Carlos a Dutchman, now teaching electronics at the University Piura on the northern border with Equador, was a great help in organising our flight to Cusco since he wanted one too so as to accompany his mother. It was not possible today so we arranged to depart the following day at 9am.
He told us that the minimum wage in Peru was 410s and that teachers earned about 600s. His sister lived in Rennes worked as a translator married a Frenchman and unlike our son James was now naturalised as French.
A State of Emergency had been declared yesterday and the army were on the streets at the request of the Government. The road block would be lifted and schools would reopen. Cajamarca sent 300,000 litres of milk per day to Lima, emphasising the quantity wasted and farming income lost as a result of the long blockage on the Pan American Highway by hauliers, the one which we had experienced in Trujillo nearly three weeks previously.
28 May Flight to Lima
Aero Condor in fact took off at 1:30pm and landed in Lima two hours later. We took a taxi into the city and blissfully passed through an earthquake without feeling a thing, the epicentre was in the sea south of the city measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale.
The TV was full of army shooting into the air to disperse rioters in Peru Norte and tanks in the centre of Lima. The papers were full of confrontation in Plaza de Armas, Trujillo. They hoped that this would prove the prelude to a new period of stable government with lower taxes on individuals and business but a fair settlement of those with fair claims, and not as in the recent past a return of military government.
We felt lucky to have escaped the north eastern coastal fringe of Trujillo, Chimbote and Chicklayo virtually untouched. Stayed overnight in Hotel Calibe on outskirts of Lima.
3
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