Walkin' to Choquehuanca

Bread and OJ in Pucará

Kankacho in Ayaviri

Mulling over the hike

Mulling over the hike #2

Starting out

Starting out #2

Evidence that we are in the wet season

Choquehuanca denizens

Artsy shot of the weather

Choquehuanca Fun Park

Nasty bridge over river

Nasty bridge over river #2

Choquehuanca road

Kankacho ladies

Kankacho ladies

Bus Terminal Lunch

Mall Nativity

Christmas Shops

Christmas Shops

Christmas Shops

Christmas Shops

Santas Li'l Helper... Just with Salsa music blaring

We travelled to Sicuani on Saturday evening to be rested up for our day at a higher altitude. Rich called the man with whom he needed to meet in Choquehuanca and he told him, very clearly that the bus ride from Siucani to Pucará, the “T” in the road to Choquehuanca is 2½ hours. He should know, right? Well, it was only 1½ hours. We had been there before, but in a private car. 

We got off the bus and stood around, like deer in the headlights for a moment or two. The day was overcast and cool but then, this is the Altiplano. Still, it was too cool to just sit in someplace eating sheep’s head soup. So, we milled around a bit, bought some bread and juice and then we decided to just walk to Choquehuanca, to keep the blood flowing. It looked to be about four or five miles there. So, like these clowns one reads about who go for a picnic in the Rockies and get trapped in their shorts and tank tops, we trundled off towards Choquehuanca, dressed for church, you’ve seen the photos…

About thirty minutes from Pucará, the overcast quality of the day began to take on the aspect of something a little more ominous and menacing. Clouds got a bit darker and threatening. Yet, we thought we had covered about half of the distance. No real alternative presented itself. Then, the wind started to blow and we felt the first spatters of rain. What started off as a pleasant, cool day took on a more or less frigid, miserable, snotty, *#%&#!$@ sort of quality with the wind chill. We got out our umbrellas but mercifully, the rain never got above a light pattering, albeit a more or less horizontal, chilly, numbing sort of pattering. We felt kind of obliged to move it along and at nearly 14,000 feet above sea level, the recommendation is to not over exert…

We crossed the very narrow bridge with several worrying, knocked out guard-rail posts. Then we climbed the hill that we thought the last leg of the trek only to discover that the town still stood about a half-mile off. The rain stopped but the wind fairly howled. We staggered past the water treatment plant complete with a big flock of Puna Ibises, the Choquehuanca Fun/Amusement/Theme Park… this felt like something out of a Stephen King novel. We hoped that upon arriving in the town, the buildings would block the wind. Once again naiveté was NOT our ally! In town, the buildings acted like a sort of wind tunnel and, if anything it felt colder and windier. After asking several people we finally stumbled into the chapel, fifteen minutes before the meeting was supposed to start.

About an hour into the meetings, Rich’s ears began to ring and his head ached from the over exertion and general effects of high altitude. The ringing lasted most of the day and he even had to have Julie talk on the phone for him because he could not understand what the caller said. Bummer.

Needless to say, we took a taxi back to Pucará where we caught the bus to Ayaviri. The crack-up came on the bus from Pucará to Ayaviri. Kankacho, is the delightful slow roasted, fall off the bone sort of lamb for which Ayaviri is famous. We watched two women with their basket-full of Kankacho climb on to the bus. They had potatoes and “apple water” in baggies too. It was hilarious to watch as they hacked up pieces of lamb with a huge butcher knife, as the bus flew along swaying and rocking.  They sold chunks of the lamb with potatoes in a plastic bag to passengers along with cheesy bread that we deemed pretty much our only hope for lunch. The bread was tasty and sated our hunger.

The counselor in the district presidency met us at the bus terminal in Ayaviri. Rich needed to visit with him so we ate Kankacho in the terminal and visited there. Fortunately, it was delicious and we didn’t get sick! Bus terminals are not our first choice for good eating establishments. We got on the bus to Sicuani, Rich’s head still pounding and ears ringing annoyingly. Back in Sicuani, we slept ten hours!

The rest of the week we spent as usual, taking pictures, teaching and taking classes and listening to Christmas music. We travel to Abancay on Friday to hopefully visit with someone from the archives there. Our supervisor asked us to make contact and see if they might be interested in having their archives photographed.

Saturday and Sunday Abancay has their district conference and we will be the only ones attending from the mission presidency. We’re a little nervous, because typically they don’t have enough speakers or speakers that speak long enough, even though they have been told how long to speak. That means between us we’ll probably have 1 ½ hours, in each of three meetings to cover. During the Priesthood meeting Julie will train the women leaders. However, we were told that the district president invited ALL women to attend, so who knows what will happen. We just go with the flow and pray hard for inspiration!