Bosque de Piedras

After our first night in a tiny room in Huayllay, we wandered all around the big mine in Huaron. On the taxi ride over, we became instant friends with a nine year old boy who we couldn’t understand a lick of what he said, but he was extremely enthusiastic about baby animals and Chinese movies. He showed us around a bit once we got to the mine and wished us luck as we parted ways. At the mine, there were several gigantic trucks that without fail honked at us every time they passed. Now, we know that it’s all in good nature, but we can’t help but jump.

That evening we decided to postpone our lab work for a little jaunt up the nearby cliffs. To our delight and surprise, we made it up to the top just in time for the most beautiful sunset either of us can recall. The horizon was absolutely stunning with jagged peaks in every direction. We sat in silence to absorb the beauty and from the town, there was a symphony of kids playing, dogs barking, music echoing, and industrious machines crashing. It was truly a wonderful experience. Funny enough, after the sun sets, it gets dark. So, we hiked down by headlamp.

The following day, we caught ride down to Canchacucho to do some stream work. We hiked upstream back toward Huayllay all day. Both of us fell into the raging stream at one point or another. Near the end of our hike, we came upon los baños thermales (hot springs). We were cold and tired, so we decided to take a dip. We opted out of the group pool, where a volleyball match was underway, in favor of more tranquil pools. We had no towels, however, so we purchased a towel that features tigers in the jungle. They have become our guardians at night; we hang the towel from a chair close to the door.

The hot springs were certainly hot. They must have been at least 110 degrees. We didn’t take out our instruments to check, however.

After a long soak (20 minutes on the dot due to high demand), we were driven home in a Mototaxi by a young boy who must have been no older than ten years old. But he was an experienced driver, apparently, because we mad it home to our room.

Our next adventure featured a beautiful hike up a tributary to the main stream that was near the hot springs. We named it Huaron Hot Springs. We encountered plenty of alpaca and sheep. We also passed a woman who was cutting peat chunks out of the pampa (bunch grass-moss-and other small pant- dominated landscape). She eventually carried a large sack of peat up the hill to her house, where it would later be used for building fires and protecting adobe walls from harsh hailstorms.

Speaking of which, our day ended in a magnificent hailstorm, through which we walked back to Canchacucho. Our larger bags were being stored in a little store by the caretaker of the Stone Forest.

We decided to go to Cerro de Pasco that evening, and promptly caught a taxi. We didn’t realize, however, that the taxi driver intended to squish us both, plus our belongings into the back. Despite our uncomfortable seating arrangements, we had a pleasant conversation with a woman whose back was facing ours. She ended up pointing us in the direction of a place to stay in Cerro de Pasco.

After arriving in Cerro de Pasco, we decided to grab a hot drink, expecting it to be similar to the ones we enjoyed in the town of Junín. However, we noticed that as it was poured, it was far more viscous that water. It turned out, in fact, to have the consistency of maple syrup. It was delicious until the bottom, when it became more like molasses.

Today, we decided to give ourselves a day off and set about trying to get a tour at the mine (a huge pit in the middle of the city) or at least take a peek and learn a little more about its history. Upon arrival at the entrance, we asked them if there was a visitor center or some way to take a walkabout. They informed us that we would have needed to get a document in Lima about a week ago approving us for entry. So that was that. Instead we took a hike up a nearby hill and got a Birdseye view of the pit and tailings piles. This thing is huge!

From the top of the hill, we could drumming and saw a soccer match taking place at the coliseum. So, we decided to head toward it. On our way down, we got stopped by a swarm of schoolchildren who were eager to meet the gringos. As we were bombarded with several questions, we looked up to notice that there was a definitive line between the girls talking to McKenzie and the boys talking to Daniel. It made us chuckle… We also noticed how respectful they all were. We shared what our countries were like and how we celebrated our independence day (Peru’s is the 28^th of July!). We eventually broke away from the crowd and found our way to the soccer pitch, just in time for a shoot out tiebreaker. The home team (and Daniel as that was the team he chose to root for) was crushed as the away team (McKenzie’s team) shot the victory goal.

Tomorrow we’ve got a busy day ahead of us, so TTFN!

We have finally found time to put something on our blog, so here ya go.

After a few long days in Lima trying to locate our bags, we finally hopped on a bus to the mountains. The pass we went over most definitely gives Wilkerson Pass a run for its money for the title of Orgasm Pass, ‘cause man, it was sooo beautiful.

We have spent the last three days roaming around to different streams all around Lake Junín. The first day we asked a taxi driver to drive to Condorvado, he kind of chuckled and asked why do you want to go there? When we arrived we realized why he asked us that, the place consisted of a family’s home and a broken down bridge. A great sampling site on the mighty Mantaro River nonetheless. There was no shortage of beautiful rockwalls, old adobe houses and sheep. On the way home, we picked a shepherd who needed a ride to the neighboring maca (a turnip like root) fields. She needed to stop at home to say hi to her husband and insisted that we take pictures with her horse. We both got to hop on it and it was Daniel’s first time ever on a horse (that he can remember)!!!

That night, we stumbled upon some delicious hot beverages that the locals said would “abrigarse,” or warm you up…

The next day, we took a bus to Carhuamayo, a small town on the east side of Lake Junín (Chinchaycocha). On the bus, we met a peruvian documentary film maker who was on his way home to visit his family. He lives in Georgia, he said, but was traveling in Perú for five months. When we got off the bus, he took us on a tour of his hometown, pointing out the places where he and his friends played as kids. We got to go to the reservoir that serves as the town’s drinking water, and then take a little stroll on the pipe that drains the reservoir.

Then we took a three-wheeled Moto-Taxi up the dry streambed that leads out of town until we saw water in it. We weren’t sure if it could support our weight plus that of our bags filled with plastic bottles, but it stood up to the challenge. We then hiked back to town, playing in the stream as we went (and taking some samples, I guess).

We arrived back home to Junín to find a huge hailstorm had hit town and the streets were lined with little white balls of ice. After which, we spent several hours in our hotel room looking at bugs, twisting a syringe vice to death and playing with filters and a vacuum.

Today, we were sampling machines. We made it to eight different sites, each more beautiful than the next. We drove through the Bosque de Piedra (Stone Forest) just northeast of Lake Chinchaycocha. According to the Lonely Planet Guide for Perú, it is the “world’s largest and highest stone forest.” Neither of us were aware that Stone Forests are commonplace, but apparently this one is unique. There are rocks shaped like elephants and turtles, which we have yet to see. We finally arrive in the town of Huayllay. And here we are… With lots of sampling ahead of us!