The first two hundred and thirty kilometres are down the Pan American Sur and right beside the Pacific Ocean. You turn directly inland at San Clemente and for about one and a half hours you drive along the bottom of this very steep sided valley. Then for the next five hours the road hangs off the side of the valleys as you climb to virtually five thousand metres above sea level and then descend into Ayacucho which is three thousand metres above sea level. You certainly notice the altitude as you climb over the top. The views are spectacular if you care to look! It had snowed in the time between we drove in and out of Ayacucho and that certainly added to the scenery.
Ayacucho is a really beautiful city, full of history and churches, although the latter are very difficult to visit. They all seemed to be constantly locked once Mass is over!
Ayacucho was virtually the birth place of the Shining Path. It was founded by Abimael Guzman who was a university lecturer in Ayacucho at that time. It was a Maoist guerrilla organisation operating in Peru in the 1980’s. The department of Ayacucho is one of the regions most affected by the internal armed conflict between the Shining Path and the Peruvian Armed Forces. During the two decades of the conflict, 1980 – 2000, about seventy thousand people were killed and many thousands disappeared or were displaced. We visited the Museum of Memory established by the relatives of those killed and I would suggest that the atrocities carried out during those years were comparable, if not worse, than those in Germany during World War II. And remember only twenty years ago. You may remember that earlier in the blog I wrote about the calendar we have on our wall, a calendar for truth, justice and reparation and organised by the families of those affected.
The city is famous for its weaving and you are most welcome to visit their shops and watch them at work. I have never seen truly three dimensional weaving and some of the work reminded me of those pictures where you squint or half close your eyes to see the hidden scenes. Amazing work, and quite expensive to purchase.Our hotel was just half a block from the main plaza and was very comfortable, however, I must remember that the drink, pisco sour, although most delicious, is not at all helpful when trying to cope with the altitude! The hotel website is - http://www.hotel-santarosa.com/
Having discovered on the internet that in Ayacucho the restaurant La Casona is famous for its Puca Picante, a meal consisting of small potatoes, pork pieces, cooked in peanut and beetroot salsa and served with the mandatory pile of rice! I was determined to sample it – and was not disappointed. There is also another very good eating place, Las Flores, where you can eat trucha (trout), chicharrón (pork) or cuy (guinea pig). Just my luck the trout was not on the menu – then it had to be pork – I left the cuy to Marion! She assured all that it was the best she has ever had, and she has eaten it a number of times before. A very picky meal, lots of small bones and not too much meat! My problem - I can still see them running around in the pen below the kitchen prior to execution!We spent a full day with Sr. Anne Carbon and an Irish Lay Missionary, Angela Keane, at the rehabilitation centre for psychiatric patients as well as physically and mentally handicapped children. Anne has established this facility in order to cater for a large number of patients and she and her staff do wonderful work. It is totally funded by overseas benefactors; the local authorities give nothing towards its operation. We have promised that later in the year we want to return to visit them once again.
A most enjoyable few days made better by bright, sunny weather – nothing like what we drove into when you hit the coastal plain, cold, misty drizzle. In fact they had quite heavy rain in Montenegro while we were away, something the locals are not used to. One big positive, it keeps the dust down!
