I finally got the courage to travel by myself down here last weekend. I went to Cajamarca. Vaguely translated as the box market as my students and I were joking about. 
Cajamarca is a mountain town with the most unbelievable skies that I have ever seen and a lot of history. It's claim to fame is the final battle between the Incas and the Spaniards and all of the ancient historical landmarks and ruins that accompany the two cultures. My favorite was probably the silla de Inca (the seat of the Inca King). It was supposed to have been the throne of the Inca King as he watched over his people and troops when they were in battle. It just looked like a flat rock jutting out of the mountain side. Never the less, the view from this "landmark" was absolutely breathtaking. I could see the entire city of Cajamarca and all of the countryside surrounding it. I walked up an intense, Rocky like, staircase filled with artisans and markets with Peruvian souvenirs that led to a small beautifully restored blue and white church. After reaching the top, completely covered in sweat and realizing that I am way out of shape to work out in high altitude I took in the view of what I thought was the top. Like always some little Peruvian man began to talk to me so I wasn't alone for very long. This guy was in school for business and tourism so I guess he was out practicing his tour guide skills. He tried to describe the history of Cajamarca and show me around, but I'm pretty sure I only understood about half of what he was saying. To me half is actually an accomplishment.
Although half can be really bad when you are making plans with people of trying to get information out of them. I also went to see the Ventanillas de Otuzco, the burial grounds of the Incas, i guess. The tombs were carved into the wall of this huge rock wall making it look like it had windows (ventanillas). The sky here was also strangely breathtaking. On one side it was so vividly blue and then across the valley the grey skies of a storm were forming over the mountains. The rest of my weekend was spent exploring the city, which is probably less touristy for some, but it felt really nice just being in a bigish city. 
Talk about being in the right place at the right time, I was walking up to the plaza de armas with my german friend that I had met in my hostel and saw this gringa staring at me from the corner of a shop. After paying more attention to her I began to think that she actually looked familiar. Somehow it just clicked and I said, "Katie?" and we ran up to each other like we were best friends who hadn't seen each other in years. Katie is Maria's roommate from college and has been living in Trujillo for the past 4 months. We had been in contact on FB but had never actually met until this exact moment in Cajamarca. Crazy how things work out. I had been planning to come to cajamarca the weekend before and Katie's trip was also a little last minute so it was definitely fate that we met that weekend. The girls and I sat in the Plaza de Armas for a few hours talking and snacking on wine and Cajamarca Cheese. It was all very European. I'm sure we were a big spectacle being a big group of gringas having a blast in the middle of the Plaza. It was just so nice to finally hang out with girls my own age and get to talk about our shared experiences with living and working down in Peru. 
A view of the countryside
Cajamarca is a mountain town with the most unbelievable skies that I have ever seen and a lot of history. It's claim to fame is the final battle between the Incas and the Spaniards and all of the ancient historical landmarks and ruins that accompany the two cultures. My favorite was probably the silla de Inca (the seat of the Inca King). It was supposed to have been the throne of the Inca King as he watched over his people and troops when they were in battle. It just looked like a flat rock jutting out of the mountain side. Never the less, the view from this "landmark" was absolutely breathtaking. I could see the entire city of Cajamarca and all of the countryside surrounding it. I walked up an intense, Rocky like, staircase filled with artisans and markets with Peruvian souvenirs that led to a small beautifully restored blue and white church. After reaching the top, completely covered in sweat and realizing that I am way out of shape to work out in high altitude I took in the view of what I thought was the top. Like always some little Peruvian man began to talk to me so I wasn't alone for very long. This guy was in school for business and tourism so I guess he was out practicing his tour guide skills. He tried to describe the history of Cajamarca and show me around, but I'm pretty sure I only understood about half of what he was saying. To me half is actually an accomplishment.
Although half can be really bad when you are making plans with people of trying to get information out of them. I also went to see the Ventanillas de Otuzco, the burial grounds of the Incas, i guess. The tombs were carved into the wall of this huge rock wall making it look like it had windows (ventanillas). The sky here was also strangely breathtaking. On one side it was so vividly blue and then across the valley the grey skies of a storm were forming over the mountains. The rest of my weekend was spent exploring the city, which is probably less touristy for some, but it felt really nice just being in a bigish city. 
Talk about being in the right place at the right time, I was walking up to the plaza de armas with my german friend that I had met in my hostel and saw this gringa staring at me from the corner of a shop. After paying more attention to her I began to think that she actually looked familiar. Somehow it just clicked and I said, "Katie?" and we ran up to each other like we were best friends who hadn't seen each other in years. Katie is Maria's roommate from college and has been living in Trujillo for the past 4 months. We had been in contact on FB but had never actually met until this exact moment in Cajamarca. Crazy how things work out. I had been planning to come to cajamarca the weekend before and Katie's trip was also a little last minute so it was definitely fate that we met that weekend. The girls and I sat in the Plaza de Armas for a few hours talking and snacking on wine and Cajamarca Cheese. It was all very European. I'm sure we were a big spectacle being a big group of gringas having a blast in the middle of the Plaza. It was just so nice to finally hang out with girls my own age and get to talk about our shared experiences with living and working down in Peru. 
A view of the countryside
In the campo hanging out with the cows.. Yes I really was that close to them. 
My lunch on Saturday.. Somehow I enjoyed this after pulling away all of the skin and trying really hard not to look at the eyes. The potatoes were really good though.
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