Ayacucho

I haven't been too active lately on this blog, but for the best possible reason: traveling! First weekend trip was to the Sendero Luminoso struck city of Ayacucho. The place is renowned for its Semana Santa processions, the week before Easter, culminating with a huge spectacle on Easter itself. I was already booked for Easter weekend, so I had to content myself with the weekend before that.

The processions were quite interesting and spectacular. Have a look at some of the pics in the gallery on your right hand side! Although we had to wait for more than an hour, it was well worth the wait. Out of nowhere this huge shining construction appeared out of the church, carried by a few dozen men, accompanied by fireworks and a zillion camera flashes... Perhaps just as impressive was the Palm Sunday procession, with hundreds and hundreds of people carrying palm leaves while accompanying a statue of Jesus on a monkey and praying.

On another note, I thoroughly enjoyed the Sierra, as the Andes part of Peru is called. Amazing views, lush green mountains and a blue sky with sheep clouds - life can be great! Especially when riding on horseback on the pampa where a united army of South Americans kicked the espagnoles' asses big time, leading to an independent South America.

It's pretty amazing what people do here in Peru to make some money. Apparently, you can get by offering your scale for people to weigh themselves! Or were these ladies just giving people the opportunity to weigh themselves, with the end of lent approaching...

Ayacucho (c) Tom Van den Steen