Cajamarca, Peru

On the bus we meet Juan, a Peruvian ex-pat on the way to visit his mother in Cajamarca.


Cajamarca is off the beaten track in the northern highlands. It´s full of "campesinos," farmer-cowboys, and we think often about gramps in Nebraska and how much he´d love it here.


It´s surrounded by the high sierras and was site to one of the last Incan strongholds. Pizzaro came here and began the conquest of South America by killing the last effective Incan ruler, Atahuallpa. It´s been kind of a rough road for Peru since then. Peruvians therefore hold Cajamarca with a certain reverance and, of course, sadness.


Yet we happen to visit during Corpus Christi week, and there are a ton of processions and special celebrations. Despite a longing for the Incan days of yore, they still sure do love Jesus here. I get some great sound recordings.


Juan brings us on one of his favorite walks. We take a "combi" bus to the small village of Otuzco to see some ruins, then walk about 3 hours on a dirt road through rural Cajamarca to the town of Banos del Inca.


Banos del Inca is home to the ancient hot springs used by the Incans. Atahuallpa was here taking a bath when Pizarro arrived. Because of our love of baths, we end up making a trip out here almost every night. Also, we love eating the papa rellenas from Abuelita, who waits for us outside the baths. We splurge and stay at a bungalow out here for our last day in Cajamarca.


Juan also introduces us to a painter named Daniel. He works at a small non-profit art school for under-priviledged kids in Otuzco. He takes out to see the school, and we are amazed. So incredible that this exists in the middle of rural Peru. And Daniel is such a warm, soft-spoken, and clearly altruistic individual.


He takes us back to his house to show us his paintings. They are a great mixture of Incan iconography with a Surrealist sensiblity. We try to explain in broken Spanish about our projects and how we shoot super-8 film. He politely smiles and is as encouraging as he can be without really knowing what the strange gringos are talking about.


I just like this photo. Kind of a Peruvian "Midnight Cowboy."

I´ll stop here and let Jen fill in some details. But we are back in Lima gearing up for the first leg of our train adventure. Love to all - Kevbot