September 12, 2009
Today, we went with Jorge and Maritza to the town of Chupaca, Jorge’s birthplace and site of one of the region’s most important flea markets, after the one in Huancayo, which happens tomorrow, Sunday. We had breakfast in our hotel of fruit juice and scrambled eggs on toast. If I haven’t said it earlier, then here I want to state that Peru has a wide variety of awesome tasting fruit juices, totally natural.
We walked to Constitution Plaza since we were told that is where we can find taxis to Chupaca. Chupaca is also the name of an area province. Most cars bear the names of the places they stop at, and drivers are constantly slowing down, when they see people, and shouting their destinations. The car to Chupaca was supposed to be green and white. In a little while, one of those showed up; we boarded, and our journey began.
The town doesn’t sit too far away, about 11 km from Huancayo, but a trip via this type of taxi is a complete adventure. It stops constantly to pick up more and more people, and even when you think no one else can fit, it stops to pick up more. Some people are on their way to the market and are carrying their goods to sell.
We finally arrive and see livestock being sold in the lower part of town. It’s truly amazing to see farmers from the smallest towns coming here to buy cattle, pigs, sheep, Guinea pigs, and poultry… for food. The taxi climbed a hill and stopped at the Main Square, where we disembarked.
While we waited for Maritza, we took a walk around the square, seeing the cathedral and climbing up a three story lookout tower that has a great view of the Mantaro River Valley. The tower’s base is decorated in relief, a sculpture of what is locally known as a shapi (a dancer). It grotesquely represents a Spaniard wearing a hat proper to jungle cultures, carrying a spear in one hand, and holding a parrot in the other, who is expressing frustration at not being able to conquer the jungle.
When Maritza and her sister-in-law arrived, we went to the flea market; it’s very large, and you can find anything there you want, from fashionable purses and clothing to typical embroidered Andean skirts in vivid colors, blankets used by the locals to carry their babies or their goods on their backs, as well as hats for keeping the sun off your face, also very characteristic of the Andes.
And since food is a Peruvian passion, it comes as no surprise there are streets filled with carts and booths, whose sellers have prepared all types of food, like caldo de gallina (hot chicken soup eaten for breakfast), pachamanca (pit roasted meats and vegetables), tamales, tons of different fruit, kabobs, bread, and our favorite, roasted baby pig, a succulent treat for which Chupaca is famous.
There were about fifteen booths selling baby pig with the whole animal trussed up on a table. The female vendors were tearing pieces off with their hands and setting them on plates to serve their customers.
Once past the food area, we continue onwards and see the medicine and plant sellers. There is where we found a curious product called “sangre de grado”, which is sap from a tree of the same name. It is as red as blood, hence the name (sangre means blood in Spanish). There is also snail slime (from a very large snail), and we saw frog soup.
Later on, Gloria takes us to her house, and we ate some baby pig with bread and strong coffee. It’s a very typical snack in Chupaca.
Around midday, Jorge arrived, and we all went to Lake Ñahuimpuquio. It is a Quechua word meaning “pond” or “lake”. It’s about 25 meters deep and covers an area of about seven hectares with all types of animals and plants living in and around it. One native species is the totora, a reed and important construction material in some cultures.
We took a boat ride and were told the mystery of this lake. It is said that this lake is somehow connected to Lake Paca since there are old stories of people drowning in Lake Paca but their bodies being found after awhile in Lake Ñahuimpuquio. You can also see the ruins of Arwaturo at the top of a nearby hill. They belong to a Pre-Incan culture called Wanka.
After the boat ride, our stomachs were rumbling, and lucky for us there was restaurant on the lake side offering meat and farm-raised trout. We ordered fried trout and beer and spent a pleasant afternoon at that marvelous spot.
On the way back to Chupaca, which took us towards the town of Ahuac, we stopped at the Tinyari overlook. There you have a wonderful view of the Mantaro River Valley and Mount Huaytapallana in the background.
At Chupaca, we said good-bye and started the return trip to Huancayo. Tomorrow, we will be traveling to Chanchamayo.
