Hangin´ in Huaraz

Upon return from the Ishinka Valley we got a chance to spend more time in Huaraz. The city has beautiful surroundings, when not enveloped in clouds. Mountains close the town in on all sides and there is a muddy river that borders the south side of the city center. The night we came back into town we were greeted by the dedication ceremony of the new town plaza. Much of the town was damaged and the cathedral destroyed in the early 1970´s by a massive earthquake. Although we were too tired to stay up for the firworks, we watched one of the earlier bands as long as we could tolerate the crowd. This group consisted of fog machine, female singer and male synchronized dancers. The next day Henk and Issy, our Australian friends, invited us to go down to the market. Being Saturday, the market was apparently larger than usual. Sprawling over several blocks there was a wider variety of items than I´ve ever seen together in a market. Along next to the familiar domesticated animals we found mesh bags full of live guinea pigs and in the fish stalls a shark. Peru also seems to have produce like no where else with vegetables and fruits in unnatural sizes, shapes and colors. Henk also found a maker of the recycled tire tread sandals that are commonly worn in all of the small villages. One entertaining surprise came in the form of a couple monkeys that would pick your fortune out of a box for a nominal fee. We didn´t see the pet dealer that soled Henk and Issy their iguana though. I half promised to Maggie we would see the Peruvian hairless dog also, but so far it hasn´t been delivered. In addition to the ugly black-skinned canine she missed a brief sighting of the variety of miniature deer that lives in the national park. Maybe next time. We are scheduled to return to Lima tonight and back home within the next 48 hours.