Goodbye Huancayo - Blogabond

Have you ever had a girlfriend/boyfriend you can't dump? Or a friend you can't ditch? Huancayo is starting to look like that. We've had good times together, but it just won't let me go! I was supposed to be in Lima right now, waiting for Jamshade and my parents at the airport, but there are some rather large boulders in my way. Harry the sepo, Jimmy the Aussie and I were smart and bought bus tickets to leave on Friday, which would give us more than a day than we needed. Unfortunately a rockslide foiled that plan. We've been back to the bus station, bags in hand, 5 times since then. Still no luck. Apparently it will take until Tuesday to clear all of the rocks. So now I've sent messages to Jams, mom n' pops that I'm going to meet them in Cusco (a good 22 hr bus ride from Lima). They're all on their flights here, so wish them luck!!

We're going to need an adjustment period after leaving the Huancayo. We're leaving our comfort zone for the Gringo Trail of Peru, which includes all of the tourist hot spots. No longer will children tug their mom's arm and shout "Gringo" at us. Although, that was starting to happen less and less anyways. Jimmy supposes we're walking with more purpose. I think I'm just less wide-eyed. I'm hoping that we're also going to leave the rain behind. Apparently I chose the two rainy months of the year to spend in Huancayo and this year was particularily wet. Each morning my shoes are still damp from the day before, so I started wearing my hiking boots out to save my shoes for dancing - which I gotta say, I think I'm starting to catch on to moving my feets to the latin beats, thanks to the hard work I've put in at the clubs here.

Most locals tell me that Huancayo is not the ideal travel destination. They say Columbia is the place for beauty - as in culture, volcanoes, beaches and women. Every gringo I've met tells me that Bolivia is the most amazing place they've been. I'm keen to find out why. Nevertheless, there are still a fair few locals who believe in the beauty of the Mantaro Valley. I'm going to have to side with the few optimistic here in the same way that I side with the few who believe Deadmonton can be a fun place to live. Either way, I'm pretty stoked to actually get on a bus tonight and get moving.

written by

ryanmyers on March 14, 2009 from Huancayo, Peru

from the travel blog: Ryan's First Sabbatical

tagged Rockslide

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