Our infamous corner!

Another one bites the dust, or should I say the water? This poor taxi driver grossly underestimated the depth of the puddle on the side of the road just outside the hotel as he veered left to avoid another vehicle. The result was obvious, much to his severe embarrassment.
After a period of time a truck arrived to tow him out of his predicament. However, firstly three or four men climbed in the back of the car in order to get the rear wheels back onto the actual road.
It seemed that there was no real damage done as the taxi driver simply took off to collect another fare!

Another Sunday Carnaval.

The difference this time was mainly the size of the event, this one was big, in fact it was so big that Marion and I did not even wait till it was all over - even the digital camera was beginning to run hot from overuse.
We found out later that this parade was the final one of three and that all three are very competitive due to the fact that the overall winning group progresses on to compete at an even higher level. Hence, the obvious care taken by each group to impress the judges.




The official party seemed to cover all the local dignitaries, including a Bishop. There were two bands playing the marching music and one entire length of the Plaza lined with military personnel.

After the official flag raising ceremony and the singing of the Peruvian National Anthem the massive parade began in earnest, led by all the assembled military units.




Then they were followed by numerous religious groups, mainly Adventists and the like. Not many Catholic banners in sight! I wondered how the Bishop felt with such a visible absence as the others marched past holding their prayer books and bibles aloft.


Even the various church youth groups were on parade.


We were both rather bemused concerning the appearance of this large bird hovering on top of a motor taxi; possibly a symbolic peace dove, or even a condor.

Last, but definitely not least, came all the local groups displaying all the colour and pageantry of the various regions around Ayacucho. Their music and dancing as they paraded was sensational, if not extremely repetitive!





These are just some of the costumes of the women of the area and I sometimes think that the actual photos do not capture the real colour. Even some of the children take part in the singing and dancing.





I can assure you the men were not to be out done when it came to dressing up, singing and dancing for the parade. One group of men even carried plates of fruit on their heads.

These two young men had made their flutes from grey PVC piping!



These horses and burros added an interesting diversion to the whole affair. The young lady was especially skilful in handling her mount considering she was riding bare back and her horse was not at all comfortable with all the noise and commotion.
These Sunday events are truly amazing and a sight to behold. We now look forward to Semana Santa, Holy Week, and all that the week entails.

Semana Santa - Holy Week.

As Semana Santa approaches we are both hearing and reading all about this time in Ayacucho.
There are local festivals and seasonal things to do taking place virtually every week in Ayacucho. Everybody based in this part of Peru, including tourists, will find plenty to enjoy, whatever the time of the year. However, for those who are in Ayacucho during Easter, the Holy Week celebrations of Semana Santa will be hard to miss.
Semana Santa is one of the biggest of all the festivals staged in Ayacucho and many religious events and celebrations take place in the city's churches. Holy Week events commence on the Friday before Palm Sunday and lasts some ten days, leading up to Easter Sunday, with daily processions.
Apart from all the religious ceremonies and processions there are also art exhibitions, traditional Peruvian folk dancing, music concerts, agricultural fairs, traditional feasting, bonfires, open-air street markets, parades of horses and donkeys, bull running, and apparently much more.
Both Marion and I are really looking forward to this time of the year even though it is getting very close to our departure date from all our new friends in Ayacucho.

The orphanage restoration fundraiser.

During last week we were sold tickets for a concert that was being organised to raise funds for the restoration of one of the local orphanages. Last night was the big night for La Casa Hogar “Los Gorriones” de Ayacucho, the liberal translation being home sweet home of ‘the sparrows’ of Ayacucho! Apparently the orphanage is in rather dire need of restoration and I suppose like all other such organisations in Peru the Government is not too quick in coming forward with the necessary funds.

The concert was not held at the orphanage but rather at St Anthony’s Secondary College, only two blocks from our hotel. As yet we have not visited the actual orphanage; however, we have had a number of invitations to do so because a number of overseas volunteers also stay at Hotel Tres Mascaras.

Some of the sparrows were in full flight during the preparations for the start of the night while others were prepared to wait for the time when they would perform a rather stunning act. Marion pointed out that printed on the back of their T shirts were the words ‘sin amor nada soy’- without love I am nothing.

As usual the printed starting time had actually nothing to do with the actual starting time! We were there for the 4.00 p.m. starting time; we could have arrived for the 4.50 p.m. starting time! Even then the crowd was rather sparse. Nevertheless, when the music began you could understand why – why pay the entrance fee when you could hear the music throughout most of Ayacucho! The locals certainly love to wind up the volume when a PA system is near to hand. Don’t get me wrong, although the band was very loud it was still extremely good.

After about an hour ‘the sparrows’ were called upon to do their act.

They were under the direction of two young volunteers and I can assure you that these two young women had obviously put in many hours of hard work with the children.

As seen in the photos they performed a precision drumming act with home-made drum sticks and various sized metal drums, all the time marching around in a circle. They even managed to throw their drum sticks into the air on a number of occasions as an extra effect!

They were terrific and fully deserved the applause they received when taking a bow.


We were entertained by three beautifully dressed Huamanginos who sang and danced and also an amazing ‘harpa’ player. At one stage Marion thought that he was actually being accompanied by a CD, not true, all the sounds were being produced by his eight fingers and two thumbs! You could have listened to a lot more of his music but it seems he had to rush away to anther gig.


The orphanage has wonderful support from overseas volunteers, especially from France and Germany. These young people come out for three to six months in order to offer their services for the support of the children. The love and care they offer the children is so obvious to all.

Towards the end of the concert a group of the volunteers, both male and female, performed three songs in wonderful harmony. Great to hear.
Just before 7.00 p.m., and not knowing when the concert would actually finish we decided to head off for pizza!


Two final observations worth noting about St Anthony’s College, firstly the concert was being held in the actual playground of the College with three stories of classrooms surrounding the area. This area was the size of a basketball court! And secondly when I return to Mildura I will advocate the ‘clock on/clock off’ system for the teachers witin our local schools and colleges back in the area. Now that would be a great idea!

My alabaster purchase.

Yesterday we took Leo to Barrio Santa Ana in order to revisit the studio of Julio Galvez R. As mentioned in a previous blog he is a master in the art of alabaster sculpture.

This time we actually met him and talked extensively to him about his work. It was a fascinating morning. He showed us an amazing piece of work depicting eight musicians all playing various instruments, the entire work would have only measured thirty centimetres by fifteen centimetres and the detail was unbelievable. Although the price was reasonably high and you are very tempted to spend the money, you always wonder that if you did purchase it how you would possibly get it back to Australia in one piece.

We also met his twelve year old son, Carlos Julio, and he showed us one of his miniature works titled “El Condor Pasa” and this piece only stands nine centimetres high! As you can see from the picture it depicts a traditional Peruvian musician playing “El Condor Pasa” on his flute. If you look very carefully you will even see that Carlos Julio has carved the condor beneath the man’s feet! The young lad even took great delight to count all the fingers and thumbs for me!

You guessed it; I could not help myself this time and I bought it for the sum of thirty soles, about $10.60 AUS! We both seemed very happy with the deal; I only hope Carlos Julio’s father felt the same.