After the morning parade we headed home for a rest, we had heard that it all started again around 4.00 so we thought we had better prepare the old bodies!
We walked to the Plaza and then decided to follow the crowd along Jr. 28 de Julio, the narrow, cobbled route of the Palm Sunday procession.
We passed through the Arch of Victory, beside the crowded Indian Market and palm weavers and right up to the Carmelite Church and Monastery of St Teresa. This is where it all began. The small square was absolutely packed with a sea of waving, yellow palm branches. There was even a rather spectacular floral carpet.
On our way to the starting point of the procession we met a lovely lady who seemed to be a self-appointed tourist guide and she informed us that the first part will contain some animals. She failed to add that this meant more than half of the four legged animals of the District of Huamanga!
Next thing I knew was that a motor cycle policeman was trying to force his way through in order to begin the first part of the procession…the first part consisted of dancing, singing, bands, horses and riders, donkeys and llamas – all literally by the hundreds flowing down this very narrow street to the Plaza de Armas!
The Huamanguinos were there as colourful as usual; however, they chose to wave palms this time rather than spraying powder in all directions.
The singers even came with their personal public address system.
As in the past the bands were very enthusiastic, if not always in time!
Just some of the many caballeros on their caballos, these horses have been bred to virtually prance along the street, throwing their front legs up and out as they go, very spectacular and sounding wonderful on the cobbles.
The farmers from all around the area were present on their horses parading very proudly.
Dozens of donkeys with freshly cut branches tied to their backs, with the Peruvian flag attached for extra effect. They were amazing; they just followed along one after another, not the slightest bit perturbed by the crowd and the noise.
Hundreds of llamas all with their distinctive ribbons either attached to their heads or ears. They are a means of identification for their owners.
After all the people, animals and street sweepers passed, we had about half an hour to catch our breath and wonder what could possible happen next.
What happened next was simple to describe, thousands of people slowly processing along the street, some singing, all waving their yellow palms.
As the ‘official party’ of the Archbishop and priests came into view the atmosphere became rather scary, you realised that you were literally being swept along with the crowd, like it or not!
I managed to hold my ground in order to take a few quick photos of the statue of Jesus mounted on a very real donkey. Two things were to my advantage, my height and some old football tactics using elbows and knees!
As we were being swept towards the Arch of Victory we decided to force our way from the procession and take a detour to the Plaza. This turned out to be a good move because we arrived in the Plaza well before the statue and the donkey. The trouble was thousands had beaten us to any form of vantage point!
No fear, once again I simply relied on my height and weight advantage to get some fleeting glimpses of the statue between waving palms and the stern faces of the police crowd controllers!
The atmosphere the people had created by celebrating the occasion was something that had to be experienced in order to be understood.
As we left the Plaza in awe of what had just happened the moon was rising over Ayacucho and it left us wondering what else could happen during this special week of Semana Santa.
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