In the Chivay region the prickly pear cactus is farmed. Partially for its fruit.
This is the fruit pealed for eating.
Here it is cut open. It tastes kind of melony, but with lots of seeds.
But they also farm them because they attract bugs, which are ground up and used to dye clothing.
The church is built out of sillar volcanic stone.
The stone is very soft and easy to carve.
This church had definite Peruvian touches
Including pineapples.
And other small birds.
I’m not sure what type of birds these were to represent.
There was another last supper featuring guinea pig and corn, but the painting isn’t as nice as the one in Lima.
This church had a Jesus Cautivo statue.
This is the highest point we are likely to reach on our trip, at 4910m above sea level. It is over 500m higher than the highest point in the rockies, and 741m higher than Mauna Loa, our previous highest point. From here you can see several even higher points.
This is Vulcan Hualca Hualca, which is 6025m.
This is Vulcan Sabancayo, at 5976m.
This is Volcan Ampato, at 6288m.
This would be Volcan Chachani, at 6075m.
These are the highest washrooms in Peru, at 4915m. They have no doors, and the toilet is just a hole in the ground.
This is Kerri and Matt, at 4912m.
As a part of our orientation and walking tour we went to the market. It was very organized into different areas. Those for fish.
The area for organ meats.
The beautiful area for fruits. They also were the nicest looking fruits we had seen so far. The pomegranates needed to be eaten but we kept it to just buying one to eat that night.
This was a fruit from the coast valley called chirimoya, but didn’t have any so no idea what it tastes like.
They had lots of aguaymanto.
And the rest but these ones are much easier to identify as most of these are at home.
In Peru they have a few types of potatoes. The Inkas actually cultivated over 100 varieties, there were quite a few available here.
They also have lots of types of corn, including the purple corn which is used for juice.
There were other types of corn and grains available.
Some kernels were more purple than others.
There was also a section where flowers were sold.
These are coca leaves. Locally they are chewed with a bit of an alkaline substance to release a small dose of cocaine, which acts as a stimulant and is supposed to relieve altitude sickness. They are also sometimes used to make tea. Internationally they are illegal, because they are used to make cocaine.
Some members of our group tried frog juice. It involves putting a boiled frog in a blender.
With soy milk, chia, and miscellaneous powders purported to cure things.
To make a disgusting looking drink.
Those that did try it did not seem thrilled. They described it as tasting like a warm milkshake, or a protein shake. Possibly due to the graininess of the seeds, or perhaps the ground bones of the frog.
The last section of the market was the witches market, which contained a collection of decorated llama fetuses.
Necklaces and bracelets.
Llama fetus skeletons.
Little bags of random Catholic paraphernalia.
Big bags of random Catholic paraphernalia.
And herbal supplements. Yes, all at the same tiny little booth.
This llama fetus got a diaper for some reason.
