Ayacucho Pilgrimage

The main church on the Ayachucho Plaza - one of over 30 in the city

Ayacucho from the surrounding mountains

Ayacucho is the Wari homeland. This enlightened civilization “ruled” the southern half of Peru from 500 to 1100 AD. Their hallmarks were beautiful ceramics, textiles and most importantly – lots of trading and PEACE. I say “ruled” because, unlike most other societies, there was no central government. The Wari were organized into independent city/states, joined by religion, technology and trade. While I’m guessing there may have been some friction between them, it never seemed to develop into full-on war. This lack of defenses, trained soldiers and weapons made them easy game for the Inca thugs, who descended from Cusco and quickly conquered them. My recent journey to Ayacucho was a respectful pilgrimage, of sorts, to visit the high Andes and see where the Wari group who inhabited the nearby Cerro de Oro came from.

There are flights and luxury buses, but I chose the “scenic route”. This penchant for the road-less-traveled serves me well, keeping the tourists at bay and accessing the unique travel experience. From San Luis, I took the Soyuz (Russian for “union”) bus to San Clemente, where the road to Ayacucho begins its 6 hour, 15,000 ft climb into the high Andes. There, I found a mini-van “collective” and waited for it to fill with passengers and freight. This mode of transport offers many advantages – about 1/3 of the bus fare and 10% of air, a chance to chat with fellow passengers and the option to stop, when needed.

The Pisco River Valley

The trip began with the ritual passing of the plastic bags for car sickness disposal purposes. I’m not sure this sends a good message, but four passengers were quite grateful for them. I bought a supply of mandarins and pancita rolls, as an ice-breaker. The route begins in the Pisco River valley. Because the Pisco , unlike my dear Canete, only flows during the rainy season, the agriculture and greenery are markedly reduced, though still in evidence. We passed the Tambo Colorado ruins, which I’ll re-visit at leisure with a close friend in September. The ruins are large block (ram-earth) construction, similar to the Cerro de Oro.

Thatched roofs high in the Andes

From the Pisco Valley, the ascent scenery changes quickly from irrigated desert coast to foothills which enjoy rain in season and then to alpine forest. In just over an hour, we were at 8,000 ft and passed the precious little town of Huaytara, home to some exquisite pre-Inca stonework and dairies. We quickly rose to the high Andes , hitting the high peak at 14,000ft. Above the tree-line, there were herds of llamas, evidence of old mining operations and even some snow on the surrounding peaks. This looks like a lonely life, as houses are few and far between. Construction changes to stone walls and thatched or metal roofs. The llamas and alpacas all sport colorful yarn bows – an alternative to branding. All along the route, mining operations are evident, sucking the metal and mineral resources (gold, silver, copper, lead, sulpur, magnesium and cobalt) out of the mountains and leaving huge piles of slag and waste.

A herd of llamas (or alpacas - hard to tell the difference)

Snow on the Andes peaks at 15,000 ft.

After hours of twisting and turning, with a few stops to allow the car-sick passengers to wash-up while the driver delivered small freight, we (thankfully) arrived above the Ayacucho valley to overlook a vast, sprawling city. I was most struck by the remote location of this huge city. Access from any direction is difficult, even with an well-constructed and maintained highway. I can only imagine the effort and hardship required to travel by foot, even with some pack-animal assistance.

Pedestrian walkway and arch

From the big entrance gas stations, which also serve as freight and passenger terminals, a moto-taxi whisked me to the central Plaza, where I found a delightful and spotless hotel, with hot water, cable TV and internet for about US$20 a night. The Condeduque is on a pedestrian promenade that runs to the Plaza, lined with all manner of restaurants and shops. I had my second go at cuy (guinea pig), which was tasty, but lots of work picking meat off the bones.

One of the original Spanish haciendas

A general strike in support of rolling back the 10% rise in university fees recently imposed by the city, thwarted my travel plan, but allowed a walking tour of the cities churches, museums and haciendas. I found an anticucho (roasted cow heart) restaurant and was rewarded with some of the best I’ve had in Peru. The Spanish colonial influence is quite evident, with large balconies, columns and arches – not to mention over 30 ornate churches. Once again, I pondered the fact that, aside from local building materials and food, virtually everything in the city came up that long, arduous highway. It rained hard in the night, leaving the streets and air fresh and clean.

My fellow combi riders in traditional colorful, multi-layered garb

Next day, I visited the extensive Wari ruins and museum, about 45 minutes outside of Ayacucho, near the lovely alpine village of Quinoa (just like the grain). Again, I passed on the over-priced tourist packages in favor of local transportation. Freight on-board included live chicks, and a large metal door. Most passengers were women, attired in the traditional Andean garb of brightly colored and extensively layered clothes, topped by a fedora hat. The route passed the giant Christ statue (1/2 size of Rio), out the valley floor and up into the surrounding mountains.

Inside the Wari museum

A Wari skull - either they practiced head-shaping or they were aliens.

The ceremonial circle (or game pit)

Excavation of one of the many "churches" on site

The “Wari City” covers about 6 sq. miles and is in the process of being excavated by archeologists and protected by the Ministry of Culture. The museum is not much larger than the one we are building in San Luis, but has a nicely displayed collection of artifacts and information. The staff is not well-trained and unable to answer most questions. I hope we can do better. The self-guided tour of the ruins is nicely marked and maintained. At 10am on a Friday, I was the ONLY visitor – stark contrast to the 2,500 tourists that flock to the Machu Pichu ruins every day.

The site is largely a ceremonial facility, where the Wari from all over southern Peru would gather to celebrate religion and culture. Again, I marvel that pilgrims could and would make the trip into and through the mountains – true dedication. The construction is very unlike the adobe found on the coast. The area is littered with flat stones, which were expertly stacked in an inter-locking fashion, to make absolutely straight and thick walls, often over 50 ft high. Mixed with the stacked rock are large cut stone blocks, more similar to those of the Inca in Cusco. Also notable are the cut rock aqueduct and “plumbing” pieces, which distributed water around the site. The only stone art I saw was a large fountain head. There is not a lot of ornamentation or “art” at the site, though I’m sure any ancient visitor would have been wowed by the immensity of the walls, walkways and intricate “churches”. Most outstanding and well preserved was a “D” shaped ring inside a stadium, which I was told may have been used for ceremonial meetings, with ample “thrones” for the chiefs or for some kind of game – take your pick. What are said to be “churches” or worship areas were excavated well below ground and featured the same mix of stacked stone masonry and large cut sandstone rock. Since the Wari left no written records, a LOT of the structural uses are unknown and left to the imagination.

I traveled further up the mountain to the delightful alpine village of Quinoa, where I dined on some excellent trout and perused the market stalls and artisan shops, sampling some good yogurt and cheese in the process. One of the unique features of every house in the area is an iconic representation of a cathedral at the top center of the roof-line. Some are carved of wood and others are ceramic. And everywhere, the traditional brightly colored dress of Andes women catches the eye.

The return to the coast was about an hour shorter, in large part due to a more skillful driver, who avoided quick, sharp turns, resulting in fewer car-sickness stops. Gravity also helped.

Superb stacked rock construction - walls are 6-8 feet thick

Lovely Plaza in the alpine village of Quinoa - note the icon on top of the roof