City of 'Black Laguna' - CAJAMARCA

Already for 4 month I am living my dream - discovering world!
I have been going through the whole coast line of Peru from South till North, but still haven't experienced even a half of all  Peruvian traditions, cultures and other treats this country and it's people are offering. So now I am on my way back from North to South, but in this time - through the 'greens' and snowy peaks.

Cajamarca - Plaza de Armas

Cajamarca - busy

After I left the sunny coast, beautiful leisure life in the heat and the beauty of thousand different shades of blue, I re-started my way towards the jungles, which required to cross forceful Andes mountains one more time.

















The first stop - city Cajamarca has full air with vibrations which charms You from the first breath you take! It's marvelous architecture, presence of mountains and calmness in the night, when You can swim in the sky - overwhelmed with billions of stars. This made me stay there longer than a couple of days. Couch-surfing service in the local architecture office with 3 other Argentinians - quite fun :)
Besides that some incredible visits to touristic spots - Baños de Inca, Cumbe Mayo (Inca Zig-Zag Canal system) and other breathtaking places.

Baños de Inca - Thermal water

But what kept my attention more than anything were those writings I continued to read all around the city:

"Water YES, Mines - NO!", "Water YES, Gold - NO!", NO to Conga Project!"

Water YES, GOLD - NO!

'Shaved mountains" - open space for public opinions

Later on I found out the story of Cajamarca, which is quite complicated and sad. It's called - "Conga Mine project" or in other words "GOLD instead of WATER"!

There is one word overused more than often through the conversations between the local people. The word is - Yanacocha - a mining company, which belongs mainly to USA, partly to Peru and IFC World Bank (5%). Yanacocha in native Quechua (Inca language) means ‘Black Lagoon’ – and longer time ago, it actually was a lagoon until Yanacocha set its sights on it – and transformed it into an open pit (mine) which can be seen even from space.

The problems caused by mining is that the gold, copper or any other metal in this region is extracted by using process of dissolution with other metals, which are very dangerous for environment. Metals used for dissolution  (like mercury) as a contamination stays in the ground, which gets useless, and even worse - enters the rivers, which is the main source of life for the local farmer villages.

One day during my walk in Cajamarca mountains I met this local lady with her horse, who shared the way with me and sadly told:
"People here will never be happy again. Water - it is our life."
She was on her way across the mountain for 2 h, to get some drinkable water to her house, as the river for already several years is becoming more and more dangerous.

"Our mountains are disappearing"

How can You actually feel in this city which is so adorable and welcoming, but can not provide You with a tap water to wash the fruits, from the market?!
And it is just a beginning...

The Minas Conga project what is the Peru’s largest current social conflict, is projected to be three times the size of Yanacocha (already)  to 3,069 hectares of land and it would drain and exploit two mountain lakes to extract the gold and copper that lies beneath. Whatever water sources that would remain would most likely be polluted with heavy metals – and project plans to produce an average of 90,000 tons of toxic waste per day, every day for 17 years.

Despite the fact that the local governmental education system is very poor, and it seems, that for government it is very useful; local villages still understand that their mountains are disappearing and rivers do not carry the elixir of life anymore. They feel the never-ending headache, sees their animals dying and their children getting born with in-capabilities. People feel and understand. People write on the walls, they write on the mountains, they fight against it through protests, but it will never be enough. The smell of money is too strong here. Even the locals who are working in mines (and that is a HUGE number of people), are too occupied to spend the sudden amount of money they earned on the material things, they were so long dreaming about, that forgot the rank of essentials. The money makes them so dizzy that local mine workers wake up only after they have been thrown out from their work, without any benefits, because their health is not good enough anymore for keeping their previously occupied workplace.

The mining company Yanacocha comes publicly up with a phrase: “We are not proud of the current state of our relationship with the people of Cajamarca" and promise to replace the water with artificial system for next 50 years, but in the same time openly use aggression against some fighters, who still claim that they will not give their land up as they are the rightful owners; they believe the mountain lakes are sacred, and are willing to protect them, and Mother Earth, at all costs.

Senora who helped me in the mountains, when a dog tried to attack me

Local mountain girl - picture made by her brother

Unfortunately this problem does not end in Cajamarca and it's regions only. As besides huge amount of water and land, to realize Conga project there is also requirement to enlarge energy supply  by 40%, which is planned to happen by building 20 enormous hydroelectric projects along the river Maranon - one of the main river of Amazon. The whole project is being pushed through 'by blood and by fire' which now places in dangerous position also inhabitants and nature from the jungle region. Hard to believe, that is happening for real... And  the most shocking are the numbers. Imagine that to get 1 ounce of gold (which is enough for making one golden ring), they need to dig up 100 000 tons of ground.

Gold mine in Arequipa

Arequipa - mountains of contaminated ground, which changes Peruvian vista forever.

And again it is so obvious, that people alone are so hopeless in front of the financial 'giants'. The miracle can happen only if we start to care all together and turn off (at least for a while) our desires of superiority, reached by purchased materialistic things.

Greetings,
A.




Some more information: 

https://vimeo.com/50059350

http://upsidedownworld.org/main/peru-archives-76/4438-peru-andean-self-determination-struggles-against-extractive-capitalism-

http://upsidedownworld.org/main/peru-archives-76/4823-perus-conga-mine-conflict-cajamarca-wont-capitulate

Arequipa and Edgar

When I arrived to Arequipa, my most favorite site Couchsurfing was under reconstruction, so the first night in the city which is placed in the valley of volcanoes I stayed in the hostel. And foreign travelers I met there just approved me that – this is not it. So I continued to search for something local.

VIEW TO VOLCANO MISTI FROM THE BALCONY OF HOSTEL

The person I met next called Edgar is THE person who made an Arequipa for me.

Who is Edgar? Local Inka! That was one of the first sentences what he said and which I liked the most. In the beginning it was like a joke for me, but later when on the way to his house (where I was allowed to stay for a week) we visited his friend in the bar and the first Inka traditions were shown. One of them was - when just opened beer bottle got turned towards the ground and poured out a bit of beer with following words “Para Pacha mama” (for mother ground), later bottle raised “Para Taita Inti” (for father sun), which how I found out later really are the old traditions of Inkas, as they used to thank all the nature around, where Pacha Mama and Tai ta Inti are the most important, but later followed by volcanoes, mountains and other phenomenons of nature. These traditions are still kept between local people and every first sip of any drink goes on the ground for Pacha Mama. It is very interesting to see, how the culture where religion stands in the first place, still remain the old pagan rituals, by creating this interesting mix of traditions. Although Catolicism has the huge influence here and when people ask my religion (which is normal question) I see that my answer – protestant, does not really please them. It surprises me how youth – who also believe in God describes the church like a place where only bad people go, as they always need a forgiveness for their sins.

MONASTERY SANTA CATALINA 

MONASTERY SANTA CATALINA

This young man Edgar explained for me many things about the history of Peru, as he lived and obtained from parents history of Inkas. His grandmother was local shaman – as he explained – very wise woman who knew a lot about life and people visited her, so she can share her knowledge. It was also the person with who Edgar tried Ahyawuaska – the plant which does not only clean the stomach but also allows to put in order thoughts of the person. The main idea as he explained, that his grandmother just needed to ask the right questions while he was under the influence of this plant and as the EGO  during this process dies, person continues to answer very honestly to all questions asked, but later do not remember anything, so there the shaman steps in again and makes conclusions of the things heard. In that way shaman helps to understand what happens in persons head and what things he should or shouldn't do.  

 But that was not how it started. His story started as an ordinary Peruvian man – wish for fortune, entertainment and all following things, but his climbing hobby led his life to an accident when he fell down from 15m high cliff. Of course coma and almost all body broken, but this massive accident didn’t change a lot in his life, because as he said, it was all the same content in his head. With rehabilitation he started to feel better, but when the pump on the face started to disappear, he realized that he is blind with his right eye. That was like the lightning from clear sky. No more ability to work in his previous place, necessity to understand how to do things when the angle of his vision is eliminated on half, need to understand how to walk and not to bump into the people and much more other related things. 

This turn forced him to make a choice of the most famous question “To be or not to be”, which resulted with decision to live for some time together with nuns, who servers for the church. As he described, the calmness and peace of the place and two sisters (nuns) who were more than 60 years old but happily engaged with music and involved him in the voluntary work with disabled kids, made him over think a lot. Something moved for him also when he as a temporary disabled person was fed everyday by volunteer, who to the question “Why do You do it?” replied that he is in the last month of cancer, so has decided that wants to die by doing something.

STREET VIEW IN AREQUIPA

All this experience led Edgar to a random decision – he bought his ticket to Russia, which welcomed him with open arms. People helped him with the stay as he is helping me know and he was another time successfully placed to work as a volunteer in the project with disabled kids in Pavlovsk. The thing which in the beginning was accident later turned out to the best thing he ever experienced and now it is already 3^rd summer when he is preparing to go back there.

It was very interesting to follow Edgar’s thoughts about Russia, because there are many things in common between these two cultures. One of them is the consumption of alcohol. Because here in Peru it is also very common to drink a lot, as every weekend goes hand in hand with it. Another thing which he mentioned about Peru was that here works the same slogan as in Russia “The more I hit you, the more I love you”. This information made me a bit speechless, as this crazy thing I thought appeals only for the big neighbor country. But despite that, the local people still have very similar nature – always opened, friendly, sincere and will give a hand in the situations when it is crucial and needed.

Very interesting thing he noticed while visiting Russia, is what happens with disable children in these both countries. There comes the huge difference. In Russia it is very common to have orphans house for disabled kids, while in Peru disabled kids are almost never with no parents. This information shocked Edgar and we tried to understand why this difference exists. As he explained in Peruvian family when they have a disabled child – it is still Your child and despite his lack of possibilities to work and to experience many for others called “normal” things, their parents do everything possible to make this kid happy and allow him enjoy the life also from his own abilities. At the same time in Russia many, many families when they have a child with some problems find it almost normal to leave him, so there are enormous amount of disable orphans. The important difference which steps in as an answer, is that, Peruvian families are formed in completely different manner. The reason for the family here is because very important part of their lives is to leave heritage for this world, so it is common for this reason that families has more than 5 kids, as a  wish to spread the understanding person has obtained of this life also for future generations. They find essential to keep their culture, continue their traditions and spread the knowledge of life. Peruvians honor their ancestors and love their children as the future of all this. 

While in other side of the ocean (my side) it is more common to have a kid because it is a time to have it. As my friends say the clock is ticking. Sometimes it even feels that kid in Europe has become like a fashion. It is ability to dress him or her, to match clothes, show to society social status. But where has disappeared the pureness of the reason to create family? Where is in our land part of the cultural heritage? Are there actually many people left who make children with this intention?

All this conversation and thousands of thoughts accompanied us during the trip to the bottom of volcanoes, where we enjoyed the hidden “Thermal waters” which are not revealed to tourists yet. It was a beautiful moment when you just lie down in the water and watch volcanoes. In that moment I just thought how could I ever possibly think about not coming here or listen my mother when she asked why can’t I live a normal life like my friends?

VIEW TO VOLCANO CHAN CHANI FROM THERMAL WATERS 

THERMAL WATERS - PERFECT PLACE FOR LISTENING STORIES

We stayed there for couple of hours till it get really cold and we needed to run back before it gets dark. 

That was when the other adventure started, because there was a little problem to get back home, so we needed to hitchhike, which fortunately was very fast and successful. We got some truck which from local plantation was carrying beans to the market. Edgar went up but I got inside in the cabin with driver and old local women who was the boss. 

This continues ride for more than hour was the most of what you can imagine as a cultural exchange. The senora and me very fast found common knowledge or if more correct – she just started to ask me everything. “Where are you from?”, “What is Your religion?”, “Is that Your boyfriend”, “Why don’t You have a boyfriend?”, “How do You earn money?”, “Where do Your parents work? “. Of course she told me a lot of interesting things, but it always amazes me how important for many people is to ask about the money. If I review all my conversations, after I say that I am traveler in the top 5 comes the question – where do You get the money. Is that really the most interesting thing people want to know? I had already so many adventures that it is hard to describe them all, but people continue to ask this primitive question.

CITY OF AREQUIPA AND THE GRAND POWER OF VOLCANO MISTI

The next day which I will always remember is Sunday (Domingo). It started with the question from Edgar, if I need to wash my clothes, to what I of course answered yes, because I had a lot. I went to by some powder, collected bunch of clothes and went down so he could help me to put them in the machine. But it was followed by surprise. I got a big bowl in front of me and many smaller aside – that meant just one thing – here is everything You need to wash Your clothes. Just start when You want. 

After I understood that it is how it is going to happen, the first thing I did - I double checked if I really need to wash all the clothes I collected and after I brought half of them back to my backpack I sat down on the ground near Edgar and his mother to wash my socks, underwear and some t-shirts. During the process I got explained that this is a typical Peruvian Sunday. You spend time with your family, wash your clothes, listen local music and involve in conversations. For me it was not only a great way how to keep myself to essentials of my wardrobe but also really nice day, when I really felt that I am living Peruvian culture with my own body and soul.

DOMINGO (SUNDAY) THE DAY OF LAUNDRY (NO MACHINES USED)

PERUVIAN DOGS (THE SMALLEST ONE (LU-LU)  IS MIX, BUT THE BIGGEST (RICHARD) IS A TYPICAL TRADITIONAL PERUVIAN DOG

All this experience just shows me again that people are the most important part of every place. They are ones who create it, follow it, and care for it. And there is no better way how to get to know the place aside from involving oneself in the local life. Edgar approved to me that Lonely planet book in not necessary. It carries wrong stories and missing the most interesting routes. As he had been working with vulcanologists here in Arequipa, he spends many weeks up there (~6000 m) by leading French scientists through his local routes. He has learned a lot about volcanoes by himself and also from scientists as they spend more than 3 weeks together by camping around volcanoes. In his house he has a little museum of old Inca heritage found on the trails and exposition of many different stones from volcanoes, where each of them has their own specialty. 

CAYMA - THE PLACE WHERE I LIVE

As people helped him in Russia and he taught them a lot of Pacha Mama Traditions, now he helps a lot to me. Together we found a place where I can stay for a month or so and involve myself in voluntary experience with local kids who has no parents. I guess these will be very special Christmas for me, despite the fact that I will miss my own family.

I am sure that my adventures with Edgar are not over as we plan to join some scientists in volcano research (hopefully if they call him soon), but till know the phrase I will never forget was when he in thermal waters said that with his left eye he sees our ‘’normal” world, but with other eye – the souls of people.

EDGAR - LOCAL INKA MAN