Rest day in Adahuaylas
What a noisy town. A hotel room with a balcony might also have a view, but it comes at a price. Noise. I was woken at 6:30 this morning with a truck going up and down the street honking it’s horn and ringing a loud bell. I thought, ‘What the?’ and stuck my head over the balcony to see what the commotion was all about. It was the rubbish truck letting people know it’s coming to collect the rubbish. Why not put it out the night before and sleep in peace? What about me? I don’t have any rubbish and I’m just trying to sleep! Unbelievable.
Mid-morning I set off wandering and before long, found the central plaza with the usual church on one side. From there I ended up at surprise, surprise – the markets. I bought a lovely mixed juice from a vendor there. 750ml of fresh juice for $1. I noticed on their menu – jugo con cervesa/juice with beer. On chatting to the juice ladies, they use a local stout and it’s popular. I told them that I like beer and I like juice, but I wish to keep them separate.
Lunch was at little eatery near the hotel and it was full of locals. Soup, main and dessert – a banana – and sweet tea and all for $2.50. The soup was delicious and didn’t have chicken feet in it.
My chicken main course came with a red vegetable on the side. Large chilli or small capsicum? Wow! Was it hot. It was worse than a chilli and it burnt my mouth for an hour.
This afternoon we had cake and drinks on the hotel top floor to celebrate Graeme and Suzanna’s birthdays today. Two different cakes, so of course we had to try both. I love the polar bear on top.
I had a different drink with dinner tonight. Chicha morada. It’s a sweet beverage made from the black corn you see in the markets. On a blind taste test, I’d have picked it as Ribena blackcurrant cordial. Nice though.
Malcolm
foto: janin
(to be continued)