Under The Southern Cross - the Diaries of Jussi

Finally went for holidays together with the entire family! Although we were travelling with two kids (Jasmine's cousin Rosa came with us because her mom was working and thus couldn't have looked after her), it still ended up being quite an enjoyable trip!

We started by taking a morning bus to Huánuco. The trip took almost 9 hours but luckily the bus turned out to be one of the most comfortable I've been in for a long while. The road first goes up and over the Ticlio Pass (4850m) to La Oroya, and then branches towards north following the Andes. It passes by Cerro de Pasco (3350m) and then starts a descent into the Huallaga valley, so-called 'Red Zone', that was notorious before as Shining Path territory, and is still strong in narcotrafficking.

Jasmine coped very well with the altitude. She simply slept over the highest part but even on the lunch break at an altitude of 3400m she was happily jumping and laughing.

We arrived in Huánuco where Silvia's cousin, Marita, was soon to meet us. Huánuco (1894m) itself isn't much of an attraction but the climate is perfect. The next day we did a short daytrip to the ruins in Kotosh to visit the Temple of the Crossed Hands which is said to be the 'oldest temple in the americas' dating back 4000 years.

After two pretty eventless days in Huánuco (a name of the town derives from 'guanaco', the wild relative of the llama) we took off towards Tingo Maria. It lies in a region known as Rupa Rupa ("hot hot") that refers to the climate region between the low jungle and the Yungas, about 200 - 500m above sealevel on the Amazon side of the Andes. At least for the Peruvians, who seem to love imaginary shapes anywhere in the nature, Tingo Maria's main attraction is the 'Sleeping Beauty' - a range of hilltops forming the skyline behind the town that resembles a woman lying on her back. This time I have to admit that it did.

We decided to give ourselves a treat and paid a little extra for the best room in the hostel - one with a jacuzzi for $18 - just for one night. It definitely did the trick in the otherwise sweaty little town.

Next morning we started at 9 am with a visit to 'La Cueva de Las Lechuzas', 7 kms away from town. When we were about to leave back, it started raining, and didn't stop until late afternoon. We went back to town for lunch and then drove to see a St. Carmen waterfalls outside of town. When the rain did finally stop, I took Jasmine and followed Silvia and Marita to the waterfall, walking some two-and-a-half kilometers on a slippery path through the forest. After a mandatory splash in the cool pool below the cascade we headed back. On the way back I was lucky to spot a flock of emerald toucanets.

The next day we drove back to Huánuco where Silvia and the girls continued the same night to Lima and I left next morning towards the inca ruins of Wanukomarka and then to Huaraz.

You can read some more about our holiday from Jasmine's Diary.

Here's a couple of photos from the visit to Tingo Maria.

Temple of the Crossed Hands in Kotosh. It is thought to be the oldest temple in South America and is situated a short cab drive away from Huánuco. The hands on the left represent the man and the hands on the right, the woman.

'La Cueva de Las Lechuzas' - "The Owl Cave". A huge, fascinating cave some 7 kilometers from Tingo Maria, is a home to a colony of owl-like 'guacharos', also known as oilbirds. It also hosts a multitude of bats, some weird cave-dwelling insects, and many parrakeets near the entrance. We got here in the morning and were the only tourists around besides one peruvian couple. They pointed us one baby oilbird that had fallen down from above. Our guide told us not to shine our flashlights up to the roof because it causes the poor little ones to jump into their evident death.

# posted by Jussi Soini @ 1:07 PM