Part 5
Our kids decided to take us up into the Andes Mountains.
We started our trip with the destination of Otuzco. Elevation: 8500 ft
As the photo below show the police are always watching.
Our grand kids always turned around and sat correctly in their seats
so as not to get noticed and pulled over. Seat belts are not required,
but bribes might be to keep out of trouble.
One of the fields we saw as leaving town.
Look at the hips on this horse and the plow.
These are sugar cane fields. If I understood correctly,
they burn the foliage off the fields and that leaves the
cane stocks which they cut and stack.
All this done in a very dirty soot contained field.
Here is a close up. I hope this guy thought we were friends.
Look at that blade.
The foot hill of the Andes Mountains.
We passed this guy on the road and I
instantly wanted his hat.
A picture is the best I could do though.
Here is another of my smile pictures.
The wiring for where they have it is something else.
I bet OSHA would have a fit with this ?
Climbing the mountains and very winding roads
proved to keep us holding on tight inside
to what ever we could grab hold of.
This is Pineapple.
The other day it was bananas and now my question
of how does pineapple grow is now answered too.
If you look dead center on the road you can see
a person herding some sheep.
This picture also shows how big these mountains are
and how small some of the roads are.
This caught my eye !
It looks like their own form of erosion control.
I hear it is very common to have landslides in the area.
This is another smile picture.
The sign says it all.
Its fairly common to see people
with animals on the roads up here.
Just a random shot of a couple kids as we passed by.
This is the sanctuary of Otuzco
- Virgin de La Puerta (virgin of the gate)
the patron saint of this city.
In the window is a 5 foot statue doll of the Virgin Mary.
People come to worship her.
She is thought to have healing power
especially for children.
This little lady really caught my attention.
She had the best smile.
I don't honestly know if she was begging or
a greeter for the church.
This was the inside of the church. Very beautiful.
The bigger the candles maybe the better the forgiveness.
I really didn't know.
Many people went up behind the Mary figure
and touched the glass probably for a blessing or healing.
I had to have my picture with this lady. Look at her hands.
I would guess she was very old. I wish now that I had tried to
give her some money. A little guilt on my part I suppose.
Passed this lady on the way into town.
This is pretty hard to see but the upper center
of the picture is one green house.
Basically everything else is the same color.
That is probably where I would live
if this was my town.
This is kind of going down town to the market.
These people love bright colors.
The local KFC.
(Finger licking good)
One has to like chicken feet though.
I would have liked to try one but I surly would get sick
if it were possible so I didn't try one or get sick !
This lady was selling something
like a sandwich I think.
Notice the knife under the table.
All shop lifters might only have
one or two fingers left with this lady.
The shoe man.
The fruit and veggies looked wonderful.
I'm not sure what everything was. Notice the scale.
The grand kids were buying home made sling shots from a vender
and the guy in the red cap was looking to acquire my camera.
He and another guy followed us up the street.
It was so obvious what was about to happen. I was ready
with my "Chuck Norris roundhouse kick" but my son in law
got in between them and me and it was no longer a contest.
They knew we were on to them
and they melted back into the crowd.
That was the only time I ever felt
concerned for safety for my trip.
This was the city square outside the church.
People were just relaxed.
I really thought this couple with their child
was picture perfect until
I got my camera in position
and every one moved wrong. Oh well .
 Here is the family posing for grandma
but I got a picture too. Everyone is pretty tired Yes that is our road home.
The sun is setting and its time to go . And the last picture we are stuck in the landslide
traffic clog up.
With mountain on one side and cliff
on the other side for a large part
of our trip both coming and going it was a little scary
especially when having to pass .
It was a pretty big landslide and it shut
down the road completely.
Some how the location was in a wide
enough portion of the road that
workers were able BY HAND to dig
around or through and some how
dig a small passable byway
and we were able to pass by.
It was big enough for cars but
the busses and trucks were going
to have to wait for bigger equipment to get by.
The road labors were collecting
a small fee for their work and we
were happy to pay and be on our way..
 My trip to Peru was great and I had a productive
and a learning fun time. This was my second trip and to a different area.My kids just moved here from up in the mountains
to the coastal area.They are toying with moving to the jungle area.
So the possibility of seeing a different part of Peru
might be for my next trip. My grand kids and children seem to have
a wonderful life and live on the edge. It was a joy to be around and with them
as much as we were. The end
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Thankful
Thankful
Thankful
