Chivay-Colca Valley

Chivay was our home base in the Colca Valley. It is the largest town of the valley, about 5,000 people. From basic appearances, life here has not changed much over the years.

When our bus arrived in Chivay, it was time for lunch. We all went to a nice little restaurant and could order either from the menu or have the buffet. It was a pretty good deal and included many dishes that were typical of the region. We had the opportunity to taste alpaca, guinea pig, cebiche, etc., if we wanted. There were many wonderful dishes, not all so exotic. This picture shows the inside of the restaurant. I didn't notice that the roof was thatched until we heard the wind pick up outside and then all of a sudden, "whoosh---" the roof picked up and slammed down and dust fell everywhere. The workers in the restaurant were running around trying to quickly cover the food and the tables.

This little boy was outside the courtyard of the restaurant with his llama.

This is a scene just off the square in Chivay. See the tables set up along the wall of the building. People were cooking right there on the street and you could get a bowl of food and sit at one of the tables and eat. I never did, but Grant ate breakfast at one of these portable restaurants the morning we were in Nasca. He said he had no idea what he ate. Luckily he didn't get sick!

A typical scene at the market. This is in Chivay. The large bags contain all sorts of grains and nuts.

This woman is cooking anticucho(barbecued beef heart) and papas(potatoes). It, too, is a popular Peruvian dish that you can find people preparing on the street everywhere. I was leary of trying the "street" version, because Grant had had a bad experience with it in Lima, but I had it in a restaurant and it was good.

This picture was taken around 6 pm on a Monday evening and the downtown area was hopping. People were everywhere --eating, laughing, talking, visiting, hanging out. I thought how different that would be from back home. On a week night. most of us go home from work and have supper in our own home with our family and then spend the evening watching t.v. It would be my guess that many of the inhabitants of Chivay did not have televisions and perhaps not even electricity.