Teacher on Two Wheels

Above: Click this pic and then click ‘All Sizes’ for more detail

Monday 7/28/08 Huancayo, Peru

I just got back from a hike up to the Torre Torre sandstone formations outside of Huancayo. Sergio, having taken five or six groups of visitors to Torre Torre in the past, offered to be my guide for the morning. We hiked for almost three hours, weaving our way through a labyrinth of delicate sandstone towers and dry, eucalyptus-lined riverbeds. The place was nearly deserted and only the sounds of our shoes crunching gravel filled the quiet ravines.

Above: Me next to one of the larger towers on the edge of the canyon

To get to Torre Torre from Huancayo, one passes the point at which paved roads turn to dirt. Housing materials shift from concrete and glass to mud brick and corrugated metal. The children’s faces get dirtier, their noses more mucus-filled. Even the dogs change and look skinnier than their plump urban counterparts. Eventually, the houses thin to make way for pasture land. Pigs scurry across washboard dirt roads as if they’re late for important appointments. Cows, lethargic in the intense heat and glare of the sun, walk about as slow as the old ladies who shuffle to and from the city center with massive mounds of grasses and vegetables on their backs. In 30 short minutes, the chaos of the city gives way to quiet country living.

Above: Door of a house close to the towers

Above: I risked my life getting this photo! Looking down into a deep section of the canyon…

Above: Me in front of some of the towers

Above: Girl running with her kite