A visit to Piura

After many weeks I could not do it, at least I could do the trip I had planned many time ago, and the waiting was truly worthy.

 

By David Villanueva Garro

 

    LIMA CITY, Peru – On Sunday, August 6^th, 2006, I decided to catch my backpack and departure to the Peruvian Northern, Piura and Sullana specifically, for having some day-offs, distraction, and, by the way, recharging energy for what waited for me when I came back.

 

The bus started to run rushing just after seven o’clock at night. The trip was boring not because the distance nor the route, but there was a pretty nice lady beside me who, five minutes after the movie started, decided, not by my request, to spoil it all. For worst, I had a watch in front of me, marking the minutes like if they were hours because those ones seemed not to go by, and I still had the nice lady seated beside me, and that was it until the arrival.

 

 One day later, the bus arrived to Piura City at eight in the morning. Once I picked up my little baggage, I waited for picking me up, so I went to rest for a while. My friend Tania came in with her husband Javier and brought me to her mom’s hostel. Everybody was very kind to me. I could rest a good time, then I attended to the gym for a couple of hours. I had lunch with Tania and her husband.

 

    Then, I knew Catacaos City, where pottery (according to some versions, brought from Chulucanas City, that is a little furthest town). Catacaos is around 30 minutes by a van, the way is asphalted and some palms and rice croplands can be appreciated as the landscape until getting to the small-but-nice place.

 

The Main Square and its Church catches much the eye.After standing some minutes and buying some souvenirs, I returned to Piura where Tania was waiting for me. That was great because I felt I was lost. She brought me to her mom’s  hostel where I could rest.

 

At nine, my another friend, Isabel, and her daughter, Ana Lucía, picked me up who we went with to eat some pretty tasty food. They were so tasty that I repeated three times. Later that night, around eleven, we departured on a bus to Sullana City where I would meet with my buddy Giuliiana. Thanks to Señora Margarita, who rented me a room, I could host in front of Isabel’s house, so I wouldn’t have location problems, and if I would have them, I would run to her because she was closer.

 

    The House of Sojo

I woke up around seven in the morning on Tuesday. I went to have breakfast in Isabel’s house. Giuliana opened the door to me, and we just could talk a little because she ever goes overtime. We talked for a while, then bboth ladies went to work. At eleven in the morning, my friend Nelson came in, who had me to know places as the House of Sojo, which is in restoration. To get to it, we had to walk a few over sand. I felt some heat, and we were thirsty.

 

Five minutes later, suddenly the shape of a very beautiful old house jumped up to our eyes, that was not fighting against the landscape. It has a semicircular facade with solid Roman-style columns and wide doors. When the doors were opened to us, I was a surprise for me to look at stairs with two ways. The detail is the stairs are made of pure marble that remains untouched.

 

    The question I asked quickly to myself is why they built this house in this place. I realised the answer minutes later when we went up to the second floor and we opened wide the doors. The landscape we watched was beautiful!The majesty of the pretty Chira Valley and the view of the town of Tangarará, the first one founded by the Spanish in Peru (Francisco Pizarro in 1532, specifically)was splendorous and uncomparable.

 I got perplexed before such a view, pretty much that I said my friend Nelson: “We gotta go to that place.” And we did it. We walked around 20 minutes through a dusty path where locals riding their donkeys crossed beside us every step on. I think they are they flagmark of this place because I saw more donkeys than people.

 

After the long walk, we finally got to Tangarará Main Square, a place that seems to be missed by everybody and remembered only for who live right there. This is one of these places where the poverty is seen side to side. A little obelisk rises there commemorating the foundation and the town’s parish is in front of it.

 

    As the visit was over, we had to use the Lima’s creole method for free transportation – thumbs up or la haladita as it is known here. A pick-up of Marcavelica District Municipality picked us up to Sullana Main Square. We realized there that the district’s mayor was aboard. We thank the attention, if not we would walk a long distance.

 

We went to have lunch. Isabel, Giuliana, Nelson and I were there. The food was a ronda criolla, that, believe it or not, we couldn’t finish. So much food was an abuse, but we did the trial, and as we didn’t end, we kept it for the next day’s breakfast. Everyone was to work again after lunch. I think I didn’t go out anywhere that day because everybody was very busy and I was very exhaust because of the trip, so I left resting. At night, we had a pizza and a wine for digestion.

 

David Villanueva is a Lima-based system engineer. Check him out as an athlete and firefighter.

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