A Cusco “La Convencion” Travelogue — Week 1 Part 2: Headed Towards the Amazon
Once in a lifetime
My name is Emile. In May of this year (2022) I moved from New York City to Lima, Peru to be with my lady Gala. Then in July, Gala who is an architect got a contract from the Peruvian Department of Education to travel throughout the “La Convencion” region of Cusco, Peru to assess eighteen secondary schools throughout the region.
This is our Travelogue of this amazing once-in-a-lifetime trip and experience. Here is the rest of our first week on the road. You can read about our arrival and the background on the trip here. We hope you’ll enjoy sharing our adventure.
Week 1 — Lower Amazon
Saturday — Lima to Cusco
Sunday — Cusco to Quillabamba
Monday — Quillabamba to Chahuares — Schools 1&2
Tuesday: Quillabamba to Media Luna — School 3
Wednesday: Media Luna to Huillcacampa — School 4
Thursday: Huillcapampa to Chapo Chico — School 5
Friday-Sunday: Palma Real and Kiteni
Day 3: Monday — Quillabamba to Chahuares
We woke up early, showered, repacked our backpacks and grabbed a ride on an enclosed motorbike back-car (mototaxi, pedi-cab) to the “bus” station which consisted primarily of vans headed out on different routes from Quillabamba. We booked our seats (20 soles each = $5) to Chahuares and waited at one of the food stands at the back of the parking lot.
The ride to Chahuares was about 40 minutes and akin to taking a dollar van in Brooklyn with the driver honking his way through each town to call out anyone looking for a ride. The drive itself was of course scenic and the roads in decent shape.
We had expected to stay the night in Chahuares at the Eco-Lodge, a spot off the road in town, but the woman came to the door and told us that the place had been booked up for the night. Thankfully she let me stay in the out-door lobby which had wifi and where I put together the first installment of this blog. We decided to just head back to the hotel in Quillabamba for another night.
Meanwhile Gala went off for the morning to do her assessment of the first school. She came back at 1pm sweaty and wiped out from the heat. We went over to the cafeteria adjacent to the eco-lodge where vegetarian Gala had an omelette with rice, and yours truly a delicious tripe soup and chicken with rice.
Around 2pm, Gala went off to assess the second school. It was just up the road from the lodge. She came back less than two hours later, relieved that the school was smaller in size than the first. We packed our things and stood by the road to wait for a van to drive us back to Quillabamba.
Day 4: Tuesday — Quillabamba to Media Luna
Gala and I woke up early as usual and, with time before our 11am departure for Media Luna, walked Quillabamba and took care of a few errands. First objective was to find a good cup of coffee which is incredibly easy in Lima and Cusco, but seemingly not so in the rest of Peru. However after a few false starts we found a spot right on the corner of the main plaza. We then stopped at the bank and the pharmacy and headed back to the hotel to grab our stuff and have a pedi-cab take us to our departure point.
The trip to Media Luna was supposed to be 4–5 hours which proved wishful thinking. We got a late start and at around noon with about 15 people onboard our large Mercedes van embarked northwest on an epic drive into the wilds of north Andean Peru.
The first part retraced the prior days’ 1-hour-journey and then we kept going. Here is a map of the region. I, in my naiveté, thought we would follow the thick yellow lines that market the only real paved roads headed into this area. But that was not to be the case. We soon headed upwards winding back and forth up a mountain on a dirt road whose edges were unprotected precipices.
Imagine a six hour roller coaster ride without tracks on single lane bi-directional dirt roads with constant hairpin turns while overlooking the most remarkably scenic vistas one could possibly imagine — mountains upon mountains over deep river valleys stretching into forever.
After an early stop at a town called Quellouno to drop someone off, we climbed and descended for three hours until we arrived at a mountainside series of huts where the driver suggested we get out and have a bite to eat. They cooked up eggs and rice for Gala, and I had a country tripe soup and duck with pasta and wild Andean potatoes (arracacha). My food was astoundingly delicious seated at a wood table on a bench surrounded by flies.
Our driver onboarded an Andean woman and her chickens and ducks in bags which joined our backpacks and more live beings and packages atop the van.
We headed back on this ride with our fearless driver staring down large work trucks coming around hairpin turns. He spotted a tunki (rupicola peruvianus, Cock of the rocks) and stopped the van so that we could take a picture but as we reached for the phone, it flew away. The entire van let out a disappointed sigh.
We eventually made it to San Martin, the main town which our school in Media Luna was near. The driver honked and stopped several times in town to drop off cash and credit cards to various townspeople — along with being a transport he is apparently a traveling bank.
We continued for about 20 minutes and finally at 7pm arrived at the school in Media Luna where Gala would be doing her assessment and we would stay the night. We were greeted kindly by the Directress of the school and staff, and served local coffee and avocado sandwiches. We settled into a classroom where we were to indoor-camp for the night.
Gala got some work done, and then we headed to the cafeteria for dinner with the entire school — 30 students on two week rotation (60 in all) and about 10 teachers and staff. Dinner was an egg and rice congee — quite delicious and thankfully perfect for Gala. This is heavily catholic country so the meal was started and ended with grace. Meanwhile everyone was curious about the bearded American Gala had brought along. They all wanted to test out their English on me, and of course I responded with my still pathetic Spanish — all in all a lot of fun and full of sweetness.
Finally exhausted Gala and I headed to sleep in our small tent on a cement floor and quickly fell asleep.
Day 4: Wednesday — Media Luna to Huillcapampa
Gala and I woke at 5am along with the rest of the school which starts the day at the crack of dawn. By 6am there were students dancing in the outdoor gym, practicing traditional Peruvian dances for an upcoming anniversary celebration for the school.
At 7am we sat with the forty odd students in the cafeteria for desayuno — a hearty meal of rice and lentils along with a traditional warmed cocoa oat milk drink. The table next to ours was the same group of rambunctious teens intent on practicing their english with me.
When breakfast ended, Gala headed off to do her assessment of the facilities and I to wait. We had finally been able to arrange a ride to the next school in Huillcapampa through the Directress of Media Luna for a somewhat expensive 140 soles by Peruvian standards but we had seemingly no other options. As I waited, I watched a group of students clearing a hill of shrubs and weeds in order to write the name of the school in rocks for the upcoming festivities. Then one of the teachers, older man, asked to take his photo with me — five or six.
Then another — the math teacher — came to do the same and we spent some time struggling to communicate about his math program and my finance teaching.
Then a group of students came to ask to have their photo taken with me one at a time and in groups. Finally as it came to 9am and our time for departure, the entire school came out to take a photo with us. Gala was laughing because she said that would never happen in the past if it was just her doing the visit — the bearded American was a real attraction. The Directress of the school then invited us back to the school to do a week or longer of english teaching and we agreed we would try to arrange something later in the year. The whole community of students, teachers and staff at the school was totally warm and welcoming.
Finally our van arrived to pick us up at around 930am and we headed out on our trip to Huillcapampa. We drove about 10 minutes into the San Martin town where we had been the prior day at which point the driver said he had not been told we needed to go all the way to Huillcapampa but had understood it to be a nearer town, Estrella. He insisted we needed to pay an additional 80 soles. I felt like we were being held up, and at first we got out of the van. Eventually we agreed to pay him another 60 soles and got on our way.
The ride to Huillcapampa took a few hours of the usual twists and turns and ups and downs going alongside the river. We stopped along the way in Estrella for a bite to eat and some coffee. This turned out to be the driver’s hometown. He got off and paid a visit to his mother. Eventually we arrived at the next school, situated at the roadside.
The school had the same domed sports facility as Media Luna and a similar series of buildings. The Director of the school was out for the day, and the campus was eerily empty of students. It turned out they were all out practicing soccer for an upcoming match. Gala did her assessment and waited for the Director to show up. We were told that there was a regular van that could take us to the next school Chapo Chico, but that we would need to be out at the road to wave it down at 6pm in order to let the driver know to include us the next morning in his 2am pick-up. We sat on a bus stop by the side of the road until the van showed up at 7pm and made our “reservation”. The power went out at some point while we were waiting.
At about the same time the Director arrived on his motorcycle. We joined everyone for dinner. The lights in the cafeteria were out so we ate to flashlights. Gala then did her mandatory interview while I set up camp in one of the classrooms and quickly fell asleep. She joined in when she was done and said that the Director had recommended we either call the driver (which we couldn’t because the power took the phone line for some reason) or wait outside at 1am because drivers have been known to stand up passengers by leaving an hour earlier. We reset the alarm for 12.30 to give us some time to pack everything and get on to the bus stop on time.
Day 5: Thursday — Huilcapampa to Chapo Chico to Palma Real
At 1am we gathered our packs in the dark and headed out to the road to wait for the van. The driver had told us he would be picking us up at 2am. It was a bit rainy, and every once in a while Gala thought she heard a snake coming ot of the surrounding brush.
2am passed with no sign of the van. Then 3am passed. Finally at 3:30am the van showed up, we waved at it with the flashlights from our phones, got on and headed into pitch blackness on another roller-coaster ride in the rain around hairpin turns overlooking hundreds of feet of steep hillside. Still we both managed to fall asleep on the bumpy ride.
After a few hours, we arrived to the town of Chapo Chico and then past the town uphill to the next school. This school was situated up on the mountainside with a stunning vista in several directions of mountains, valleys and rivers — spectacular.
It had a three story classroom building up against the hill, a sports space at the foot of the classrooms, dorms below that overlooked the dramatic vista and underneath the dorm an outdoor covered cafeteria. Again there were about 40 students at the school (80 on two week rotations).
We were greeted by the school pyschologist, a good looking young man who got us situated in an office, spoke to Gala for a bit, and took us to breakfast. Gala then briefly interviewed the Director and went about assessing the faciities. But before she went out the pyschologies asked her to stay for lunch and speak to the students about her career as an architect. He was particuarly interested in giving the girls in the school exposure to Gala’s experience and career — it is not common for these students to go on to university. Most of the boys go to professinal schools and the girls back to their communities. Gala suggested that I could also speak about finance education to the students and she would translate, and so it was arranged.
As the sun rose in the morning, the students went about their classes. They noticed me sitting outside and would greet me nicely. The temperature rose steaditly and by 11am it was getting pretty warm out. At mid-morning break the students lined up for a cup of cold jello. During the break, a gaggle of girls cam up to Gala and me giggling and asked in spanish if I would adopt them and bring them to the Estados Unidos. We laughed and Gala said what about your families. They dismissed that concern with a wave of their hands and happy laughs.
They then asked if I would be their godfather. Gala looked at me and said in english watch out, Godfathers are a big deal out here — they are expected to pay for everything — they will all come to Lima and want to move in with us.
They said no, no. They meant the honarary Godfather of their graduating class. And so I became the honarary godfather of the class of 2022. The school year ends in December when Gala and I will come back to Chapo Chico for their graduation.
At noon, Gala and I were taken to an outdooe area and the students came and sat in a circle to hear our presenations. Gala spoke in spanish about being an architect, about her schooling, about working in the building/construction business. The boys were particularly interested in that facet, and wanted to know how long she had to study, and how much money could an architect make.
When my turn came, I had prepared a lesson that I hoped the students would find interesting, and that Gala would be able to translate (not really a worry — she is a pro). Without giving the whole talk, here are the points I made.
- I am a professor of finance. Finance is the science of money.
- Money is like water — it is necessary for life and we use it every day. But most people only know how to use it, not create with it. Like water, if you understand how money works (science) it has power to do things.
- Each of you needs to work for money. Work is selling a product — your time — for money. You use this money to buy what you need — food, clothes, housing. You use this money to buy what you want.
- You can also use this money to make something to sell. You can then sell that product for money. If you can sell the product for more than it costs to make you keep the profit. That is the science of money — to learn how to make money with money.
- One more way to make money with your money is to invest in big companies. If you buy a piece of a big company — Disney, Nike etc. — you become a part owner and you get a piece of the profits of the big company. You can choose from thousands of companies and find ones that suit your interests. Investing is a great way to learn about the world and how the rich make money with money.
It took about ten minutes to walk through this and up until the last point it was all familiar to them — I would check in and they would nod with assent. They knew about work, and spending, wants and needs. They knew about having a business and several spoke up when I asked about their family business, farms, shops etc.
Only the last piece — investing — was totally foreign. They asked great questions:
- How much do I need to buy a share of a big company? 20 soles ($5)
- How long do I get to own the profits if I buy a stock? Forever (wow)
- Is it the same as a bitcoin? Yes the kids in this distant village know about Bitcoin. No, I said, Bitcoin is gambling (speculation). You do not own a part of anything.
- Can I lose money if I invest? Yes, but if you follow a disciplined approach the market has generated a 10% per year return over the last 100 years.
Gala and I were both amazed at how they took it in. Later at lunch the psychologist asked if he could get trained in our program and I said of course — we will work out a spanish version quickly so he can work with his students. Another teacher/engineer asked about bringing this to indigenous communities he works with who he told us desperately need financial literacy in order to negotiate and protect their resources and interests. What an incredible response!
After lunch it was time to get our ride to Palma Real and work out our next weekend plans and next week’s visits. We were told to stay by the side of the road and flag down a ride. We sat at 1pm and finally at about 3pm a moto-cab (motorcycle with a buggy attached) stopped and agreed to take us. The driver’s son was in the back so the three of us and our two huge backpacks were sardined as we headed uphill on this dirt and gravel winding road.
The ride to Palma Real was only about an hour and a half but it was brutal. We were already at altitude and started climbing up this steep road feeling every pebble along the sharp curves. Without coca candy to chew on, the altitde quickly gave me a migraine. I did my best to chant away the time but by the time we arrived in Palma Real I felt like my head was going to burst and my stomach was not happy either. Fortunately we found a hotel room for 50 soles and settled in so I could recover. I was pretty much head in the pillow until the next morning.
Day 6–8: Friday — Sunday — Palma Real to a weekend in Kiteni
By the time I had a cup of morning coffee I had recovered from my brief malaise.
Thankfully we were back in the land of paved roads. We waited on the local bridge for a van and our trip to Kiteni was taken in relative luxury. I stocked up on and chewed on some coca leaves to make sure my stomach stayed settled.
We arrived in Kiteni around 2pm and went searching for a hotel room. Kiteni is a local hub for workers of all sorts so it has a lot of places to stay. We ended up in a motel room in the center of town across from the town’s indoor/outdoor market.
Everything was closed at mid-afternoon so we had a hard time finding anything to eat. We got a snack and took a rest, and later went for dinner at a local restaurant. I had some soup and chicken with rice, and they made Gala a fritatta with rice — all for about $5 (20 soles). We spent the rest of the weekend camped up in our motel room resting up for the next leg of the journey, only leaving to eat at the market and a few local spots.
