Carnival in Cajamarca

The festival of "Carnival" takes place in February as the final festivities before the start of Lent, and culminating with "Mardi Gras" or "Fat Tuesday" the night before Ash Wednesday. The department of Cajamarca, located around 9000 feet above sea level in the andes mountains of Peru, are known for having a huge celebration for Carnival. The festival includes festive parades, bands, dancing, an epic paint fight of rivaling barrios, and a continual threat of water being thrown on you at any given moment in time. The outcome - one wild weekend!

After the paint fight

Cajamarca is full of the rich history of Peru. Original inhabitants include pre-Chavin cultures more than 2000 years ago. Cajamarca was conquered by the Incas (Tupac Inca) in the mid-1400s. During the 1500's, an army of 80,000 Incan soldiers led by Atahualpa on their was to Cusco encountered Francisco Pizarro with his 168 soldiers in Cajamarca. After Atahualpa refused to yield to Pizarro, he was captured and held at ransom in what is now known as the "ransom room". To a line as high as Atahualpa could reach with his fingers on one hand, the Incans had to fill the room twice with silver and once with gold. Even after the ransom was fulfilled, the spanish still executed Atahualpa. 

Entrance to the "ransom room"

The line in the ransom room, this was the height that Atahualpa could reach to with one hand

The "ransom room" The red line in back is the height they had to fill the room with silver and gold

Ancient water distribution system used to transport water

Cajamarca is also home to amazing cheese and dairy industries. I had the pleasure of visiting some of the farms where the famous cheese and manjar (a sweet carmal-like spread) is manufactured. 

Copper bowls for heating cream

Cheese-making equipment

Curing cheese

Another interesting site is called the "Ventanillas de Otuzco" (windows of Otuzco) where cultures in the Cajamarca region from as early as 1400 B.C. carved these intricate small graves into the hillside to bury their loved ones.  The word "Otuzco" comes from the word "Oto" which means "eaten by moths", in reference to the shape of the holes in the rocks.

Famous "Ventanillas de Otuzco" - old grave sites

Another famous site near Cajamarca is the pre-Incan 5-mile long aqueduct in an area called "Cumbe Mayo", where rocks are shaped like animals, and water mysteriously flows uphill to reach the city of Cajamarca. The original aqueduct was constructed around 1500 B.C. The canals still work today.

Rocks at Cumbe Mayo

Rocks that look like guinea pigs

Rocks that look like people leaning back on each other

Intricate canal carving

More canal work

Cajamarca is an amazing city full of interesting things to see and good food to eat. To end the trip we took a little hike up to the mirador (lookout) to enjoy the view of the city before saying goodbye to Cajamarca. 

On our way up to the mirador (lookout)

View from the mirador of the city