Vivas Los Mayorgas Part 3

The village of Yunguy and Lake Llangunuco

Yunguy is a small village that was wiped out by a massive mudslide in the early 70’s. Pedro’s great aunt was one of only 92 survivors (2500 parished) from the village. We got to see what remained from the area on our way up to Lake Llangunuco. The only building to survive was the front wall of a church and a few palm trees next to it. If you look close you are able to see them in the picture below. 

Lake Llangunuco is on of the most beautiful lakes we have ever seen. The lake is located in the Cordillera Blanca mountain range. The actual lake is in the picturesque Huascaran National Park. The lakes have emerald colored water and huge glaciered mountains around it. We rented a boat and got to see the surrounding mountains from the middle of the lake. It was simply fascinating.

The following day we woke up at 8 am to have a great breakfast of local egg’s and cheese prepared in an omelet by Lolo. Our breakfast also include fresh Mango’s and bread from the market. All of the food from the market comes from the surrounding farms. Some farmers lie their produce on tarps and sit on the street while others have  more official stands. Most people in Caras don’t use refrigerators so they buy fresh local food often. Kim and I ate anything offered to us trying to be as careful as possible about not drinking the local water. This was ironic because we ate almost everything the Mayorga’s ate but at the end of the trip LoLo and his brother Chino were the ones with a stomach bug.

Later that day LoLo wanted to show us a farmhouse that has been in their family for years. This property originally had multiple working plots of farmland neighboring it. All the plots have since been sold off. Now the only part still in the family is the house.

The property was several miles outside of town but we decided to take in the scenery and walk along one of the village’s dirt road. On the way we stopped at our first old Inca ruin built around 1430. This ruin was a fortress strategically built on a large hill overlooking the whole valley. This placement allowed the Incas to control the population below. You could see the whole valley of villages and farms. (PICTURES BELOW).

The scenic walk had many picture worthy points including massive Agave plants. Kim used her photography skills to take some amazing shots of flowers.

One of the main differences we have noticed in Peru is all the street dogs. In almost every city or village there are dogs running around free, some alone and some in packs. This was tough for the both of us as dog lovers because we wanted to pet and hold every one. Many of these dogs have lived on the streets for years and don’t have homes. They live off scraps from the market or restaurants. Some are protective over their area and some are scared of humans.  It was very hard but we learned it was in our best interest to ignore them so we didn’t get bit.