Holidays
can be times of blissful relaxation or of intense activity; mine in northern Peru was mostly
the latter, as we tried to see as much as possible in the little time we had.
But, on this one day, there was no annoying alarm to wake us up, no early
morning bus to catch, no reason to scramble quickly out of bed and into the
shower, which was heaven!
After
a leisurely breakfast at the café next door and a wander to the plaza for Sarah
to top up her money from an ATM, we popped in to the tour agency adjacent to
our hotel to see what other tours were on offer around Trujillo. We’d already
done the main touristy things – the archaeological tours – but there was one
other short tour available, to see the world-famous-in-Peru pacing horses.
So,
off we headed. Unfortunately, the whole thing was in Spanish and, as our
vocabulary didn’t include anything remotely equine, it wasn’t easy to follow
what exactly was going on, though one of the other tourists kindly helped out a
little. It started with an explanation about the horses themselves: they are
quite small in stature and their claim to fame is that they run/walk like
pacers, with both legs on one side moving at the same time as opposed to right
front and left back, followed by left front and right back like normal horses.
This gait makes their movement look very elegant and means that the rider
doesn’t bob up and down as much as on a normal horse. Horses are not native to Peru – they were originally introduced to South America by the Spanish – so I’m not sure why or how
their special gait developed.
There
followed an explanation of the equipment used: a blanket; a rather
rigid-looking saddle; eye pieces to calm skittish horses; a piece that sits
over the horse’s rump and tail, with long straps that hang at the back; two
bridles – not sure why – that bit was lost in translation; and two big
wooden-box-like stirrups. To be honest, it all seemed quite heavy for the poor
horse to carry around as well as its rider.
The
rider normally wears a poncho and a sombrero, and the other tourists who
decided to mount and walk the horses around all donned the full kit for their
photo shoots. Sarah and I refrained. Next, the rider presented a
riding-around-to-music display, then out came two dancers in traditional
costume. These were the renowned Marinera dancers, a Peruvian coastal
speciality with a national contest held in Trujillo every January. The girl was wearing
a beautifully embroidered blouse/shirt dress (white with many colours,
including peacock designs) and an over-skirt of purple satin, which was very
full for flouncing around when dancing. She had traditional earrings with Moche
designs and wore her hair in two braids, decorated with flowers, She said
something about the meaning of the hair – maybe one particular style design for
married women, one for single, one for having a boyfriend? I think the stripes
on the girl’s belt also had a meaning but, again, there was much I couldn’t
understand.
The
youth was more plainly dressed, in a white ruched shirt, plain trousers and
wide sash-type belt. The pair danced together, and with the horse and man also
prancing around. It appeared that the girl was making amorous advances towards
both her partner and the rider; her gestures were certainly flirtatious. The
whole performance was charming but I wish I could have understood more of the
meaning behind what was happening.
After
another hearty lunch back in Trujillo , we
wandered the streets taking photos and then visited the local toy museum, El primero museo de jugete en Latinamerica –
truth be told, probably the only toy museum in South
America . It was small, but interesting, and a definite blast from
the past for older visitors like me. I recognised a Singer sewing machine and a
tin whistle that I had as a child. There were lots of dolls, some very old,
dating from the sixteenth century, and a doll’s house furnished in the style of
the 50s and 60s. There were also lots of metallic model cars and trains – I’m
sure collectors on The Antiques Roadshow
would give their eye teeth to get hold of those. I recognised an old Meccano
set, like one my brother used to have, and enclosed in a large glass case was a
huge display of toy soldiers from England and France, dating from 1920-25.
The
museum also had a separate display room for ancient, indigenous children’s toys
and there was a skylight in the ceiling, from which hung many types of puppets,
many old and dirty and in a sorry state of repair, not helped by their exposure
to sunlight. Many of the exhibits were in poor condition and deserved to be
restored and conserved but, as this is a private museum with a mere 5-soles-per-person
entrance fee, the chances of the collection being properly cared for are
probably quite slim.
Next
came the afternoon’s cake treat, followed by more wandering to burn off all
those calories! Trujillo has such a delightful and photogenic inner city that it was a pleasure to just
walk and click the afternoon away.
Trujillo Cathedral at night |
More fabulous writing and photos Annie, love the one of the dancer!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Shelley. Glad you enjoyed it.
ReplyDelete