Category: "Ayacucho Guide"

Palm Sunday

April 2nd, 2007 |

It was Palm Sunday (Domingo de Ramos) and the market of Ayacucho was full of people selling palms. Later in the afternoon a procession left towards the plaza. The people in the procession each had a palm and were singing hymns.

History of Ayacucho

April 2nd, 2007 |

Ayacucho is famous for its celebrations during the Easter season, a season I’ll be here to witness. The town has a population of over 90,000, swelling during Semana Santa as people arrive to witness the religious festivities.

The city has a long and important history, dating back as much as 15,000 years where the first evidence of human habitation was found in the caves of Pikimachay. Thousands of years later, but still before the rise of the Incas, the area was home to the Huari civilisation which spanned about half of the Peruvian Andes…

Ayacucho

April 2nd, 2007 |

We arrived in Ayacucho in the morning, with nowhere to stay for the week of Semana Santa. We knew this wasn’t a good idea but assumed we’d find somewhere if we spent the first day looking. We almost didn’t, everywhere was fully booked from the cheapest to the most expensive hotels. Luckily we found a small hostal that seemed the be clean with friendly staff.