Today, Sunday October 21, is the national census in Peru. Why is this important enough to write about? Because the entire country is closed for an entire day. Every business must close and people must stay in their houses/apartments from 9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Obviously, there are exceptions. If you cannot be home, there is a form you can fill out. If you work for a hotel, you are allowed to work. However, for the most part, everything is closed. There is nowhere to buy food. The buses aren't running. Everything has shut down and Lima is a ghost town except for the university students, volunteers, and 'managers' walking around in the Census 2007 shirts. The census doesn't happen every year, but the less accurate and successful the census, the more often it needs to be held.
Of course, as a gringa, I am excluded from the census and have the freedom to go wherever I want. Since everything is closed, though, my options are limited. Actually, Arturo and I went away for the weekend to update Huaraz, another city I need to update for Fodor's, and I had to come back to Lima early. We took an overnight bus on Friday, arriving about 6:00 a.m. Then, after a full day of touring, updating restaurants and hotels and more, I took an overnight bus back on Saturday night, arriving about 6:00 a.m. in Lima. I really, really wanted to stay in Huaraz and arrive early Monday, but was afraid to risk it. Sunday night/Monday morning is going to be a crazy time since everyone was cooped up all day for the census. As I must leave my apartment no later than 6:45 a.m. to get to school on time, I didn't want to chance being late. It is, after all, only my second week of teaching there.
However, I did manage to see most of Huaraz on Saturday. Of course, people don't go to Huaraz for the town...they go for the mountains - and that is what I didn't get to see. Huaraz is one of the most popular destinations in the north of Peru, second to the Amazon. It's a very small town, filled with hostels, restaurants, tourist agencies and guides. People go to Huaraz to trek and see glaciers, the tallest mountain in South America, ice-climb, mountain bike, rock climb and any other outdoor activity you can think of.
Actually, Arturo owns land about an hour outside of Huaraz and is very familiar with the area. So, I have no doubt we'll go back. And next time, I will get to enjoy the mountains!
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