August 23, 2007
Day 694
I found out that the only buses to Trujillo left at night, so I had all day to kill. I did a lot of walking around town and eventually ran into the local meat market. It's definitely not for the squeamish with dead chickens hanging from their necks, big slabs of ribs from a variety of different animals sitting around everywhere, candied apples for sale right next to some hanging beef, and even burlap sacks full of live guinea pigs, waiting to be sold and eaten. It was a hot day outside, but inside it was... the same: no refrigeration was to be found anywhere. It was enough to make a vegetarian out of even the most hardened meat lover.
Later I stopped in a cafe for a cup of coffee and a chat with the owner. I told her that I was leaving tonight and looking for something to do. She recommended going to the hot springs of the nearby village of Monterrey. That sounded like a great idea. I got up right there and began looking for the bus. After waiting for a long time, I was ready to give up, but finally the bus showed up. The hot springs were really a set of three swimming pools, with cold, warm, and hot water, respectively. When I first saw the pools, I though about leaving because the water looked like mud. I still decided to give it a shot and discovered that it wasn't so dirty after all. I switched between the warm and hot pools for a long time and met a lot of other interesting tourists as they came and went. The hot springs relaxed every muscle in my body and put me in a better mood after failing to do the Huayhuash Circuit.
