nepy | articles

I share with you the 12 most interesting facts about living in the Andes. In particular I focus on facts related to the villages and hamlets of the mountains of Peru. This is a personal opinion so it may differ from others.

I've been fortunate to live in the Andes, and what is better, to do it not only once, but multiple times throughout my life; therefore, what is written here reflects the opinion of someone who has had a lot of experiences in this wonderful side of the world.

The 12 most interesting facts are:

(This video is not yet available)

The altitude: The remote villages in the Andes are located at an altitude in the range of 3,500 and 4,500 meters above sea level. At these levels the atmospheric pressure is lower and therefore the oxygen density is also lower. As a consequence, your body has less oxygen to process and therefore you get tired faster.
The harvest: It is one of the noblest activities in the Andes because the people work for the community without expecting something big in return. In particular, if the harvest is good, the products are equally distributed among the people.
The breakfast: It includes potatoes and cheese and it is similar to what you have for lunch.
The work activities: They start early in the morning and end with the sunset. It is common to wake up at 3 AM for the Chacco, at 5 AM to release the water from the tank and at 7 AM to herd the cows.
The Pachamanca: If one travels to a village in the Andes and sees that the community is preparing Pachamanca, then it means that it is a special day, either because they are welcoming an authority, a special guest, or perhaps because it's someone's birthday.
The exotic fruits: There are fruits that exist in the Andes but they do not reach the cities, e.g., tumbo and antayloma.
The weather: In the cities, if it is summer (winter) time, it will be very hot (cold) from dawn to dusk. In contrast, in the Andes, independent of the season, it will be warm during the day and extremely cold at night.
The deaths: There are three common ways to die in the Andes: i) the altitude sickness, ii) the mountain charm and iii) the vein. The first is related to the lack of oxygen in your body. The second is based on a belief where the hill diverts you from the path with mists and then turns you into a stone. And the third refers to the antimony veins in rocks that are toxic and therefore give irreversible damages to the body.
The houses: They are mostly made of mud and roofed with corrugated iron. A few others differ because the roof is made of tiles. In the past these houses were made of stone and were roofed with ichu straw.
The toilets: There are hamlets that do not have a private toilet and in some cases not even a public one.
The demons: The mystical stories in the Andes speak of demons such as the jarjacha, the pishtaco, the cancho, and the condenado.
The landscape: What distinguishes the Andes from other majestic landscapes in the world is that in the Andes, when you go back to the city, it seems like an eternal loop, because every time you go around a mountain you will encounter a new landscape that resembles the previous one.

stats con chris

A writer who learned to add

12 interesting facts about living in the Andes

Related Articles

Death Note. The day I met the manga characters in Tokyo

12 interesting facts about living in Germany

12 interesting facts about living in the United States

12 interesting facts about living in Uganda

Notifications

Other Articles

Forecasts from July 2017 to February 2019

Make money with margin and leverage on bitcoins. The secret

Import and plot data using the programming language Python

Python: Downloading data from the web

Linear trends to predict the results of the FIFA World Cup intercontinental playoffs

Configure

Color

Navigation Position

Vertical Navbar Style