Roaming South America

Huánuco, Perú

February 10, 2023

Huánuco, Perú: population: 236,000. Huánuco sits in a mountain valley at 1898 meters (6227 feet). It's a very pretty valley and quite close to the Amazon region. Huánuco was founded in 1539. The economy is based on sweet potatoes, beans, celery, cabbage, potatoes, cassavas, and many more vegetables, and many fruits including avocado, mango, bananas, papayas, oranges, lucuma, custard apple, guava, and more. Also, this area produces coffee, pineapple, coca, and sugar cane in the valleys. They also have mining, cattle ranching, oil production, and of course, commerce. The town has a large commercial center. As for interesting sites in the city, other than a couple of old churches there really isn't much of interest. Nothing to attract tourists, anyway. But, outside the city is a different story. One area of particular interest is "El Templo de las Manos Cruzadas" which means "The Temple of the Crossed Hands". It is also called The Temple of Kotosh. It is believed to be one of the oldest temples in the Americas, at about 4000 years old. A few kilometers south is the village of Huacar where you can find a church that dates back to about 1600 and routes to the archeological complex of Atash. You can also visit the Incan ruins and pre-Incan ruins in the area.

Huánuco has a warm and temperate climate. The average daytime high of 19° C (66° F), and the night average low of 11° C (52° F). The elevation of the city is 1898 meters (6227 feet). Huánuco averages 388 mm (15.3 inches) of rain per year.

So, my impressions: There's not much in the city to attract tourists. There is a small lake with an island and two bridges to get to it for sitting in the shade or picnicking, etc. You can rent paddle boats and putter around the lake and around the island. Along the river is a decent park pretty much through the length of the city. There are a couple of very old churches, and that pretty much covers it. The area of the downtown mercado, the marketplace with hundreds of vendors selling just about anything, is dirty and the surrounding streets, when I was there, were littered very badly. But, the rest of the downtown area was clean. The traffic is, as in all these old cities, terrible.

This is my goal: to find a new place to live. So to reach that goal I am traveling most of South America, visiting the countries of Ecuador, Perú, Bolivia, and Chile, passing through Argentina, visiting Paraguay, passing through a bit of Brazil, and finally visiting Uruguay. I have a list of towns, about 70, that meet these qualifications: Cities with average day temperatures of 22-28° C (72-83° F) and night temps of 14° C (57° F) and higher; and a population between 28,000-300,000. I analyzed climate and population data of around 700 towns in the countries mentioned above and then pulled out the ones that meet the previously mentioned criteria, which leaves about 70. My preference leans towards towns of less than 100,000 people. And, now that I have visited more than 30 towns/cities, I've decided I will probably want an inland town. I love the beach and walking in the warm water, but, getting sunburned is just too easy, even on a cloudy day. At least, here in Ecuador. I've also decided that any town with more than 100,000 population will be too big. I've decided that any small town/city (less than around 80,000 population) that meets the temp specifications and has a supermarket and ATM is one worth considering to live in.

My goal is to visit the towns and discover which one calls out to me - "Chip, Chip, make your new home here, this is your new home town". That hasn't happened yet, but there are four towns listed below that are very close to giving me that feeling. At any rate, I am not visiting tourist attractions or archeological sites, etc, those will have to wait for another trip through South America.

At this point in my journey I have three towns on my Top 10 list - Tingo Maria and Moyobamba, Perú, and Catamayo and Puyo, Ecuador. In my travels in Ecuador, I visited 31 towns/cities.

Next up: Satipo, Perú.