7:40am - The sheep will wait.
7:50am - alarm off.
8:02am - beep beep, I receive 2 text messages.
Arrrggghhhh, OK! I throw on some clothes, grab my camera and run out the door.
Out on the street I find myself surrounded by people. They've all come for the same reason - to see the annual sheep migration. Finding a sunny patch of pavement I sit and wait.
15 minutes pass; the crowd grows rowdy and as I stand I see a Shepherd with his favourite brown goat and behind him hundreds if not thousands of sheep.
The crowd divides and as the Shepherd walks through the sheep follow bustling for space. Within minutes the sheep have passed and the street grows quiet. All that remains is a trail of poo trampled to the horizon.
Seizing the opportunity for a second viewing I run down a backstreet, bypassing the main street I arrive in the old town square where people are still milling with anticipation. Its market day today, and the sheep will soon arrive and pass between the stalls.
With a couple of minutes to spare I look for the best spot to take photos. I pass by fresh fruit stands, colourful bags and sheep skins. I wonder what the sheep will think when they see all this! Finally I find my spot, just outside the butchers :)
Taking aim I focus as sheep approach. Snap, snap, snap. A baby lamp pauses looking at me sitting outside the butchers then scurries onward.
Again the street grows frantic; sheep run through with bells clanging goats hold their heads high and then just as fast as it all started it ends.
As I walk home the sheep continue on to another nearby town, then up into the mountains to graze in the higher plains at 2000m. I arrive home happy to have seen this once in a year event.
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