Oct 6, Thursday

Oct 6, Thursday

Visit to archaeological site of Pachacamac on a Double Decker, open top bus.   We left from the Parque Central in Miraflores for a drive of  35 or 45 km, depending on which brochure you read.  

Made a quick stop at a wild life reserve.  Unfortunately wasn’t much to see.

The archaeological site of Pachacamac is a very large site along the coast and consists of three different pyramid sites, but we could only get off to see the main one “El Temple del Sol”.   Very impressive.    From the top of this pyramid, which sits on top of a sand mountain, on the cliffs above the ocean,  the view was exceptional.   

When we were ready to leave, the bus pulled out and began its decent down the mountain before I reached my seat at the front of the bus on the second level.  (Our favourite seats Yvette !)   The hill is very steep and uneven, so from the top of a double decker bus, it felt like we were riding a camel.  I actually slid right off my slippery plastic seat and dropped to the floor.   The couple sitting behind me immediately came to my assistance, but I did not dare try to get up before we reached the bottom of the hill, because I would have slipped right off the seat again.   I did have the presence of mind to hand over my camera however !

Back in the city by 1:30 so had lunch near the park, got some more $ from the ATM, then went back to the hotel for an early night since the pick-up for the Nasca excursion is picking me up early tomorrow.   Actually nodded off between 8 and 10 pm, no idea which shows were playing on TV.   Turned off TV at 10 and  could not get back to sleep.   So I turned the lights back on and prepared my small back-pack for the two day trip.  Didn’t take long since I had already planned what clothes I would need.   Turned lights off again and finally went back to sleep.

October 5, Wednesday, October 4, Tuesday

October 5, Wednesday

Breakfast at 9:30, then out to visit areas in Lima that I’ve not been to before, so I caught a taxi (12 Soles) to the Pueblo Libre area of Lima to visit the Museo Arqueologico Rafael Larco Herrera which contains a private collection.   Rafael Larco was one of the first archaeologists in South America to establish a chronological order based on depth of layers  (1920s)  and these “were remarkably accurate and to this day are still used by modern archaeologists”.   Approximately every 18 to 25 years, torrential rains are produced on the Northern coast of Peru as a result of the El Niño phenomenon.   Layers of mud alternating with layers of sand on archaeological sites were therefore helpful in identifying  how many years ago the finds were from.   So everywhere in past blogs where I mentioned “La Niña”  read “El Niño” instead !

He was quite the collector.  The displays in the museum itself are numerous, but there are still stashes of ceramics warehoused beside it.   No wonder tombs they are finding now are empty !

Golden head and neck ornaments

Beautiful head-dress

Quite different ceramics

As in other museums, the art works are from different zones within Peru, different eras, and different tribes: Moche, Nasca, Inca, etc.   The Inca had a system used to record a variety of information.  It was called the Quipus,  a type of string collar with different colors and knots, where the distance between the knots were also of significance.  It was an Inca counting system and was used to identify objects, products, population, work produced,  etc.

I left the museum and caught another taxi (10 Soles) to take me to a different area of Lima to visit the Museo de Historia Natural.  Finally found a great explanation of the differences between llamas & alpacas, and (Andean or pre-Incan) vicuñas & guanacos.  Although they are all ‘camel-like’  the alpaca is a descendant of the vicuña   and the llama is a descendant of the guanaco.   Although there are still   vicuñas around today, the guanaco is in danger of extinction.   

Vicuna at the back, alpacas in front

Yvette:   I saw a piranha today !    Just a little bit bigger than the one you caught when we  went to the Puerto Maldonado area.   This one was 6 or 7 inches long and yours was about 4 inches.  Still wouldn't want either one nipping at my body parts !

Caught another taxi from there to take me back to the Miraflores area of Lima (8 Soles), where I am staying; but on the drive there I spotted the Indian Market / Inca Market, which I had not gone to 2 ½ years ago.  So I got the driver to drop me off there and had a bit of a walk around.  I’m trying not to buy souvenirs since my bags are heavy enough already, and I am trying to travel around the world, but I decided to treat myself to a small token:  a tiny silver Tumi pendant.

Started walking back to El Parque Central, but made a slight detour to Avenida José Pardo to find a travel agency and get info on a side trip to see the Nasca Lines.  Well THAT took over an hour !  Everything takes so much time to do, even when they are using computers.   I’ve got a 2-day side trip booked:  Tourist bus from Lima to Nasca, 1 hour flight over the Nasca Lines,  tourist bus to the city of Ica for an overnight stay, bus from Ica to Paracas, boat ride to view Islas Balletas, time to walk around Paracas, bus back to Lima.   Quite expensive but I’m getting to see a lot so it’s worth it.   Also keeping my room at the Ibis while I’m away, since I can leave my HUGE suitcase here and travel with just my small backpack for 2 days (Friday & Saturday).   

It was about 5:30 by the time it was all booked, and my 9:30 breakfast was long gone.   I remembered seeing this really nice deli from 2 ½ years ago and wouldn’t you know it…..  I FOUND IT AGAIN !

Yvette:  Does this picture remind you of anything?    So I stopped in and had one of their nice sandwich creations:  the Olympica (middle, top shelf).   It looked huge but was mostly veggies and bread.    Finished my walk back to the hotel.  Extended my stay here for an extra 3 nights.   Bought a nice glass of wine, which I am sipping as I type my blog tonight.

CHEERS !

Oct 4, Tuesday

Flight to Lima went as planned.  Ended up going to the IBIS Hotel in Miraflores, on Avenida Larco.  My 12^th floor room has a  view towards the ocean and the hotel is only two long blocks away from LarcoMar (Yvette:  the big shopping centre on the Pacific Ocean !)  I’ve got three nights booked for now.   Just staying in and resting today.  It’s cool and cloudy in Lima today.

Grabbed dinner at the hotel restaurant; they were offering a “taste of Peru”,  three sample (small portion) traditional Peruvian dishes for $38 Soles.  So, I finally bit the bullet and ordered Ceviche (raw fish – must be a salt water fish vs fresh water fish I’m told) that has soaked in Lime juice and is therefore ‘cured’.  I can’t say I enjoyed the Ceviche, although I did find it quite palatable, I would not rush out to have it again.    But at least I tried it !   I decided to have a cream soup after that, just in case my stomach couldn’t tackle the fish dish.  The cream of asparagus soup was velvety,  buttery and yummy.   I followed that with Arroz con mariscos (rice with sea food).  And with a nice glass of wine of course, I think it was a Merlot!   That’s it; no dessert tonight.

Speaking of tasting, I bought an Inca Kola today (soda pop) I had forgotten that it tasted like cream soda!

Oct 3, Monday

Oct 3, Monday

No breakfast in this hotel / hostel, so as I was walking to the historical district I spied a little restaurant with clean tables and floor so that’s where I had breakfast.  I must say that there are days when I really can’t understand what some people are saying.   The vocabulary is different, and some people “eat” their words (like we do sometimes in French).    I could not make out any of the words the lady was using for breakfast items, so I simply asked for scrambled eggs (huevos revueltos) jugo de pina & café con leche.   Perfect !   At least she could understand what I was saying even if I could not understand her.   The tour was in the afternoon, so I had some time to walk around and see the sites.  Visited a historic house where Simon Bolivar once stayed for 3 months as a house guest.  That guy was all over the place !  (Just kidding,  I know history.)   Stopped at the travel agency to finalize the booking of a hotel in Lima for Tuesday.   Got my tour bus and off we went to Chan Chan.   Well actually we went to “Huaca de Arco Iris o Dragon” first;  another archaeological site, and quite impressive

Chan Chan is a huge site that covers approximately 25 square kilometres.   They have only started exploring the main site where the Senor lived.   Senor can mean governor, king, overseer, lord etc. Basically the head honcho who ruled the area.  No one really knows what their titles were.   Although this site was made of adobe like all the others, it is a very sandy mixture because the area is so arid.  The place looks like a huge desert and is located fairly close to the Pacific Ocean.   Most of the structures are still buried under the sand, but this also played a major role in preserving some of the drawings on the walls.   I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Can you see the people at the other end of the walkway ?

After we left Chan Chan, we went to the shores of the Pacific Ocean in a small fishing village, seaside resort called Huanchaco.   This is one of the places where they still use reed boats.

Got back to Trujillo and finally got to see the inside of the Basilica on the main square.  Doors were finally open and they were getting ready to say mass.  

The main square at sundown

Stopped to get some extra cash at a Scotiabank ATM, had chicken and fries at a local rotisserie, and walked back to my hotel.  Should probably have taken a taxi since it was dark by then (almost 8 pm), but I was carrying a grocery bag (juice, water, peanuts and cookies) so I looked like a local walking home after work…..   at least I hope I did.

Early start tomorrow;  have to be at the airport by 7:30 for my 9 am flight to Lima.

Oct 2, Sunday

Oct 2, Sunday

Had breakfast at the hotel and was out by 9:45 to walk around until I need to be at the tour agency at 10:15 for a 10:30 departure.   Went into a nearby church La Merced to check it out; they were getting ready for mass so I just did a quick walk through.   Ended up having to wait past 10:30 because another couple was late arriving.  Did not seem to matter since they just walked us to another pick-up point and we did not take off until 11 am.   Short tour because it is scheduled to end at 1:45.   The “MOCHE” tour was supposed to consist of a stop at a “Campina de Moche” to see the cultivation of rice, which we did not do.   Went directly to the Huaca de la Luna & Huaca del Sol area.  Visited the Museo Huacas de Moche first (again no photos allowed) but it was a limited collection in a vast space.  Back on the bus for a quick sprint to the archaeological site.    The Moches considered the mountain beside this site as a God.

This archaeological site has to be the best one I’ve ever seen.  Drawings on the stone wall are intact on the older pyramids.   As with Aztec pyramids, Moches built one pyramid, then at some point built another on top of it, and another, and another, etc.   Huaca de la Luna had five of these, and the third or fourth one is the one where they found the best preserved drawings.   But the “pièce de résistance” has to be the North entrance with its six levels of drawings still intact.  A M A Z I N G !

Moche Calendar

We were supposed to stop at a ceramic factory on the way back, but that did not happen either.  So much for a ‘planned’ tour.   Had to switch hotels anyway, so no big deal.   The new place is actually called a hostel, although I don’t quite see the difference.  It’s a hotel room with a full bathroom and this time I’ve got hot water !    It has an art deco décor which is kind of different, with very LOUD lime green walls.    

I dropped off my bags and went back out to walk to the historical district.  Along the route I came across a Parade to end their Spring Festival.  There were huge crowds and streets closed to cars.  

Found a restaurant and had a great salad for dinner.   Made my way back to the new hotel without any problems.  No street names posted again, and when there are, they are the old ones from colonial days and don’t match the names on the map !   Good thing I’ve got a great sense of direction.

I was lying down after my shower, watching TV and every once in a while would hear a noise that sounded a bit like a window rattling.  Since the windows in my room are actually floor to ceiling and can slide open, I figured I might have to add some toilet paper somewhere to stop the rattle.   I got up at least 3 times to figure out where the rattling was coming from.  There are huge roman blinds instead of curtains, so you can’t really open them up, but there are two panels, so I could peak in between.   Anyway, at some point I realized that there was a bird sitting on a railing just outside the window, and he/she was pecking at its reflection in the window !    I figured that as soon as it was dark enough the bird would fly away and sure enough, that’s what happened.  Slept soundly despite the traffic noise.

Oct 1, Saturday

Oct 1, Saturday

Could not connect to the internet this morning;  I guess they cut me off since I’m checking out today.  Got some of my e-pictures organized,  packed and checked out of the hotel at noon.   Only a few minutes away from the bus station, and I made the 12:45 express bus to Trujillo.   Three hour ride on very straight, flat roads.  What a change.    The scenery was very arid with a few areas that had been irrigated and where they were growing the three staples in this region:  corn, sugar cane & rice.

Irrigated rice fields

Made it to Trujillo by 4 and took a taxi to the hotel I hoped to be staying.  Turns out this weekend is ‘El Festival de la Primavera’….  Spring Festival.    The hotels in the historic district are all booked up for the celebration of “El senor de Milagro”, some type of religious icon they parade around the streets.  The city will be FILLED on Sunday.   So I only have one night in this hotel.   Dropped my luggage and went out to walk around.  Came across a Tour Agency, so I booked a tour for tomorrow morning, and another one for Monday afternoon.   The young lady was very nice and helped me to locate a hotel for Sunday and Monday night.   Kept walking around and found a travel agency, so I went in to book my flight back to Lima on Tuesday morning.   They could not help me book a hotel however, so I’ll try to do this on-line.

I have to tell you about the smells in the street.   There is a distinct aroma of pee lingering every once in a while.  Now I remember seeing a little boy peeing in the street at some point, but do men do it as well?  Is it from all the dogs peeing in the street?   This area of Peru is very arid, hardly any rain.  So I’ve figured out that it’s probably old pee that just never got washed away; and when the sun is beating down on the roads and sidewalks, it heats up the old pee and the aroma is everywhere.   OUFF !

Had a nice dinner in an Italian restaurant on a pedestrian street named Pizarro;  this is the “main drag”.  

 Back at my hotel just after 8 pm,  late for me to be out alone but the streets are filled with people.   There is even a group of young ladies competing in some type of beauty contest, staying in this hotel.    Time to sign off for today.

Sept 30, Friday

Sept 30, Friday

Tour bus arrived at 10:30 and this time not too many problems.   Full bus today:   Older couple from Lima, middle aged couple from somewhere in the middle of Peru, lady in her 40s also Peruvian, young couple who speak Spanish but kept to themselves.   We were going in the right direction to visit El Museo de Sicán, and the Túcume archaeological site, but it turns out they were not going to take us to El Bosque de Pomac, but were doing the Museo Tumbas Reales de Sipán! ! ?      Yes !   the one I saw yesterday ! ! ?   I guess it doesn’t matter what ticket they sell you at the Information Kiosk,  they seem to just go where they want.    Still, they were hitting the two areas I really wanted to see and I figured I could do something else while they were touring the museum I had already seen.

Forgot to mention that this morning, I woke up with a lot of pain in my rib area, and I figured it was from all the bouncing around on the bus yesterday.  Well, I was partially right.  It was my underwire bra that had rubbed against my rib bones and as soon as the jolting started again today, I realized I should have worn one of my sports bras.  OOOOUUUUCH !   

The Museo de Sicán, which is located in the town of Ferreñafe, was extraordinary.  Similar in some ways to the Museo Tumbas Reales de Sipán, but at least in this one we could take pictures.   One of the skulls had some strange red colouring.  The guide explained that the Mochis used sulphur of mercury based cream to paint part of their face red.  Turns out this stuff not only got into their skin, but all the way into their bones !   A lot of the skeletons found on the site had most of their teeth intact = sign of richness since they did not eat coarse grains.  

Found out that “Huaca” means pre-Inca.   They may refer to the “lord” of Sipán, however they were most likely governors within a specific region.   As of 1975 Peru instituted a law to stop the plundering of archaeological sites.   They started studying the Sicán site in 1978 but most of the great finds started in 1995, and were located between 5 to 12 meters deep.   The use of radar facilitated finding objects underground and then digging down to find them.   A lot better than the “hit and miss” approach. 
Some of the artefacts they found were oxidized gold leaf, and they had to leave the objects as is since attempting to clean them would have destroyed the metal.   There was a lot of ceramic as well, both terra cotta coloured and black.  The black ceramic required a hotter firing and therefore only the rich owned these.   

They took the skull of “El Senor de Sicán” and did a scientific build of what he would have looked like, just like they do in forensic studies to identify remains. Quite spooky to think that a skull from 1050 AD could now have a real face linked to it.

Some of the tomb treasures (above)  were even identified as coming from what is now Ecuador.  Isn’t science amazing.    Also realized today that the Sipán site were Mochica,  the Sicán site were Lambayeque, the Chan Chan site I will be visiting in Trujillo is Chimu, just as the Cusco site were Inca.

We had lunch in Ferreñafe, this time I ate cabrito (goat , or young goat) and drank some non-fermented “Chicha de jora” (juice made from corn).  Next time I have to try the fermented one !    By 2 pm we were back on the road, driving north again to the town of Pitipo, and then cut across to the west along what appeared to be a new gravel road along a new drainage canal.   They will use this new canal to irrigate their fields.   Again, mostly sugar cane, some corn, and rice.   RICE ?   That requires a lot of water !   Well it turns out that’s the plan.  West of this location is a lake (not sure if it is natural or manmade) called Represa Tinajones, and they will use the canals to bring water from the lake to the fields.  
We drove by the entrance to the Bosque de Pomac, and reached Túcume. The site is HUGE and contains a number of pyramids. I use the term pyramid lightly because although they originally had the shape of Mexican pyramids, the outside walls were built of adobe and the inside filled with debris. The bricks were then covered with a rubbed on adobe finish to give it a stucco type smooth finish. Well adobe, as you know, is not stone, so the pyramids eroded fairly quickly once they were abandoned. 

They look like strange hills now, popping up on the flat plains that are between the Pacific Ocean and the beginning of the Andes.   The site is still being explored, and many areas are covered over to protect the digs.  We could not enter these areas, but I did manage to stick my camera in between the woven reed screens and take a few pictures.

We climbed up to the Mirador of what`s left of the biggest pyramid and were able to take some great photos.   Could not stay long, since the rest of the group wanted to see the last Museum. 

It was only a short drive to Lambayeque and I decided to rest in the bus while the group visited the museum.   Back in Chiclayo at 6:30, in all the traffic.   Most drivers I’ve seen in cars and taxis are men and it seems that their brains are automatically connected to the horn on their car because they honk away at anything and everything.  

Had a nice dinner at the hotel restaurant:  some type of thick white fish (the waitress had no idea what type of fish it was !) with a baked on crust of pico-de-galo, served with avocado, hearts of palm and shredded carrots, cucumber and something else I could not identify.  It was all delicious.   Skipped dessert and I’m back in my room relaxing for the evening.

Sept 29, Thursday

Sept 29, Thursday

Got up at 9 am to have breakfast, then went to pick up my laundry.  YEAH !  Clean clothes !

Also realized that I can get hot water in the morning, but not at night.

The tour bus picked me up at my hotel at 10:30, as planned.  There was a newlywed Peruvian couple, a young German guy and me.   The driver then went to pick up the guide and we were almost off when he got a call to go pick up another passenger.    We started driving north, which was strange since my map indicated we should be going south, and then  east.   The young couple questioned the guide because they were on the same tour I was, and so was the German guy.   Turns out we were all on the right bus, but the driver was doing the wrong tour, and the guide just went along with the direction the driver was going as far as the content of his tour was concerned.   The driver had to pull over and have a long discussion with the guide.  We all pulled out our tickets to confirm that today was supposed to be the tour to Huaca Rajada – Sipán  Archaeological site and museum,  then travelling to Lambayeque to visit the Museo Tumbas Reales de Sipan, and the Bruning Museum.    Only the last lady we picked up was scheduled to be on the other tour, and it turns out the only thing she really wanted to see was the Bosque de Pomac.    So we turned around and headed back towards Chiclayo, to meet up with a car that would take the lady to the park,  and the rest of us would stay on the bus and backtrack to Sipan.   Talk about disorganized !     Half an hour later, we were back on track and heading to Huaca Rajada along a very bumpy paved road with sugar cane fields on both sides  of the road.    We only had 32 km to cover to get to the archaeological site, but the bus kept having to weave to avoid pot holes, and sugar canes that had dropped from the trucks,  so it took a bit longer to get there.   My girls really got tossed around!  Very difficult to take any pictures on route, but I did manage to film a short portion just so I could remember the feel of that bus ride.

The archaeological site is really quite impressive.  It has the feel of a real dig.  Since my very first trip to Greece in 1974, I’ve dreamed of working on a dig.  Maybe it can come true at some point.    The site of Sipan was found in the 1920s, but they only found a raided tomb and gave up.   In 1987, it was reopened for further investigation and they found a treasure trove !   El senor de Sipan.   The richest tomb ever found in all of the Americas.  A very rich governor was entered in a pyramid cemetery.   As they continued to investigate they found more untouched tombs:  one for the shaman of el senor de Sipán,  one of a young soldier and the deepest one was the Ancient Senor de Sipán (Forensics confirm this was the Grand-father to El Senor).   They figure that the tomb that had been raided earlier was probably the Father of El Senor.    The dig of the cemetery is now partially protected by a covering structure, but the two main ceremonial pyramids are still being excavated.  Unfortunately, La Nina is having devastating effects on the adobe structures.   It just looks like an eroded hill. 

Parts of it have been excavated to see what the foundations look like.    The museum beside the site contains mostly reproductions of what was found.  All the good stuff has been moved into a beautiful new museum (2002) in the town of Lambayeque, north of Chiclayo.    So after we finished with the Huaca Rajada Sipan site, we drove back to Chiclayo and on to Lambayeque.   It was really funny because we had been told that it was 15 km between the two cities, but both towns have grown into each other so it seemed like no time at all and we were there.   2 pm,  time for lunch.   We went to a local restaurant where we were encouraged to have their specialty dish:   Duck and rice.   It was quite good and moist for duck!    Had some fruit juice to go with it.  Forgot to write down the name !  Looked like mango but tasted quite different.

By three we were at the Museo Tumbas Reales de Sipan.    No cameras allowed.  No purses allowed.  So I have no pictures to show you, but the artefacts were simply gorgeous.   At least I have my pictures from the Gold Museum in Bogota.   These were similar, but imagine seeing the reproduction of the tomb with all of the original artefacts in them.   Mind blowing.    Rich guy gets to take everything with him when he dies.   Poor guy owns nothing, so is buried with nothing.   They had pictures of every layer as they uncovered it, showing the condition they were found in.  Then they displayed the re-assembled artefacts:   gold nose decorations, earrings, head dresses, etc.   Then the beaded necklaces,  at least one foot wide and 30 or 40 strings of them woven together.   The clothing they were wearing, the goods included in the tomb, as well as their servants, wife, concubines,  animals, food, decorations, and on and on.

Ditto for the Sacerdote, the young soldier, and the Ancient Senor de Sipan.    Pottery was included as well;  either made of ceramic or moulded from wax (a lost art).  

Truck carrying sugar canes for processing at local factory to make sugar.

Museo Tumbas Reales de Sipan

We were all dead on our feet, but there was still another museum to go,  barely two blocks away  El Museo de Heinrich Brunning;  a German gentleman who acquired A LOT of artefacts but was also a famous photographer.   It was past 5 o’clock by now and I had a major head ache from trying to understand all the technical explanations in Spanish.   I was probably understanding less than half of what our guide was saying by then.   The battery in my camera died and since we had not been allowed to bring in any purses, I did not have the other battery with me.  The Peruvian couple just wanted to call it a day.  The German had a bus to catch at 6:30.   You get the picture ?    Thank God the drive back to Chiclayo was short.  

Had a cold shower to freshen up and I’m lying in bed with my feet up, trying to get a draft done of my blog for the day.   I don’t think I’ll publish it tonight though.   I need to review and revise.

Tomorrow will be another long day.