Paracas, Peru 🇵🇪

Our boat trip out today is to the Ballestas Islands, which are known as the ‘poor man’s Galápagos’.  As we journey out it is great to see flocks of Pelicans bobbing in the water.  On one of the hills there is a Nazca drawing of a Candelabra.  It is only a 30minute boat ride from the mainland but we do see a pod of dolphins in the distance.

The protected islands are huge limestone rocks.  We see lots of birds, I even spot a Humbolt penguin or two.  There are sea lions relaxing on the rocks that seem quite unbothered with us motoring by.

After coffee and a couple of cakes to keep Steve going we wandered along the shoreline watching Pelicans and found Flamingos at the far end.  For lunch I took Steve to the little shack restaurant I had tried previously as their ceviche is really good.  Steve opted for steak and chips, and proclaimed the chips as the best he had had in years! 

Our afternoon is spent in the national reserve, this time on quad bikes.  It is so much more fun than a bus although more dusty.  I am not the best driver, tend to take curves too wide which slows me down.  We visit a couple of viewpoints and see the Red beach from a higher point whilst dolphin spotting.  It is just a nice place to be roaring around on quads.

Early bus pick up as we set off to Paracas on PeruHop. On our way we drive up to the large dirt hill that you can see from Barranco, with the cross that is illuminated at night.  I thought it was strange that nothing had been built on this part of the densely populated Lima.  The hill contains a memorial to those who died in the war with Chilie, this being the last point of defence for the city.  The illuminated cross is actually furnished from cables brought down in terrorist acts.

We stop briefly for breakfast at a traditional Tambo, enjoying freshly baked cheese filled bread and coffee.  Next up is the old San Jose mansion which has the slave tunnels I saw previously.  I send Steve down the tunnels whilst I relax on the beautiful veranda. I do get to see inside the church this time and it’s beautifully carved altar, with secret section to join the escape tunnels.

We arrive in Paracas for lunchtime and wander along the beach to a small restaurant sat on a pier.  The warm low sun is lovely as we enjoy the afternoon of relaxing with cerviche and a bottle of chilled white wine.  It’s a small town, so after wandering back along the beach we visit the tasty Italian for dinner.

Lima, Peru🇵🇪

Slept really well last night and post breakfast we set off to explore Lima.  First stop was the San Francisco monastery, built in the 17th century it is an amazing building.  Our tour is at speed with the world’s fastest talking man.  There are lots of Spanish tiles that were brought over to decorate rooms and courtyards, big cedar wood carvings including a whole domed ceiling over one staircase.  The monastery is full of riches but the best part is being able to descend into the catacombs.  These excavated tunnels contain the bones of around 25,000 people piled up for us to view.  

Our tour finished in time for us to head over to the Plaza de Armas to see the changing of the guard.  The guards do some fancy footwork to a marching band for around half an hour as the crowd cranes for pictures through the railings.  After a busy morning we stop briefly for fuel enjoying a large slice of chocolate cake and coffee.

This afternoon we visit the museum of art, MALI where they have a great temporary exhibition showing art and textiles from the Nazca period in beautiful condition.  The other exhibits have pottery and artefacts from pre-inca civilisation which is beautiful, together with more modern art.  We stroll down further to the Parque Reserve to look at the funky 13 fountains before catching a taxi back to Barranco.

I show Steve the Bridge of Sighs, and some of the cooler graffiti as we walk down to the beach.  It is all smoggy today so no hope of a decent sunset but surfers seem happy with the waves.

Ali (NZ) has arrived in Lima today, and is excited to join us for dinner.  She is looking well, but has had a bit of a scary time in Peru at some points putting herself in danger as a lone female.  Her story sounds horrific but she is happy to be safe in Lima and enjoying a few strong Pisco Sours with us.  We are at Isolina restaurant for some incredible food, the portions are huge but I enjoy cerviche with fried octopus followed by the best roast pork ribs.  I am fading by midnight as we head to a bar for a cheeky beer before calling it a night.

Chiclayo, Peru 🇵🇪

The bus was challenging, I had the front seat on the top deck for extra leg room but this also meant I could see all the roads and near misses!  Between the curves in the road, the speed bumps and unsealed sections, I would compare it to spending 10hours on a plane in severe turbulence.  When I arrive at my hotel, I am annoyed that they charge me for early check in but pay it to grab a couple of hours sleep.

From what I have read Chiclayo is a big city but not attractive or entertaining as others.  I have booked on to a day tour to see Moche tombs discovered near the city, ultimately that of the ‘Lord of Sipán.  Our first stop is Huaca Rajada in the village of Sipán, where they discovered the tombs of this lord, an older one and a priest among 13 tombs excavated so far in this one pyramid.

The discovery was made in the late 1980s when looters were caught at the site and stopped.  The archaeologists then started excavating and found the Lord of Sipán first.  From the Moche period around 600AD, he was buried with all his glistening ceremonial clothes and belongings.  He died of natural causes but sacrificed to travel with him to the afterlife were his main wife, two concubines, a military leader, a guardian (with his feet cut off so he could not leave), a banner carrier (so everyone makes way for the lord), a dog (to lead the way), a 8yr old child (to open the door), a watchman and two llamas to transport all these belongings to the afterlife.  The tomb itself is a perfect 5m cube shape with the lord presented in a central Carab coffin.

The other tombs have similar structures and sacrifices.  That of the priest has the gruesome story of a woman positioned face down try to get up as evidence that she woke from the poison to find she was buried alive.

We stop for lunch before heading to see another site in the area where they have found 26 pyramids surrounding a mountain, all waiting to be investigated but showing that different lords would have ruled each region.  

Our final stop is the museum, here we see all the artefacts that have been discovered in the tombs.  There is a huge amount of jewelry and ornaments, which included headdresses, face mask, a pectoral, necklaces, nose rings, ear rings (massive circular discs inlayed with turquoise).  Most of the ornaments were made of gold, silver, copper and semi-precious stones.  There is lots of pieces but the detail is incredible, from the banners that had characters that would move to the thousands of seashells used to bead the necklaces.  There are also thousands of pots, carrying food for the journey to the afterlife.  The bodies of the 2 lords and priest are also here, fabulous museum and unbelievable insight into a period thousands of years ago.

 

Chachapoyas, Peru 🇵🇪

The Gotca waterfall has been known by locals for centuries but remarkable its existence was only publicly shared with the world by a German explorer in 2005!  Its claim to be the third tallest waterfall in the world with a cumulative drop of 771m is disputed but it still makes for a impressive sight.

It is set in rainforest and there is a challenging 5km trek to get to it.  The forest is brilliant and I enjoy being in a jungle type environment, with huge plants and different flowers.  The waterfalls are immensely powerful and I get drenched from about 30ft away.  We take our pictures and turn back, trying to beat the rain we can see closing in.  This doesn’t work and a good hour of the return is spent in rain, sliding on the already muddy trail.  It clears up for the tougher final section up and out of the cleave to the village where we started.  Our lunch is waiting and I am starving. We are all feeling tired and wet but elated at our efforts.

A quick cold shower (eek!) and I then kill the hours at a cafe that does a great apple tea and banana pancake.  I am on a night bus tonight back down the terrible road to Chiclayo, it is practically empty and I am exhausted so I am hopeful for a decent nights sleep…



Tingo, Peru 🇵🇪

Kuélap is another place that has been on my list from the start.  I find it fascinating that the Chachapoyans or cloud people chose ontop of a limestone mountain nearly 3000masl to settle.  Today as of 2 months ago I can get a Teleférico ride to within a kilometre of it, but the original settlers would have had a arduous hike to leave their city. 

Kuélap was established in 400AD and took 8 centuries to complete.  At its biggest it had around 3000 people living within the walls with 6-10 per house. They were conquered by the Inca and the history of the Chachapoyans has been lost, with the exception of any Inca writings.  It was abandoned in 1570 with the Spanish conquest and was accidentally rediscovered in 1843, when a visiting judge leant on foliage and felt the structure.  

The Kuélap settlement is 584m long and 110m in its widest part.  It has over 500 circular structures and a couple of rectangular ones the the Incas built.  It is amazing to see this place with the huge limestone walls and imagine the effort to build it.  We walk through the narrow doorways (3 entrances to the city), and round the upper and lower parts learning a little of what archaeologists are only even now piecing together.

There is evidence of trading with other cultures, Moche included.  They have also discovered burial tombs of the more reviered priests in a round urn shaped temple.  The longer mountain also has a mausoleum within it, although who knows how they put bodies in there.  It is a really interesting place, and I am thrilled to have seen it whilst it is still relatively low key on the tourist circuit.

Chachapoyas, Peru 🇵🇪

We arrive an hour and a half late into Chachapoyas, the windy and bumpy roads having played havoc with any sleeping position.  The hostel is not far and they have my room free so I can check in early.  I manage a few hours sleep before deciding I should shower and go exploring.  The town is small with only 20,000 people living here, it is cute though.  The main plaza and surrounding streets are all white buildings with dark wooden doors and windows.  I chat to a Canadian couple who are cycling across South America on a tandem, crazy people seemed to be enjoying themselves!

There isn’t a lot more to see so I head back to the hostel and get chatting to Manuel and Franzi, lovely childhood friends who have stayed in touch despite moving countries.  We enjoy a couple of tasty pizzas including the house special of chorizo and banana.

Trujillo to Chachapoyas, Peru 🇵🇪

Sunday today and none of the museums are open which is a shame as my guide yesterday had told me about a good archeological one.  I wander around the city enjoying the colourful buildings and their grand doors.  The Plaza de Armas is busy with friends and families gathering for conversation, church or maybe lunch.  This is one of the things I like about South America, how lively and sociable these Plazas are regardless of the time of day. 

Tonight I have my first night bus to Chachapoyas, 13hrs long to arrive at 5am.  Needless to say I am not looking forward to it and prepare myself by having a big lunch.  I do get slightly squeamish at the type of meat in the soup, but it was tasty as was my mains of chicken and rice.  

The bus terminal is very new and grand, you have to pay 30p to get on the platform which I assume is slowly paying for it.  The bus itself is fine, good armchair style seat and footrest.  We move quickly up to Chicalayo, where they let us off for a 50minute break then we are settled in for the longer haul.  Winding our way up the windy roads to Chachapoyas.