August 12, 2006

August 12, 2006

This morning for breakfast Aimee and I both try the Coca tea. It is not particularly flavorful so we switch back to coffee. The goal today is to visit Pachacamac, an archeological site twenty miles down the coast south of Lima. To get there we take two different local busses. The busses are an experience and apparently they are all privately owned, as they are everywhere, inexpensive, and run frequently. Capitalism at its best!

On the outskirts of Lima, the terrain turns into giant sand dunes. Land, I would consider of no value. However much of it is covered with shantytowns. I remember reading that the Lima area has grown exponentially the last few decades because of farmers flocking to urban areas. Lima now has a population of eight million people.

The bus lets us off at the gate of Pachacamac. Our first vision of the area is just an extension of the sand dunes. As we walk closer, we can see the outlines of bricks in the sand. Pachacamac is a huge archeological site. The construction was all of adobe bricks. Adobe is basically dried mud. They are cheap and easy to make in the millions. It was also probably the only building material around. Unfortunately they don’t last forever like stone does. The buildings here all look like they are melted because of wind erosion of the bricks. Even though the site is large, they believe it was mostly ceremonial. Pachacamac was renown for being the location of a famous oracle. Unfortunately a defective one as it told the last Inca king that he would succeed in battle with the Spanish conquistador.

The focal point of the site is the Pyramid of the Sun. We climb to the top and get a good view of the surrounding coastline, sort of. There is a persistent fog over the ocean. This is because of the Humboldt Current that brings cold ocean water up the coastline from the Antarctic. Unfortunately south of the equator the jet stream runs east to west and the Andes Mountains wring all the moisture from the air and sends it down the Amazon River. Instead of being lush the Peruvian coast is one big giant foggy desert.

Pachacamac is not visually stunning. Most of it remains buried under the sand, protected from further erosion. However, it is mentally stimulating to see the couple areas that have been uncovered and knowing you are walking atop an archeological site early in its excavation phase. We eat a typical Peruvian lunch at the site cafe. It is a variation of chicken fingers and fried potatoes.

Back at Miraflores, we head straight to Huaca Pucllana. This is an ancient adobe pyramid right in the middle of this upscale neighborhood. We miss the last guided tour but we are still able to take some pictures. Like Pachacamac it mostly looks like a giant mud hill, but you can clearly see that it was built from an infinite number of bricks.

This evening we have Peruvian cuisine. We start off with an appetizer of Ceviche. This consists of raw fish marinated in spicy lemon juice and garnished with onions. It is quite tasty.