Day 84: Lima Archaeological Museums - Sunday January 30, 2011

We have visited Lords of Sipan, Kuelap, Chan Chan & Chavin among other great archaeological sites in Northern Peru. So we enjoyed seeing some of the best artifacts from the sites in the Larco & National museums. The Larco tied the findings and clarified pre-Inca Peruvian history. We live for enlightenment like this! They even have a small library if you want to go beyond the labels. We understand more about what we saw in the north, and are properly prepared for both Inca and Pre-Inca history in the south. Also, the Larco museum has beautiful grounds and a very good restaurant. Oh, and a gift shop…

We are looking forward to Justin’s arrival tomorrow and the start of the next leg of the adventure. Adventure photography is one of his current hobbies. He is in for a treat!

The carrying capacity for taking things back home holds us back from buying even more loot. To make room, I have started discarding clothes and things that I am tired of. That won’t be enough. We are going into an area with incredible weaving and crafts. Fed Ex, here we come!

Day 83: Golf & Lima - Saturday January 29, 2011

We had a lot of fun at the Lima Country Club. It is a longish urban, park course. All around one looks up at all the high-rise places to live and our hotel. It had plenty of bunkers, water & OB, but no surprises. I played my game and Carol played one of her best! The bar snacks included bite size boiled herbed potatoes and several types of olives. We were so happy to be doing something familiar and comfortable as playing golf & staying at luxury accommodations.

Miguel and Gloria picked us up at the hotel and showed us the 2 main business districts, the colonial center, the old homes and the affluent districts. One can live very comfortably in Lima at 1/3 the cost. We finished off at a fabulous Cliff-side, ocean view super mall. Over drinks, we finally talked politics. I am glad that things are now going well economically and politically in Peru. We hope that Miguel & Gloria visit us so that we could enjoy their company again.

Tomorrow is our 3-museum day. We have visited several sites where the archaeological treasures ended up in Lima, the Capital. Things are building up for Justin’s arrival day after tomorrow!

Day 82: Lima Day - Friday January 28, 2011

The Country Club Hotel etc. is quite gracious and has a talented kitchen. We bought some Peruvian silver pieces as pictured.

We spent a delightful afternoon with Claudia’s parents (Miguel and Gloria) and aunt. The view from the high-rise unit and 17-floor terrace are magnificent! The company was the best! It's funny how common topics arise everywhere, e.g., problems with lowering cholesterol. The family went beyond duty in taking us to Porsche to pick up our car and to lead us back to the hotel so we wouldn’t have to navigate.

We have golf at 3:30 tomorrow across the street at the Lima Golf Club. In the afternoon, Miguel, who is an architect, is taking us for an architectural tour of old Lima – what a treat!

Day 81: Golf & Errands in Lima - Thursday January 27, 2011

The first order of business today was to get the car to the dealer for a replacement tire and general service. The Porsche dealership here is a class operation and very helpful. Finding one’s way without a navigation device is very challenging given that there are frequent desvios with no guidance. One thing for sure, we are sending a car to pick Justin up at the airport rather than navigating the town on our own.

We played golf at Country Club La Planicie, a very nice course in an upscale, gated neighborhood. Even with the gates, many of the homes were behind high walls. I guess they are afraid of the millions in the barrios. The situation makes us uneasy about the long term prospects for social stability.

We are spending the next 4 nights at Country Club Lima Hotel. It is grander than Los Incas Hotel, but doesn’t have the killer view of the city. The restaurant is as special here.

We are looking forward to Friday afternoon with Miguel and Gloria. I am particularly keen to hear their insight on the socio-political aspects of Peruvian society. My feeling so far is that there is a lot of frustrated energy in the people and they tend to be friendly – except on the roads. We took the day off from pictures today..

Day 80: To Lima with Love - Wednesday January 26, 2011

The road from Huaraz to Lima had us recrossing 13,480’. The “Top of the World” plateau at 13,250’ was exhilarating. I must admit that I was looking forward to lower elevation. There were farms from 12.500’ down to 7.000’ on the hillside. Below that, it was only the river valley. There is no way to overstate the magnificence of the high Andes.
Entering Lima through the barrio suburbs, we encountered a “desvio” in the Pan-American Hwy. The drivers were frustrated and aggressive. The small beater taxis particularly concerned me, since they had little to lose by getting another ding. My prejudice. I enjoyed the 450 horses to take advantage of holes in the flow. Most drivers seemed to have given me a little extra room because I was an obvious stranger.

The view from our suite at the Los Inkas Golf Hotel overlooks the City of Lima all the way to the Pacific Ocean. The restaurant presented the modern Peruvian dishes. The ceviche mixta was one of the tastiest ever, and the swordfish “chateaubriand”----mmmm...

Nevertheless, the day had its down side. We had two ½ hour road delays at road repair sites out of Huraraz. Feeling & being part of the frustrations of the drivers in the desvio entering Lima. The Golf Los Incas Hotel & Spa is across the street from and overlooks Los Inkas Golf Club but the golf privileges are at a course about 10 minutes away. How is that for a bit of funk in information not mentioned in the hotel’s web site?! Like Quito Golf Club, Los Inkas did not even respond to my e-mail requesting guest play.

Day 79: Chavin de Huantar & the Continental Divide: Tuesday January 25, 2011

The drive to the headwaters of 3 rivers to above 13,000’ was stupendous & grueling. We’re so glad we took a taxi. The roads were in awful condition. We bounced around a lot while our driver went from one side of the road to the other looking for intact pavement. The magnificence of the scenery made it well worthwhile. The drive up to the peak was through a glacier valley and the most recent glacier just receded completely. Upon crossing a tunnel at the peak, there was a giant Zeus/Christ holding a cross. In the glaciated valleys were many stone corrals for the animals grazing in the National Park. Thatched huts provided refuge for the herds people. Being part of the indigenous society going on with its daily life was a treat!

Chavin is an early (750-400 BC) ceremonial site at the meeting point of three passes. Its rivers drain into the Maranon River, and then on to the Amazon. We crossed the Maranon River while traveling from Chachapoyas to Celendin. Then it was brown water running through a desert canyon. Today its tributaries were rushing and clean.

Chavin has a spectacular site below the mountains. It is considered to have given rise to a unifying pre-Spanish religion for most of what is now Peru and to have been a major pilgrimage destination and possible oracle. The major temple is for a shaman based religion that used psychoactive substances to contact major spiritual forces of this world (puma), the underworld (snake and lizard), and the heavens (eagle according our guide). The San Pedro cactus still grows on site, as it does in a lot of the kitchen gardens in Huaraz where we are staying.

The temple was expanded over the years, with passageways and “meditation” rooms between stages, reminiscent of the Mayan temples we saw a few months ago. The temple faces east, our guide says aligned with the moon. At its core is the Lanzon, a slender stone hidden inside the temple core. The Lanzon is carved with dualistic symbols, which are echoed in the half-white/half-black stones of the gate and fasade of the main structure.

The people grow potatoes and corn. This is the first place we have come to where llamas are herded instead of just posed for tourists.

Day 78: Huaraz: January 24, 2011

Archaeological sites and museums are closed on Mondays. So today was unhurried. We took a taxi/guide to a mirador on the Cordillera Negra side that has a commanding view of the Huaraz valley and the Cordillera Blanca. Just existing there was a joy. The receding glaciers were clear in the sunny light. The Huaraz and suburbs view was also gorgeous. The Santa River divides the Cordilleras Negro and Blanco as well as the city. It drains in the Pacific near Chimbote -- along the unpaved shortcut that we didn’t take. It would have been only a fifth the length of the unpaved roads we took in Amazonia.

The shopping in town was not as good as at our hotel. We walked with a somber little procession honoring the Virgen de Belen (Bethlehem). This is the first time I have seen Joseph represented with a crown and finery. The true believers were in prayer. We had free dessert at an anti-drug abuse kiosk. The street food looked delicious, but we needed vegetables. We had Chifa (Chinese) comida coriente. It was light but also relatively light on vegetables.

We spent the afternoon getting ready for Lima and Justin’s part of the adventure. It takes a lot of research & some arrangements to stay focused!