Thursday, March 26, 2009
Re-entry
Today, March 26th. It´s all coming to a close.
I´ve been sorting through my stuff. Got a new suitcase for all the crap I aquired during this journey. Then it was catching up on all these blogs, which is acting as my journal.
I catch a plane in a few hours.
I´ve made some great friends, saw fantastic things and my eyes were opened to a whole new level of awesomeness I couldn´t previously comprehend. Thanks to all of you who helped me make it happen and took care of my assets back home. I appreciate those who reponded to these posts and wrote to me. It was super to hear from you while in this bizzare and beautiful place.
This blog is far from over. There will be posts as the exclusive video portions of this account are produced. Stay tuned - the best is yet to come!!
I´ve been sorting through my stuff. Got a new suitcase for all the crap I aquired during this journey. Then it was catching up on all these blogs, which is acting as my journal.
I catch a plane in a few hours.
I´ve made some great friends, saw fantastic things and my eyes were opened to a whole new level of awesomeness I couldn´t previously comprehend. Thanks to all of you who helped me make it happen and took care of my assets back home. I appreciate those who reponded to these posts and wrote to me. It was super to hear from you while in this bizzare and beautiful place.
This blog is far from over. There will be posts as the exclusive video portions of this account are produced. Stay tuned - the best is yet to come!!
Golden Treasures.
Wednesday the 25th.
This post deleted right after I wrote it. Grr.
the Gold Museum was closed or didn´t exist so i went to the Museo De La Nation. Great stuff from Kuelap. Gold masks, jewelry, Wari pottery, a life size replica of the stone I saw near Cusco with the mini city carved into it, and an exhibit with photos and a video of the terrorism in Peru from 1980-2000. The Shining Path was wreaking havoc in an attempt to overthrow the government. Good thing I didn´t take this trip earlier. Thank you, fate!
Later went to see Gran Tourino with my favorite Nords. Good little flick! Old people should watch it.
This post deleted right after I wrote it. Grr.
the Gold Museum was closed or didn´t exist so i went to the Museo De La Nation. Great stuff from Kuelap. Gold masks, jewelry, Wari pottery, a life size replica of the stone I saw near Cusco with the mini city carved into it, and an exhibit with photos and a video of the terrorism in Peru from 1980-2000. The Shining Path was wreaking havoc in an attempt to overthrow the government. Good thing I didn´t take this trip earlier. Thank you, fate!
Later went to see Gran Tourino with my favorite Nords. Good little flick! Old people should watch it.
What Happens In Peru.....
GOES IN THIS BLOG!
I got an email from Anna saying that, back in Ayacucho, she had gone out for a drink with people she met at the internet cafe. Her story is that when she came back to the hotel, the door was locked. So she stayed at the house of some dude. Why didn´t she leave a note on the door? Why didn´t she come back in the morning to talk to me? Hmmmm. As usual, the truth is somewhere in between.
Tuesday, March 24th.
Got up later at 10:45. Missed the 11a meeting time with the Norwegians. So I met Kelly and John and we went to the ZOO! Heard a lion roar - loud! Great parrot exhibit. We rode a cheesy roller coaster simulator of The Beast. There were huacas all over the zoo, with little explaination. This was an ancient city of some sort.
We came back to Miraflores and I moved back to the Flying Dog Hostal, to the same room I was in when I first arrived in Lima. Balcony overlooking the park. I got an email from Bobby, the grip dude who I met on the Inca Trail travelling with his 57yr old mother. He told a story about how he got jumped on a beach in
Barranco (south Lima). He got pistol whipped and camera/passport/etc stolen. Bastards. He left the next day I think, as scheduled.
That night I met Lucia, a Peru native from couchsurfing. She worked at an ad agency and was something new: a rich Peruvian. She had a beach house in the South and wanted to stop a some vanity stores to see if there were some products in. We went down to Lacomar because she loves it down there?! She spoke good English. We talked about popular culture things and advertising. She even got my sense of humor!
After our meeting I went back to home base. Okay, with my big plans of hitting all the big Inca fortresses thwarted I was on the home stretch, just passing time till I left for NYC. I met the Norwegian duo at Flying Dog. They had eaten cebiche AND guinea pig at the same time?! Sandra was a bit queasy after the experience. Selja and I watched a group of prostitutes work the park from my balcony. It actually got cool enouph that night for a long sleeve shirt!
I got an email from Anna saying that, back in Ayacucho, she had gone out for a drink with people she met at the internet cafe. Her story is that when she came back to the hotel, the door was locked. So she stayed at the house of some dude. Why didn´t she leave a note on the door? Why didn´t she come back in the morning to talk to me? Hmmmm. As usual, the truth is somewhere in between.
Tuesday, March 24th.
Got up later at 10:45. Missed the 11a meeting time with the Norwegians. So I met Kelly and John and we went to the ZOO! Heard a lion roar - loud! Great parrot exhibit. We rode a cheesy roller coaster simulator of The Beast. There were huacas all over the zoo, with little explaination. This was an ancient city of some sort.
We came back to Miraflores and I moved back to the Flying Dog Hostal, to the same room I was in when I first arrived in Lima. Balcony overlooking the park. I got an email from Bobby, the grip dude who I met on the Inca Trail travelling with his 57yr old mother. He told a story about how he got jumped on a beach in
Barranco (south Lima). He got pistol whipped and camera/passport/etc stolen. Bastards. He left the next day I think, as scheduled.
That night I met Lucia, a Peru native from couchsurfing. She worked at an ad agency and was something new: a rich Peruvian. She had a beach house in the South and wanted to stop a some vanity stores to see if there were some products in. We went down to Lacomar because she loves it down there?! She spoke good English. We talked about popular culture things and advertising. She even got my sense of humor!
After our meeting I went back to home base. Okay, with my big plans of hitting all the big Inca fortresses thwarted I was on the home stretch, just passing time till I left for NYC. I met the Norwegian duo at Flying Dog. They had eaten cebiche AND guinea pig at the same time?! Sandra was a bit queasy after the experience. Selja and I watched a group of prostitutes work the park from my balcony. It actually got cool enouph that night for a long sleeve shirt!
Into The Crypt
Monday the 23rd.
I assumed my role as backpacker planner and went with Selja and Sandra to Central Lima. After breakfast in a cafe we hit the Monosterio De San Franscisco (built before 1687). A Franciscan monastery with baroque syle. Awesome old library with withering books and catacombs home to over 10,000 skeletons. Bones arranged in pits of femurs and skulls, and a cicular pit with an arrangement of femurs and skulls 20ft in diameter?! Exclusive forbidden video coming in a few weeks. Some cielings had intricate wood carvings held together by gravity.
After some chicha we looked around the Plaza De Armas. Administrative buildings. Whup-de-doo. Saw a political demonstration and riot police. Then we drove 20min to Fuerte Real Felipe. That´s a Spanish fort circa 1740 and still has cannons in place and other wartime stuff. Odd cavernous tunnels in the Kings tower (See photo of Sandra and I on top with Lima in BG).
Then we drove down by the Lima beaches and saw the surfers attempting to surf. We dropped in the Lacomar (mall built into the cliff (nighclubs, shops, KFC, cosmic bowling, etc)) for a couple drinks and pizza. Pina coladas overlooking the ocean with great company. Nice!
It was back to Miraflores to move to Loki hostal, 30min nap in a room with 4 beds. Then I met a couch surfer named Xuxa in front of McDonalds. Sandra/Selja joined us thankfully. We went for a drink down a touristy restaurant/club street. Then to Rustica for some BBQ wings, fried cheeses and other tapas foodies. Cervesa. We put Xuxa on a bus and I went to Loki for a nightcap. There I met 2 Americans from CO, Kelly and John. Kelly had been travelling SA for a while and John was just beginning his hippy style adventure (¨I´m thinking of going North, finding a surf town to hang out at for a few weeks...I need to get a cheap tent¨).
I assumed my role as backpacker planner and went with Selja and Sandra to Central Lima. After breakfast in a cafe we hit the Monosterio De San Franscisco (built before 1687). A Franciscan monastery with baroque syle. Awesome old library with withering books and catacombs home to over 10,000 skeletons. Bones arranged in pits of femurs and skulls, and a cicular pit with an arrangement of femurs and skulls 20ft in diameter?! Exclusive forbidden video coming in a few weeks. Some cielings had intricate wood carvings held together by gravity.
After some chicha we looked around the Plaza De Armas. Administrative buildings. Whup-de-doo. Saw a political demonstration and riot police. Then we drove 20min to Fuerte Real Felipe. That´s a Spanish fort circa 1740 and still has cannons in place and other wartime stuff. Odd cavernous tunnels in the Kings tower (See photo of Sandra and I on top with Lima in BG).
Then we drove down by the Lima beaches and saw the surfers attempting to surf. We dropped in the Lacomar (mall built into the cliff (nighclubs, shops, KFC, cosmic bowling, etc)) for a couple drinks and pizza. Pina coladas overlooking the ocean with great company. Nice!
It was back to Miraflores to move to Loki hostal, 30min nap in a room with 4 beds. Then I met a couch surfer named Xuxa in front of McDonalds. Sandra/Selja joined us thankfully. We went for a drink down a touristy restaurant/club street. Then to Rustica for some BBQ wings, fried cheeses and other tapas foodies. Cervesa. We put Xuxa on a bus and I went to Loki for a nightcap. There I met 2 Americans from CO, Kelly and John. Kelly had been travelling SA for a while and John was just beginning his hippy style adventure (¨I´m thinking of going North, finding a surf town to hang out at for a few weeks...I need to get a cheap tent¨).
My Life on the Panamericana
March 22.
After sleeping for 10hrs I wandered the beach in the AM. A dog carcass, crab shells, lots of sea debris. Ocean beaches are yucky. Breakfast: roll, yogurt, coffee, snickers bar. Thought about what to do that day. If you see one crumbling mud brick wall, you´ve seen em all. The only cool thing North in Chiclayo was a museum. I wasn´t going to drive 6hrs for that cause it felt like too much and this coastal desert is the worst. So I decided what the heck this is a beat scene and headed back down to Lima. I was supposed to be headed to Chachapoyas and Kuelap ruins, but I would need a couple more weeks for that. NEXT TIME. *sniff*
Light brown mountains, ghetto towns. Keep the ocean on the right this time.
got my hotel Solis Dies again and met 2 Norgegian chicas, Selja and Sandra. I hooked them up with the same hotel and we went to have drinks at Loki. I saw Ben, the Aussie I went to Pisac with in Cusco. I also ran into 2 Nords who I met on the Inca trail. The Lima-Cusco connection.
After sleeping for 10hrs I wandered the beach in the AM. A dog carcass, crab shells, lots of sea debris. Ocean beaches are yucky. Breakfast: roll, yogurt, coffee, snickers bar. Thought about what to do that day. If you see one crumbling mud brick wall, you´ve seen em all. The only cool thing North in Chiclayo was a museum. I wasn´t going to drive 6hrs for that cause it felt like too much and this coastal desert is the worst. So I decided what the heck this is a beat scene and headed back down to Lima. I was supposed to be headed to Chachapoyas and Kuelap ruins, but I would need a couple more weeks for that. NEXT TIME. *sniff*
Light brown mountains, ghetto towns. Keep the ocean on the right this time.
got my hotel Solis Dies again and met 2 Norgegian chicas, Selja and Sandra. I hooked them up with the same hotel and we went to have drinks at Loki. I saw Ben, the Aussie I went to Pisac with in Cusco. I also ran into 2 Nords who I met on the Inca trail. The Lima-Cusco connection.
¿Beheadings: better than praying?
Saturday the 21st.
After bad chicken sandwich (too much mayo) I met my guide Henry (En-RR-IE) at 9am. Nice short guy, descendent of the Moche culture which we were going to investigate this day. It was cheap to have him as a guide, and he rode with me explaining the history of the region and the lore of the peoples. Good thing I had him or I never would have found the Huaca del Sol and Huaca de la Luna (temples of the sun and the moon). No sign and dirt road to get to them. A huaca is a place of archeological significance; a structure or pyramid.
Huaca del Sol is a giant structure looted by the Spanish and inaccessible. Huaca de la Luna is where it´s at. 1500 years ago the Moche culture built a fortress here. Everytime there was a new king, a new fortress was built around the old one (every 80-100 years). There are 4 layers of fortresses here, the oldest being the best preserved! They were into repeating patterns across all the walls. Faces of differing emotional expressions, dancing people, sea creatures, stars, etc. See the photo of the wall with lots of icons in my post: The Moche Valley. The paint is still on these things making them scary. Red, black, yellow.
There was a black rock here that was sacred. Below it was a courtyard where people were ritually beheaded so there would be great harvests. Henry told it like this: The Moche civilization came to an end and the Chimu culture started up 100 years later. They were the same people but what separated them was some sort of natural disaster. Uh, yeah.
So we went over to Huaca Esmeralda, a Chimu temple with neat carvings of a rainbow monster biting a guys head off (see the photo of me scratching my head in The Moche Valley post). It was a symbol that in order to serve the harvest rains (rainbow)....PEOPLE GOTTA DIE! The adobe friezes had fish, seabirds and waves in the carvings. How I understood how human sacrifices were chosen was they go fight in the desert and the guy who gets his hat knocked off gets a rope around his neck, is stripped naked and let through a procession of cheering and dancing people then beheaded by a high priest.
We dropped in the Chan Chan museum which had life sized figures of Chimu kings in full garb.
On to center of the Chimu culture: Chan Chan. Built in 1300AD and spanning 28sq kilometers with 9 royal compounds (everytime a king died, his wife and servants were all killed, buried around him and the whole palace abandoned. A new palace was built for the new king). This place was conquered by the Incas but later looted by the damn Spanish and all but washed away by El Nino floods. What´s left is a Big Whup on my part, but I´m okay with the restorations that were done so we have some idea of what was up. Some government officails pocketed the $ that was supposed to go to restoring other areas of the Chan Chan complex but are now just off limits to touristicos. The ceremonial courtyard is the most iconic, although surrounded with a drole repeating pattern of a sea otter (or squirrel says Henry).
Then onto the beach town of Huanchaco. Henry scored me a good hotel near the beach. Then we went to have cebiche (raw fish dish in lemon) at a tourist bus restaurant. There was a famous soccer star there and Henry had his photo taken with him. I paid for the lunch as a tip.
Then back to Trujillo where I did net stuff, picked up laundry then drove out to Huanchaco. Walked around a bit on the beach, bought suiveniers, and laid down at 8:30p for a nap before going out for a drink later. I woke up at 7:30am. OOPS!
After bad chicken sandwich (too much mayo) I met my guide Henry (En-RR-IE) at 9am. Nice short guy, descendent of the Moche culture which we were going to investigate this day. It was cheap to have him as a guide, and he rode with me explaining the history of the region and the lore of the peoples. Good thing I had him or I never would have found the Huaca del Sol and Huaca de la Luna (temples of the sun and the moon). No sign and dirt road to get to them. A huaca is a place of archeological significance; a structure or pyramid.
Huaca del Sol is a giant structure looted by the Spanish and inaccessible. Huaca de la Luna is where it´s at. 1500 years ago the Moche culture built a fortress here. Everytime there was a new king, a new fortress was built around the old one (every 80-100 years). There are 4 layers of fortresses here, the oldest being the best preserved! They were into repeating patterns across all the walls. Faces of differing emotional expressions, dancing people, sea creatures, stars, etc. See the photo of the wall with lots of icons in my post: The Moche Valley. The paint is still on these things making them scary. Red, black, yellow.
There was a black rock here that was sacred. Below it was a courtyard where people were ritually beheaded so there would be great harvests. Henry told it like this: The Moche civilization came to an end and the Chimu culture started up 100 years later. They were the same people but what separated them was some sort of natural disaster. Uh, yeah.
So we went over to Huaca Esmeralda, a Chimu temple with neat carvings of a rainbow monster biting a guys head off (see the photo of me scratching my head in The Moche Valley post). It was a symbol that in order to serve the harvest rains (rainbow)....PEOPLE GOTTA DIE! The adobe friezes had fish, seabirds and waves in the carvings. How I understood how human sacrifices were chosen was they go fight in the desert and the guy who gets his hat knocked off gets a rope around his neck, is stripped naked and let through a procession of cheering and dancing people then beheaded by a high priest.
We dropped in the Chan Chan museum which had life sized figures of Chimu kings in full garb.
On to center of the Chimu culture: Chan Chan. Built in 1300AD and spanning 28sq kilometers with 9 royal compounds (everytime a king died, his wife and servants were all killed, buried around him and the whole palace abandoned. A new palace was built for the new king). This place was conquered by the Incas but later looted by the damn Spanish and all but washed away by El Nino floods. What´s left is a Big Whup on my part, but I´m okay with the restorations that were done so we have some idea of what was up. Some government officails pocketed the $ that was supposed to go to restoring other areas of the Chan Chan complex but are now just off limits to touristicos. The ceremonial courtyard is the most iconic, although surrounded with a drole repeating pattern of a sea otter (or squirrel says Henry).
Then onto the beach town of Huanchaco. Henry scored me a good hotel near the beach. Then we went to have cebiche (raw fish dish in lemon) at a tourist bus restaurant. There was a famous soccer star there and Henry had his photo taken with him. I paid for the lunch as a tip.
Then back to Trujillo where I did net stuff, picked up laundry then drove out to Huanchaco. Walked around a bit on the beach, bought suiveniers, and laid down at 8:30p for a nap before going out for a drink later. I woke up at 7:30am. OOPS!
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