Nascas, Chimus, and Moches
Moving on from Cusco, we have moved further north into Peru (after a brief flirtation with the south again and the condors). This has bought us into contact with pre-Inca cultures: Nasca, Chimu, and Moche civilisations.
Follow on from our trip to the Colca Canyon, we headed into another old colonial town - Arequipa. This is another place filled with churches, monasteries, and old colonial buildings. The surrounding countryside is not bad either - the town is surrounded by 3 volcanoes. Best of the bunch was probably El Monasterio de la Recoleta. This is not the most famous convent in town (Santa Catalina right in the centre has that claim), but the displays in Recoleta were more varied and it had a fascinating old library with books dating back to the 16th century.
A quick overnight stop by the beach of Puerto Inka followed. And then we were heading north again towards Nasca. A quick stop at the old Nasca cementery at Chauchilla before reaching the town of Nasca itself. A very hurried afternoon followed. We were expecting to take a flight over the Nasca Lines early the following morning, but the local tour guide said he had some planes available that afternoon. So tents were hurriedly erected, cameras grabbed, and off we went. Lovely small 4-seater Cessna plane. Took a little bit of time to "get my eye in" but soon managed to spot the figures mapped out on the ground a couple of hundred feet below us. Getting photos was a little more difficult as there was a little bit of turbulence so the plane didn´t stay nicely in place when you had you shot lined up. Luckily (and it was luck more than judgement), got some ok photos of some of the figures. Also had a second opportunity at some of them the following morning as we stopped off at a viewing tower by the Panamerican Highway.
A brief interlude for some wildlife watching at Paracas National Park followed. This included an early morning borat trip out to the Ballestas Islands. These have the nickname of "the poor man´s Galapagos" and the volume of birdlife and sealions certainly lived up to the nickname. Incidentally, if any of you saw the BBC report on the Magellan Penguin that had swum from the Magellan Straits and turned up in Paracas when we were there, I can assure you it had nothing to do with us. Ok, we visited the Magellan Straits and saw the penguins there and we were in Paracas on the day the penguin was discovered but linking the two together is entirely speculation on your part.
A quick visit to the capital of Lima followed and more colonial architecture. Oh, and a wonderful chocolate brownie at a cafe overlooking the sea. Then back on the history trail. First stop was Paramonga ruins, and then on to Huanchaco. This is another area with loads of archaeological interest. Just up the road is the old Chimu city of Chan Chan. This has 9 different temples/palaces inside it (every time a Chimu ruler died, he was buried in his temple, and the new ruler built a new palace). We got to visit one of the temples where lots of excavation work has been carried out. The site is enormous: 440 x 350 metres and we had a really good tour. The old adove (mud brick) walls even have a lot of the original carvings still on them.
Just up the road are the neighbouring sites of Huaca del Sol and Huaca de la Luna (temples of the sun and moon). Only one of these is actually now regarded as a temple and this was the one we visited - Huaca de la Luna. This was built by the Moche people and they had a different technique to the Chimu. When one of their rulers died, they buried the old temple with adobe and built a new one on top of it. Five layers of temples have been uncovered and we saw parts of several of them. These were possibly even more amazing than Chan Chan. Not only do the walls still have carvings on them, but they still have the original paintwork across large parts too. Then I headed into the town of Trujillo to see another smaller Chimu ruin and more colonial churches and buildings.
After all that activity, we had a couple of days to relax. The first was a long day on the truck and then a day on the beach at Punta Sal. A few people walked into town but the majority of us just took the chance to chill for a day. Sand was lovely, water was calm and warm, beer was cold and wet, frisby flew nicely across the beach.
And that was it for Peru. We crossed the border into Ecuador yesterday. Full report to follow next time on what we get up to here.
Follow on from our trip to the Colca Canyon, we headed into another old colonial town - Arequipa. This is another place filled with churches, monasteries, and old colonial buildings. The surrounding countryside is not bad either - the town is surrounded by 3 volcanoes. Best of the bunch was probably El Monasterio de la Recoleta. This is not the most famous convent in town (Santa Catalina right in the centre has that claim), but the displays in Recoleta were more varied and it had a fascinating old library with books dating back to the 16th century.
A quick overnight stop by the beach of Puerto Inka followed. And then we were heading north again towards Nasca. A quick stop at the old Nasca cementery at Chauchilla before reaching the town of Nasca itself. A very hurried afternoon followed. We were expecting to take a flight over the Nasca Lines early the following morning, but the local tour guide said he had some planes available that afternoon. So tents were hurriedly erected, cameras grabbed, and off we went. Lovely small 4-seater Cessna plane. Took a little bit of time to "get my eye in" but soon managed to spot the figures mapped out on the ground a couple of hundred feet below us. Getting photos was a little more difficult as there was a little bit of turbulence so the plane didn´t stay nicely in place when you had you shot lined up. Luckily (and it was luck more than judgement), got some ok photos of some of the figures. Also had a second opportunity at some of them the following morning as we stopped off at a viewing tower by the Panamerican Highway.
A brief interlude for some wildlife watching at Paracas National Park followed. This included an early morning borat trip out to the Ballestas Islands. These have the nickname of "the poor man´s Galapagos" and the volume of birdlife and sealions certainly lived up to the nickname. Incidentally, if any of you saw the BBC report on the Magellan Penguin that had swum from the Magellan Straits and turned up in Paracas when we were there, I can assure you it had nothing to do with us. Ok, we visited the Magellan Straits and saw the penguins there and we were in Paracas on the day the penguin was discovered but linking the two together is entirely speculation on your part.
A quick visit to the capital of Lima followed and more colonial architecture. Oh, and a wonderful chocolate brownie at a cafe overlooking the sea. Then back on the history trail. First stop was Paramonga ruins, and then on to Huanchaco. This is another area with loads of archaeological interest. Just up the road is the old Chimu city of Chan Chan. This has 9 different temples/palaces inside it (every time a Chimu ruler died, he was buried in his temple, and the new ruler built a new palace). We got to visit one of the temples where lots of excavation work has been carried out. The site is enormous: 440 x 350 metres and we had a really good tour. The old adove (mud brick) walls even have a lot of the original carvings still on them.
Just up the road are the neighbouring sites of Huaca del Sol and Huaca de la Luna (temples of the sun and moon). Only one of these is actually now regarded as a temple and this was the one we visited - Huaca de la Luna. This was built by the Moche people and they had a different technique to the Chimu. When one of their rulers died, they buried the old temple with adobe and built a new one on top of it. Five layers of temples have been uncovered and we saw parts of several of them. These were possibly even more amazing than Chan Chan. Not only do the walls still have carvings on them, but they still have the original paintwork across large parts too. Then I headed into the town of Trujillo to see another smaller Chimu ruin and more colonial churches and buildings.
After all that activity, we had a couple of days to relax. The first was a long day on the truck and then a day on the beach at Punta Sal. A few people walked into town but the majority of us just took the chance to chill for a day. Sand was lovely, water was calm and warm, beer was cold and wet, frisby flew nicely across the beach.
And that was it for Peru. We crossed the border into Ecuador yesterday. Full report to follow next time on what we get up to here.
posted by Alan at 7:30 pm
<< Home