2005 Peru Part I Lima & Inca Ruins

Wulff Journal Amazon River Cruise & Rain Forest August 4-15, 2005 – via Overseas Travel Adventures Narrative follows Fred's video tape. Annette brought her digital camera. The Cottens and Williams shared their photos.
Preface: OAT adventures are designed so that a small group will not only enjoy the great monuments, but also journey off the beaten path to interact with the local culture up close and personal. Through exclusive visits to out-of-the-way locations, unique cultural demonstrations, home-hosted meals, and more, we engaged in meaningful travel experiences that we would carry with us long after our adventure ended.

Day 1, Thursday, August 4

We drove to Minneapolis for an early start and an overnight stay at the Baymont Inn Bloomington with its park and fly offer and included breakfast.

Day 2, Friday, August 5

The flight arrangements were with American Airlines (w/ AAdvantage miles). A map of Peru helped us to envision our forthcoming journey. We departed around noon for a short trip to Dallas; the flight from Dallas to Lima took a little over six hours. Pat Bowar and Annette seemed to enjoy the long flight. Fred had a window seat that offered a nice view of cloud formations and a bird’s eye view of Houston oil terminals along the coast.

Arrival time in Lima was around midnight.

Our OAT guide met us outside customs and arranged transportation to the El Condado Hotel in Lima’s coastal Miraflores district, a sophisticated enclave of elegant shops and restaurants. The hotel’s front entrance, lobby and our room were quite pleasing. 

This would be our comfortable home for three evenings.

Day 3, Saturday, August 6

We started off the day with an early breakfast in a very charming dinning area that the hotel had fashioned as a wine cellar. A costumed waiter provided any needed assistance. After a refreshing breakfast we met for an OAT orientation session with Juan, who spent most of the meeting time taking a tally for our lunch selections. A traditional Peruvian Pisco sour with a lime flavor served as our welcome drink. A brief self-introduction round robin revealed that many in our group of 18 were educators or retired educators.

Our tasty lunch at a local restaurant started with soup folowed by what looked like a formed mashed potato sandwich.

Just outside the establishment, a small group of musicians performed for donations.

Apparently the owner was displeased and wanted them to move on, but policemen (security guides) calmed things down. Fred and Annette then walked over to a nearby ATM to acquire 500 Nueva Sol (3.25 Sol equals 1$US).

We devoted this afternoon with included tours in Lima, a city founded by Pizarro in 1535 as a coastal capital. The first tour was just outside of the city in the suburb of Pueblo Libre, the National Museum of Anthropology, Archaeology and History. The museum was just off a large square with a dominating statue of Bolivar. (Peru had been loyal to Spain until 1824, when an outsider, the Venezuelan Simón Bolívar, liberated the country). 

The nation’s foremost collection of artifacts chronicled Peruvian life from the Stone Age to the arrival of European explorers. The pottery and fabrics on display represented every major culture of ancient Peru. 

Of particular interest was a display of skulls with elongated foreheads of Indians. An explanatory notation revealed that the early Peruvians purposely “molded” their foreheads to establish distinctive identification shapes for their villages.

Other displays showed mummified remains and exhibits portraying burial practices.

The later exhibits showed the development and expansion of the Inca Empire. By the early 15th century, the Inca Empire had control of much of the area, even extending its influence into Colombia and Chile. As we walked across the square to return to our bus, the Cottens took pictures of curious children who had been playing nearby.










Next we concentrated on the city of Lima, the Peruvian capital founded just 40 years after Columbus first set foot in the New World. For evidence of the Spanish presence in Peru, one needs merely to observe 19th century architecture and explore the city center.

We drove around the Plaza de Armas, the seat of power for both secular and clerical authority, as evidenced by the Palacio Presidential, Palacio Municipal, and Archbishop’s Palace. Next to the Archbishop’s Palace stands the Cathedral. The coffin and remains of Francisco Pizarro are in the mosaic-covered chapel just to the right of the main doors. The bus driver left us off here to explore with our local guide.

From the Plaza de Armas, we proceeded to the nearby Church of San Francisco.

It has been estimated that the remains of 70,000 people have been situated in the famous catacombs. The front facade was impressive, but the interior was equally interesting with its vaulted ceiling and large dome. A religious service was being conducted while we were there. The church courtyard was a busy scene of venders selling religious objects and the regulars relaxing by the fountain or feeding the pigeons.


OAT treated us to a Welcome Dinner at a nice local restaurant. Appetizers included cake-like mashed potatoes and veggies. For the main course Fred had tasty beef with onions. We enjoyed a donut-shaped sweet potato-pumpkin desert. After leaving the restaurant, we traveled along the city’s oceanfront. We were treated to an unexpected “discovery moment” -- a mass photo-shoot of many brides and grooms at the Park de Amore. The bus driver pulled over and parked to enable us to get close to the action.

A large “lovely” statue of an amorous couple graced the park area. Annette, Pat and Rick mingled with the guests.













Day 4, Sunday, August 7

The morning started off with breakfast in our cozy wine cellar.

Today was a free day. Fortunately the Cottens contracted with a local guide before we left the USA to give us a tour for $35 each to the Pachacamac Ruins and the Indian Market.
Visiting Inca ruins in Peru is a must. Our exclusive group consisting of Doyice and Mary Cotten, Nancy and Ted Williams, Fred and Annette Wulff and Pat Bowar, set off at 8:30 a.m. To reach the ruins we traversed the Pan-American Highway (Carratera Pan Americana), about 20 miles, and along the way made a photo stop of a 3 month-old squatters village on government land. These hastily assembled homes were erected on the side of a large sand dune that ran parallel to the highway. 

Further up the road, near some cemeteries, we made another photo stop at a flower market loaded with beautiful blooming plants. Pat posed for us.

We eventually reached the entrance of the Pachacamac Ruins site, in the Valley of Lurin. Our driver paid the site fee and we were allotted our own personal park guide. The first location visited was typical of the earliest pre-Inca ruins (as early as 1000 years prior to the Incas) in which the God Pachacámac was venerated. Off to our right was a cameloid, familiar to us as a llama. We followed the park trail to an 1100-1500 A.D. pyramidal structure known as Ishmay Temple.

To the left was the North-South Street way. Between 1526-28, the Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro explored Peru's coastal regions and, drawn by the riches of the Inca empire, returned to Spain to raise money and recruit men for another expedition to the country. Return he did, marching into Cajamarca, in northern Peru, before capturing, ransoming and executing the Inca emperor Atahualpa in 1533.

Pizarro spent time here in Pachacamac, even walked this North-South Street, that same year.

He subsequently founded the city of Lima in 1535 but was assassinated six years later.

From the pre-Inca constructions stand out the "Templo Pintado" (colored temple) and the "Templo Viejo" (old temple), built with small adobes and pyramids with ramps. When the Inca rule began, they built new right next to Viejo.

The adjacent Inca monument was called the Temple of the Sun or Inti (1440-1553). The single massive front entrance would be the last part of our tour here, or our exit. We chose to walk on passages that go along the edge of the main structure, six stout walls built with adobe.

A steady upward climb led to a great terrace with a grand view to the Pacific (Pan American Highway in foreground).

Rocky islands, that also bear the name Pachacamac, stood out prominently.

We returned to our van down steep steps that led to the large front entranceway. Original red markings on the door well were still in evidence.

A short distance away was another Inca ruin (1440-1553) the "acllahuasi" (house prepared for the chosen girls). This “Manacuna” (women who make the function as mothers) housed those who
trained young girls. A rest room stop and a visit to the park souvenir shop and then we were ready for lunch.



Aggressive restaurant employees tried to stop our van by standing on the roadway and pointing to their establishments. We pushed forward.

For our lunch stop the driver had chosen El Alamo, a restaurant selected because of its cleanliness. Before entering, the guide walked over to a stall and picked out the pieces of pork he wanted cut up for our group.

The prepared meat was placed on two platters for communal style eating. Our menu included “corn nuts” and slices of fried sweet potatoes -- and a tasty brand of Peruvian beer called Christal.













Our amiable driver/guide drove as back into Lima where he pointed out examples of architecture. The trip led us by the ocean where he selected a good vantage point of the beach for a photo shoot.

From here he took us to the Indian Market where we purchased ties, earrings, music CD, ceramic chess set and a beautiful woolen shawl-like cape for Annette.

Back at the hotel we paid our driver/guide for his excellent services.

Fred took video shots of our room, which actually was more like a comfortable apartment or suite.

For an additional cost, we signed up with OAT for an optional dinner with entertainment held at the Junius Restaurant. Buffet items were varied and tasty. The performance featured dances from the coastal region of Peru and from the country’s colonial era, quite different from the dances associated with the Andes and the Amazon. The dancers portrayed the urban life of both the common element and sophisticated elite.


GO ON TO 2005 PERU PART II