Going Back In Time

After a day of modern life in Miraflores, it was time to explore the older side of Lima. First stop: Huaca Huallamarca, a highly restored Maranga adobe pyramid, dating from around 400 or 500 AD, in the middle of the city. The site includes a ceremonial platform visitors can walk up providing a great view of the surrounding city. There was also a small artifacts museum with skeletons and vases found on site. The skeletons were found with their burial clothes and their hair still entact. These provided Regina much more material for photography than the rest of the site. Poses pretending to kiss skeletons out-numbered poses on the actual site.

The site quickly grew hot and I missed my sunglasses. So I pouted until it was agreed we could go back to the hostel so I could change clothes. Then we hailed a taxi for the city center. And what is always in the center of Latin American cities, class? Bingo: the Plaza de Armas. Getting to the Plaza took some time, as Lima is a big city and traffic occures at all hours in the big city.

Once we arrived we were almost overwhelmed by the magnitude of it all. Where to begin? My choice was La Catedral de Lima. I just finished reading three books on the history of Peru in which Francisco Pizarro plays a lead role (before these books I knew pretty close to nothing about S America). Pizarro was the conquerer of the Incas. With just over a hundred men, he managed to knock down an entire civilization that had grown to be the largest in the Americas in only two centuries. Okay, he didn`t do it with just men. He also had guns, the smoke from these guns, and germs. What does all this have to do with the Catedral de Lima? Pizarro is buried there. This I wanted to see. And a magnificant burial it was. Fit for a, well, conquerer.

Funny thing is he wasn`t the one orinally placed in this grand coffin. The remains of an unknown church official were in there. This was discovered after a body was found in the crypt with numerous stab wounds and a disembodied head. Pizarro was assinated, harshly. Thus these bones must be his. Scientists agreed. The bones were moved to the coffin baring his name. No word what happened to the body of the unknown church official.

The rest of the church was pretty darn amazing as well. We spent almost two hours scouting it out. Each alter, into the crypt, even studying the ornate choir chairs. Creepy statues watched over us as we explored the religious art museum. And then my stomach growled. Break for lunch.

Aftrwards it was on to the Monasterio de San Francisco. This site was chosen because Lonely Planet mentioned it had catacombs with over 70,000 bones. AND we could walk through them. But we couldn`t take pictures. It was still interesting. For some reason, the catacombs had been dug up and the bones had been organized according to type. So people were no longer whole skeletons. They were a thigh bone here, a skull there. Whatever, I still felt like Indiana Jones. We went next door to the second church where we found tackiness to the third degree. Madonna was wearing black lace (the real Madonna), there was a picture of baby Jesus behind a frame, there were candles with little florescent bulbs. And people were praying to all of them. It was the busiest church I had been in to that point. I felt bad chuckling at the ridiculousness of the decor.

Not sure if this was a test, but as I was preparing to leave the Vegas temple, a bum walked up to me and started a conversation about the church. He reaked. He got to the point: could I spare some money. I only had large bills. Sorry. And then Jesus walked away. Was it him? Did I just commit a sin by not helping the poor INSIDE A CHURCH? I asked Regina. She said no, don`t be stupid. I felt better.

To celebrate our history tour we decided to try the drink of Peru: the Pisco Sour. Hotel Boliviar is said to make the best in the city. That`s where we headed. This was my first Pisco Sour. I was not impressed. I was, however, quite buzzed off of just one. Our bartender told us all about Piscos in Spanish. The booze didn`t help me translate what he said. It made me sleepy. And thus I declared an end to our trip back in time. Plus my stomach was rumbling something awful and it declared the need to be close to a bathroom. I obliged it and back to the future we went...

For pics of my time in Lima, follow this link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/15233918@N00/sets/72157603403921726/