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Published: April 7th 2014
Lima
The main squareSunday 9
th February (Odyssey Day 93)
It was a lazy breakfast of bread rolls with jam today. We certainly had an easy start to the day. Ellie and I soon headed out to the San Francisco Monastery and catacombs. It only cost S/. 7 to enter this beautiful looking monastery. You do need to have a guide to take you around though and we had to wait about 10 minutes for the next group with an English speaking guide. The tour was very informative but a bit rushed. The guide was certainly enthusiastic about the place, though he seemed to speak in a whisper most of the time. Perhaps that was just his way of adding to the enthralling atmosphere of the place.
In the ossuary are piles of the bones of approximately 25000 people found in the ‘public’ burial crypts. It is estimated that around 70000 people were buried in these catacombs. During parts of our tour through this area, we could see through the roof in paces to the church proper above where a service was taking place, as it was Sunday morning, and the
Lima
Monastery San Francisco music travelled strangely in the underground passages. The crypts were in use until 1808, when a new cemetery came into use on the outskirts of Lima.
The monastery has a library which is famous for containing thousands of antique texts. There is also a painting of The Last Supper by Diego de la Puente, which shows typical Peruvian dishes such as potato, chili and cuy (guinea pig).
Heading back to the main square we stayed around to watch the changing of the guard there, which was a long process and for some reason I can't really fathom, included a military band. It was interesting enough to keep us there for almost an hour though.
Leaving after it was over, we headed to the shopping areas to find some lunch and bumped into Ken. He was kind enough to chase off our rather persistent shadow who had been offering to guide us around Lima. ‘No’ is the same in English and Spanish, but some people just don’t know the meaning of the word.
Lima
And I thought I was short! For lunch? Well chicken of course. It’s the most common food anywhere in Peru, you can always find a few chicken places no matter what you are looking for.
After lunch we parted ways with Ken, and Ellie and I found ourselves wandering down Valentine alley. This is an interesting alley filled with stalls selling a lot of pictures and stuffed toys, some of them bigger than us. Needless to say we didn’t buy any of them.
After a little more shopping, it was back to the hotel for us.
Monday 10
th February (Odyssey Day 94)
We had planned to depart at 0800 today but as it was, it was nearly 0930 by the time we left. Why the delay? Well apparently last night both Tee and Mike had their wallets stolen. Mike went to the police station to report it right away, but Tee didn’t think of that until this morning. So at 0745 this morning while everyone else was packing the truck, Tee jumped into a
Travel Day
Scenery just doesn't get better than this taxi to head off to the police station. We delayed moving the truck for as long as possible until finally the local police asked us to move along. Fortunately we were able to find somewhere just around the corner to park up and wait.
So at 0930 we headed out of Lima, driving north along the coast. It’s quite a bleak landscape, but one I find quite beautiful. I think its inherent loneliness just adds to its appeal.
Our lunch stop was very sandy and now we are all just a bit dirty. Fortunately the bushcamp tonight should be on the beach somewhere. Or at least that was the plan…
Unfortunately, it was impossible to find a bushcamp near the beach, so we turned off the main road inland instead. Where we eventually stopped was much like the beach would have been, just without the water!
Sand, sand everywhere. We had a fire going and nightfall brought a nice cool breeze with it. It made me think we had stopped on the
Sandy Bushcamp
Hannah exhausts herself building a fire moon. No more red sand around here.
Early to bed for some, but the rest of us gathered around the fire to toast marshmallows and watch as Maddie and Johnny used their machetes to open brazil nuts. I don’t think they could have made the job more difficult if they had tried. They were rather nice to roast and eat once the guys got them open though.
Tuesday 11
th February (Odyssey Day 95)
Up and away at 0800 this morning and we headed to some nearby Sechin ruins. We spent over an hour looking around the museum and ruins of this city temple which has been dated back to 1800 BC. There are many stones with etchings in them, mainly showing the peoples victory over their enemies, shown by the depiction of the mutilated bodies of said enemies.
The site survived by being covered in a landslide at some point in history. They found the remains of human sacrifice victims preserved by the sands. The complex is still
Sechin Ruins
AJ at the ruins being excavated.
We then drove through Chimbote, which was a very large place that smelt distinctly of fish – rather unpleasantly at that, though only for a moment.
We arrived at our campsite just after dark. It was very sandy and had no running water for showers or toilets. The camp itself was a rather nice one though, with sand under the tents and a fire pit with seating around it. The ocean was only a short walk away.
Fortunately they managed to get the water running briefly for showers, though some abstained as it was certainly not hot water, and no doors to the cubicles. Mind you I thought the temperature was still well warm enough for a cold shower, but not everyone agreed. And since there was a portaloo for use as well, what was left to complain about?
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