Lima Day Three

Today I go on a tour of the ruins of Pachacamac, but first a breakfast of some of the food I got at the market yesterday.

Booty from the market. 

From left starting with the dark green and going clockwise 

 Sapote, pepino, corn, aji chiles, lucuma, and ciruela

My breakfast - pepino, ciruela, and lucuna

The temple of Pachacamac is an archaeological site 25 miles southeast of Lima in the Valley of the Lurin River.  The site's name derives from the Quechua term for the coastal deity, Pacha Camac (Pacha = earth Camac = creator).  This site, which contains a number of pyramids, was considered one of the most important religious monuments by the indigenous people of the central Andes at the time Peru was conquered by Francisco Pizarro in 1533.  The main temple at the site was dedicated to Pachacamac and held a famous oracle. Pilgrims traveled to the center from great distances, and its cemetery was considered sacrosanct.

The Pachacamac temple complex is spread out over an area of three square miles.  Archeologists have identified and uncovered at least 17 pyramids at Pachacamac, many of them irreversibly damaged by time and weather.  Also discovered among the pyramids, from the Early Intermediate period, (c. 200-600 CE) were a cemetery and multicolored fresco of fish. This is from when the Lima People started building pyramids there. Later, the Huari (c. 600-800 CE) sponsored construction of the city, probably using it as an administrative center. A number of Huari influenced designs appear on the construction in this period and on the ceramics and textiles found in the cemeteries of this period.  Only the Lima People and the Huari worshiped the diety of Pachacamac.

After the collapse of the Huari empire, Pachacamac continued to grow as an important religious center. The majority of the common architecture and temples were built at this stage (c. 800-1450 CE).  Historical sources indicate that in the 15th century, Pachacamac was ruled by the Ichma, who established an alliance with the Inca. Following the expansion of the Inca empire, Pachacamac became an important Inca administrative center, while maintaining its status as a religious shrine. The Inca built five separate complexes there, including the Pyramid of the Sun and the Mamacuna. The latter contains fine Inca masonry in its entrance gate, a rarity on the coast.

When the Incas took over Pachacamac, they built the largest temple on the highest ground, which was the temple of the sun.  This temple was facing the sunset over the pacific ocean.  Most previous temples built faced the rising sun.  The temple of the sun was painted all in red using achiote which is the coloring  used these days for cheddar cheese.

View of the ocean from atop the temple of the sun

Ruins at the edge of the Pachacamac grounds with Lima on the edge of the Lurin Valley in the background

The temple of the moon was built by the Inca and was at a low spot in the temple complex.  It almost never rains in this area and most of the erosion is from wind.  This temple was the most well preserved as it was in low area and sand blew over it.  It has been restored but not rebuilt.

My lunch after getting back from the tour was at Mezze restaurant.

This is a kind of ceviche of sliced sea bass in three ways.  On the left is with rocoto chile, middle is plain lime juice and the one on the right is with aji chile.  Note the garnishes of poached sweet potato, cilantro and fresh corn

Later in the afternoon I called Yadilitta and she came over to cook at Kokopelli.  We walked down to the market and picked out our ingredients then took over the Kokopelli kitchen.

We got Yacon which is crunchy like jicama but a bit sweeter.  On the plate just above the yacon are some red/yellow potatoes and going around clockwise, -----which tastes a little like cucumber but is hollow inside with black square seeds, a roma tomato, tumba which is seedy like pomegranate and sour, cocona, and in the middle a passion fruit.  Next to the yacon is some andean cheese and a ------squash.

Prepping the food tumbo, passion fruit, aji chiles, the potatoes

Blanching the squash and corn

Yadilitta having fun!

All the ingredients are ready

Let's Cook!

The finished product

Time to enjoy!

After eating we went out to a (very)local music club for some traditional Música criolla which combines mainly African, Spanish and Andean influences.  It features Spanish guitars and the rhythm section is a box.

Around Lima

Today started with a run down to and along the beach.  It was already hot and humid at 7:30 am.   There were about a dozen and a half surfers out riding some decent waves.  After returning to Kokopelli Hostel, booking a tour of Pachacamac ruins tomorrow, and showering I headed out for breakfast.  Kokopelli has a kitchen where you can store food and cook your own meals, but a basic breakfast is included at a restaurant about three blocks away.  The restaurant is hard to find though, and I wasted about 30 minutes looking for it the first time I went. 

On my way there, Jessica from Canada, just passing through on her way to Bolivia, somehow identified me as a fellow Kokopelli traveler and asked me where the restaurant was. We had the basic breakfast of one fried-to-death egg, coffee, toast, a slice of bacon and two tomato slices.  Jessica is from Squamish, which is north of Vancouver B.C., on the way from Vancouver to Whistler B.C. where the winter olympics will be.  I visited Squamish when I was in B.C. a couple years ago on my way to Whisler with Wade and Pat Morrisey. 

Jessica from Canada in Cafe Z

                                            

Today, only my second day in Peru, was one of epic eating of Peruvian food.  After going to Museo Arqueologico Rafael Larco Herera, my friend Yadilitta picked me up for comida and a tour of Magdalena market.  Yadilitta is a friend I met on Travel Buddy, a web site to share travel adventures and meet up with other  travelers who will be in the same country at the same time as you.  Yadilitta is a "foodie", and the unofficial ambasador to Lima on Travel Buddie, who was introduced to me by another person on the site. 

Magdalena outdoor market

All of the chicken, beef, and whole fish in the market were in display without any refrigeration.  It was probably in the high 70's but seemed warmer because of the humidity.

Chicken heads and feet

Whole chicken with developing eggs

Mmmmm I'm hungry lets go eat!

After asking Yadilitta about some fruits I had heard of from the rainforest, we located one of two booths that specialized in rainforest food.  A lot of the rainforest fruits, like granadilla, camu camu, and cocona, are not good for much but making juice.  I ate a guanadilla, or rather peeled off some of the brittle outer skin, punched a hole in the pith, and sucked out the crunchy seeds which were suspended in a juicy gelatinous light grey semisweet flesh. 

They were selling yucca rellenos at the booth so we decided to try one along with cocona juice(l.) and camu camu juice(r.).  They were both incredible!  The cocona I can not even describe the flavor because it tastes like nothing else but the camu camu had a hint of watermelon.

After gathering a bag full of fruits and vegetables from the market we headed out to get some lunch.  The first place we stopped was La Paisana restaurant to get some tamales verdes that Yadilitta recommended as the best she had ever eaten.

 tamales made with fresh corn and cilantro 

Sitting right next to the kitchen, we got showered with fish juice when they started hacking up a large fish.  Let's go somewhere else and try some of Peru's national dishes, ceviche and causa!

Segundo Muelle restaurant

Causa is mashed potato, flavored with a little chile and lime then filled with different ingredients.  We had one with crab meat, avocado, and hard cooked eggs.

Mixed seafood and fish ceviche with

poached sweet potato and fresh corn.  This corn was a revelation, huge sweet kernels with a more starchy consistency Yummm!!

Drink Inca Kola!

The Rafael Larco Herrera Museum was incredible! 

 

The collection was started by Rafael Larco Herrera and became a passion of his son, Rafael Larco Hoyle, who became interested in the Moche civilization from the northern coast of Peru, who existed about 100A.D. to 800A.D.  The ceramics, pottery and metal work were exquisitely beautiful  and the story of their culture was extremely compelling to learn about.

This is what they wore into battle

Sacred symbolic sacrificial statue

Funerary Wrap

I am a bit peeved at you!  This one was actually for drinking sacraficial blood!

The handle spout is a popular design

In the evening Yadilitta and I went out to eat in the Barranco neighborhood.  It is an older neighborhood with many preserved colonial buildings which is also along the ocean south of Miraflores.  Many artists live in Barranco  and have galleries there.  We ate at Chala restaurant which didn't open till 8 pm.  Dinner is eaten later here. We started out with Pisco sours and   

Tequeños de Colca with Huacatay foam.  Huacatay is an herb with an amazing taste!

Tiradito de la Bajada

Cauche de Litoral - Fish stew

Dessert

The old Church in Barranco which was damaged in the 1949 earthquake.  A new one was built and this one is not in use

Arriving in Lima

Lima is located in the valleys of the Chillon, Rimac and Lurin rivers, on the west coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It was founded by Spanish Conquistaror Francisco Pizarro on January 18, 1535, as La Ciudad de los Reyes, or "The City of Kings." It became the most important city in the Spanish city in the Spanish Viceroyalty and was the headquarters for the Spanish Inquisition for two hundred years. Today around one-third of the Peruvian population lives in the metropolitan area which is over 8,000,000 people.

I am staying at Hostel Kokopelli in the Miraflores district of Lima which is an upscale district on the ocean.

The first place I visited today was the Plaza Mejor, formerly known as the Plaza de Armas. It was here that Pizarro dedicated the town and in the center of the plaza is a 17th-centruy bronze fountain.

The plaza is surrounded on one side by the palace of the Governors which is guarded by the military with rifles and there are even some armored tanks cruising around.

Palace of the Governors

Looking accross the plaza

On one side of the plaza is the cathedral, where the bones of Francisco Pizarro are entombed. Aparently, they thought they had buried his bones back in 1945 only to find a lead box in 1977 that had a skull in it with the inscription on the lid saying that it contained the skull of Francisco Pizarro. Next to the lead box lay a wooden crate of bones wrapped in velvet. His bones were verified by the different wounds he had recieved in battle while alive. So they re-buried his bones under the cathedral.

Tomb of Francisco Pizarro

Nave of Cathedral

These retablos are about 40 feet high

Another retablo in cathedral nave

The next place I went was the Basílica and Monestary de San Francisco de Lima, founded by the Franciscan monks and built in 1546. It was partially destroyed by an earthquake in 1746 and rebuilt. When I got there, there was a mass going on and a very long line outside for people to come in and venerate the crypt and some sacred relics of Saint Tomas.

This Moorish style church is spectacular with a lot of carved cedar wood everywhere, from the cloisters with many saints to the carved mudéjar (Moorish-style) ceilings overhead.

A breathtaking carved Moorish ceiling over a staircase is a reconstruction of the original from 1625. There is also a library of 25,000 books dating back to tthe 15th century with two beautiful spiral staircases going up the center of the room. Unfortunately, we couldn´t take pictures in the monastary area. 

After mass everyone gathered in the side area to get a blessing from the priest.   Nave with La Virgen de Candelaria, whose feast is a big celebration in Puno on Lake Titicaca February 2nd which is where I am going next.

The guided tour takes you through the monastary area, with beautifully carved saints and a series of portraits of the apostles by the studio of Francisco Zurbarán, the famed Spanish painter.

The most fascinating part of the visit is the descent into the catacombs, which were dug under the church, beginning in 1546, as a sacred burial ground for priests and lay persons alike. 25,000 bodies were burried under the church before the main cemetery was built. The bodies were piled five high and covered with limestone powder. The catacombs are at least three levels deep and nobody knows how extensive they are because many of the passages were sealed off, presumably because they became unsafe.

For lunch I went to Rincon que no conoces, the restaurant you've never heard of and this is what I had.   It is called tacu tacu a steak and a mixture of rice with refried beans and  other flavorings.  In the back you can see my drink which is called Chicha Morada.  It is mase by boiling purple corn with pineapple and orange skins then adding a little sugar.  It was very good and refreshing!