- Woke up at 8:30 am and checked out this breakfast place called Manolo´s recommended by the locals. Their pastries looked amazing. I ordered a chocolate con churros and hot tea - nice start for the day.
- Took a bus to Huaca Pucllana and met up Sandy, a German gal from the hostel, at the entrance. In a nutshell, the Pucllana was an important ceremonial and administrative center by the Lima Culture from 200 to 700 AD. After the arrival of a new empire, the huaca (sacred place) was abandoned and used for dumping grounds until it was recently uncovered (in Year 1981)and restored for archaeological purpose. I am always amazed by how people in the ancient times construct buildings/temples without the modern technology and equipment - The pyramid and walls of the administrative complex are an engineering
marvel in themselves. The site was built using handmade mud bricks
which were then dried in the sun. No molds were used in the making of
bricks, and these bricks were then stacked in
library book fashion with small spaces between them to
absorb shocks from the many earthquakes felt in this area (exactly the expansion joints/control joints we are using nowadays) The technique used by Lima Culture is significantly different than that by Inca tribes, but it worked just as great. One of the interesting ceremonies performed on the plazas was the
pottery breaking ritual. The people would spend great amounts of time
making large vessels and decorating them with symbols from the sea (mainly harks). Then in an act of devotion they would break the large
vessels with a stone and symbolically sacrifice their labor to the gods. Apparently some things are made to be broken. There is also a small museum on the site containing artifacts found
during excavations of the site. It is estimated that it will take
another 15 to 20 years to finish excavations and restorations to the
site.
- Rushed to a restaurant (Sandy's criteria: with TV) in time for the 2nd half of German vs Spain game (World Cup). Sandy was heart-broken. While eating, I heard a knock at the window and saw this guy on his bike with a big smile - I met Mike on my flight from LA to Lima and he was surprised I was not in Bolivia (so was I!). This is a small small world.
- We walked along the cliff of Chorillos overlooking the Pacific Ocean all the way back to our hostel. We passed by countless parks and one that stood out was the ´Love Park´ (El Parque del Amor). ´Love Park´ was opened in 93´on Valentine´s Day. It featured a monumental statue of two
lovers embracing each other in the center of the park and was surrounded by walls of
romantic quotes scripted in mosaic tiles. We did see tons of couples snuggling against each other, but not sure it was specific to ´Love Park´. Anyyways, we also passed through a small park where the nearby residents were walking their cute dogs. Deep down, I knew the smart thing to do would be to stay away from dogs (no rabies shot), but just can´t resist the cute pomeranians .. and they were twins. Forced them to pose and took tons and tons of pics.
- Befriended Felipe at the hostel. He is from Colombia, and has been in Peru for a month working on his thesis paper. His major is a combination of Fine Arts and Private Investigation. (Totally unheard of!) He spent most of his time researching in libraries, checking out fake passports/bills at shady alleys and interviewing cops on how to identify fake documents. His next project/goal is to visit the Galapagos Islands studied by Charles Darwin (which observations contributed to his theory of evolution) and come up with a modern-day interpretation.
