Lima, Peru
January 22-23, 2007
In an effort to avoid Peruvian military maneuvers the ship docked very early in Callao (pronounced Ki-yow) Peru. Greeting us was a wide array of vendors who had pitched their small tents in hopes of selling their wares. H. Stern, the fancy jeweler, was there, as well, offering a free shuttle ride into Lima via their main store located in Miraflores at the JW Marriott…smart marketers!
I booked my day with a full-day excursion that began at the National Museum of Anthropology & Archaeology. Having visited the museum several years before, it was fun to see the impressive display of pre-Inca artifacts once more. Apparently there was no written language in that culture. Not to worry, history was recorded through hundreds…thousands of water jugs that depicted every facet of life. These jugs, usually with a “ring” handle captured, in clay, the everyday lives of the common man including the clothes, the religious rites, even the sexual adventures. What an inspiration to start working in ceramics. Equally fascinating was the “knotting”…not sure what it is called, but it was basically a calendar or diary consisting a series of strings with various knots that recorded the history of a village. It is unfortunate that the art has been lost and but fascinating that human could recorded their history in such a unique manner.
This coastal region of Peru is a dessert in the truest since of the word. It just never rains here. Only days before we arrived on the 5th of January it had rained. Big deal!? Yes….the last time it rained in Lima was 27 years ago! Amazing!
As we made our way toward the ruined city of Pachacamac (pronounced “patch-a-cam-a”) we passed large sand dunes with absolutely no vegetation….and tons and tons of shanty towns. Poor poor people living in “settlements” that they have constructed out of plywood, cardboard, paper and whatever they can find. With no running water and only occasional electricity, it is a miserable way of life for many of the seven to eight million people that call Lima home.
As we learned about the temples at Pachacamac dedicated to the ancient gods of the Sun and the Moon, and saw examples of the sophisticated irrigation and reservoir system of these ingenious early people…at the same time seeing yet another of the shanty towns that border the ruins, I couldn’t help but wonder what went wrong that would allow people in our own time to live in such unbelievable conditions today.
Leaving the ruins we proceeded to the Hacienda Tres Canas where we enjoyed a delicious buffet luncheon that featured many “typical” Peruvian delicacies. After lunch, our host, a handsome Peruvian man of forty-something, of German heritage with the bluest eyes of anyone I have ever seen!!!....showed us a small portion of his family’s collection, (the largest in the world he claimed!) of Peruvian tack. Although I know nothing about horses, the display was memorable and impressive. We were then treated to a magical demonstration of the Peruvian Paso horse….what beautiful animals. These horses, unlike all others, he explained, walk in a gate of one leg at a time in a one, two, three, four rhythm. Simultaneously they kick out their front legs in a kind of circular motion. The resulting ride is smooth and apparently very comfortable. The hacienda exports these horses to the States if anyone is interested!
On my second day in Lima I took advantage of the H. Stern shuttle and went downtown. The concept of traffic lanes, stop signs, and general rules of automobile safety is something that has seemingly been overlooked in Lima Peru. By simply not looking I was able to somewhat relax as we came close to at least a hundred crashes on our twenty minute ride. Once in the city, I decided to explore…walking around and enjoying the colorful buildings and character-filled cities. Not speaking Spanish, I “enjoyed” a rather ill-fated taxi ride with a very pleasant and patient driver. He finally delivered me back to the Anthropology Museum of the day before...not the museum I was looking for. However, in one of the guide books I remembered that there was a “blue line” painted on the street between three different museums…I knew that my current location was in the middle of the three facilities, so I decided to venture out and follow the blue line to the next museum, hoping all along that I had chosen the correct direction….I was looking for the Larco Herrera Museum….the home of one of the world’s largest private collection collections of pre-Columbian art. I just acted like I belonged on those streets…although all the barricaded homes…the barbed wire…the spiked fences, the rifle-toting private guards occasionally made me think …”Maybe I shouldn’t be here!?” Undaunted, I proceeded. .Twice I realized that I had “lost” the blue line and had to retrace my steps. Eventually, in the mid-day hot and humid sun, I found it!
Founded in 1926 in an old mansion built in 1707, the Archaeological Museum of Rafael Larco Herrera features ceramic, gold, stone, wood and textiles of pre-Hispanic cultures, especially the Peruvian northern cultures. Of particular note is the special rooms dedicated to erotica…yes! Erotica…Hundreds of water jugs like we had seen the day before that depicted everyday life were featured in this special exhibit…only this time these water jugs explicitly recorded the sex lives of these people. Phew! Nothing was left to the imagination…and seeing this exhibit certainly proved that there is nothing new under the sun when it comes to human sexuality. When in Lima…don’t miss it!
A negotiated taxi ride got me back to the ship in plenty of time for sailing…although apparently two people didn’t make it…wonder if and when we will see them????
Now I am in the midst of four “at sea” days as we make our way to Easter Island…the land of the Moai Statues…I can’t wait to see them!
January 22-23, 2007
In an effort to avoid Peruvian military maneuvers the ship docked very early in Callao (pronounced Ki-yow) Peru. Greeting us was a wide array of vendors who had pitched their small tents in hopes of selling their wares. H. Stern, the fancy jeweler, was there, as well, offering a free shuttle ride into Lima via their main store located in Miraflores at the JW Marriott…smart marketers!
I booked my day with a full-day excursion that began at the National Museum of Anthropology & Archaeology. Having visited the museum several years before, it was fun to see the impressive display of pre-Inca artifacts once more. Apparently there was no written language in that culture. Not to worry, history was recorded through hundreds…thousands of water jugs that depicted every facet of life. These jugs, usually with a “ring” handle captured, in clay, the everyday lives of the common man including the clothes, the religious rites, even the sexual adventures. What an inspiration to start working in ceramics. Equally fascinating was the “knotting”…not sure what it is called, but it was basically a calendar or diary consisting a series of strings with various knots that recorded the history of a village. It is unfortunate that the art has been lost and but fascinating that human could recorded their history in such a unique manner.
This coastal region of Peru is a dessert in the truest since of the word. It just never rains here. Only days before we arrived on the 5th of January it had rained. Big deal!? Yes….the last time it rained in Lima was 27 years ago! Amazing!
As we made our way toward the ruined city of Pachacamac (pronounced “patch-a-cam-a”) we passed large sand dunes with absolutely no vegetation….and tons and tons of shanty towns. Poor poor people living in “settlements” that they have constructed out of plywood, cardboard, paper and whatever they can find. With no running water and only occasional electricity, it is a miserable way of life for many of the seven to eight million people that call Lima home.
As we learned about the temples at Pachacamac dedicated to the ancient gods of the Sun and the Moon, and saw examples of the sophisticated irrigation and reservoir system of these ingenious early people…at the same time seeing yet another of the shanty towns that border the ruins, I couldn’t help but wonder what went wrong that would allow people in our own time to live in such unbelievable conditions today.
Leaving the ruins we proceeded to the Hacienda Tres Canas where we enjoyed a delicious buffet luncheon that featured many “typical” Peruvian delicacies. After lunch, our host, a handsome Peruvian man of forty-something, of German heritage with the bluest eyes of anyone I have ever seen!!!....showed us a small portion of his family’s collection, (the largest in the world he claimed!) of Peruvian tack. Although I know nothing about horses, the display was memorable and impressive. We were then treated to a magical demonstration of the Peruvian Paso horse….what beautiful animals. These horses, unlike all others, he explained, walk in a gate of one leg at a time in a one, two, three, four rhythm. Simultaneously they kick out their front legs in a kind of circular motion. The resulting ride is smooth and apparently very comfortable. The hacienda exports these horses to the States if anyone is interested!
On my second day in Lima I took advantage of the H. Stern shuttle and went downtown. The concept of traffic lanes, stop signs, and general rules of automobile safety is something that has seemingly been overlooked in Lima Peru. By simply not looking I was able to somewhat relax as we came close to at least a hundred crashes on our twenty minute ride. Once in the city, I decided to explore…walking around and enjoying the colorful buildings and character-filled cities. Not speaking Spanish, I “enjoyed” a rather ill-fated taxi ride with a very pleasant and patient driver. He finally delivered me back to the Anthropology Museum of the day before...not the museum I was looking for. However, in one of the guide books I remembered that there was a “blue line” painted on the street between three different museums…I knew that my current location was in the middle of the three facilities, so I decided to venture out and follow the blue line to the next museum, hoping all along that I had chosen the correct direction….I was looking for the Larco Herrera Museum….the home of one of the world’s largest private collection collections of pre-Columbian art. I just acted like I belonged on those streets…although all the barricaded homes…the barbed wire…the spiked fences, the rifle-toting private guards occasionally made me think …”Maybe I shouldn’t be here!?” Undaunted, I proceeded. .Twice I realized that I had “lost” the blue line and had to retrace my steps. Eventually, in the mid-day hot and humid sun, I found it!
Founded in 1926 in an old mansion built in 1707, the Archaeological Museum of Rafael Larco Herrera features ceramic, gold, stone, wood and textiles of pre-Hispanic cultures, especially the Peruvian northern cultures. Of particular note is the special rooms dedicated to erotica…yes! Erotica…Hundreds of water jugs like we had seen the day before that depicted everyday life were featured in this special exhibit…only this time these water jugs explicitly recorded the sex lives of these people. Phew! Nothing was left to the imagination…and seeing this exhibit certainly proved that there is nothing new under the sun when it comes to human sexuality. When in Lima…don’t miss it!
A negotiated taxi ride got me back to the ship in plenty of time for sailing…although apparently two people didn’t make it…wonder if and when we will see them????
Now I am in the midst of four “at sea” days as we make our way to Easter Island…the land of the Moai Statues…I can’t wait to see them!
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