Last weekend we took a field trip down to Pachacamac, a site/tourist attraction to the south of Lima. I’m very familiar with the site: we had a tour there in 2004 and on my second trip I worked there with some of the radiologists. This time I took the students back for a quick view of the site.
Pachacamac was a ceremonial site for the local groups which grew in prominence as an oracle center. Peoples from far off areas of the Andes would make pilgrimages there to hear spiritual advice and make offerings to the powerful dieties who inhabited it. When the Inca arrived, they built their own gigantic temple near the structures already there, putting their stamp on the local religion. The Pachacamac diety was embodied by a carved wooden pole, the “staff god.” When the Spanish sacked Pachacamac, Pizarro’s brother broke it apart.
Today what remains of the site are several pyramids, and many remnants of walls and floors. There are always active archaeological digs going on on the premises to learn more about the various people who lived there. The area is also pretty big. While the tour can be done on foot, it is far more convenient to hop in a vehicle and go from structure to structure.
{A pick-up motorcycle, or something. Luckily, this was not our ride in Pachacamac.}
We had arrived in a hired cab driven by Sandros, whom Bob has worked with for several years (I’m a bit hazy on their history). He is really nice and friendly to us even though we’re a bunch of loud kids and he’s in his cab all day. We went through the small onsite museum and then got in our cab. Our first stop was the Mamacuña, a structure which housed women removed from society in order to produce textiles and beer for the Inca royalty. They were also given to local lords as concubines like a type of reward. This is the most-restored of the Pachacamac structures, though it’s a work in progress so we weren’t allowed to enter (with some official help we did go inside during the previous field season though).
{The restored Mamacuña}
We then went to the Inca Templo del Sol. It has restored steps so one could climb up and admire the view of the ocean and some islands. A dog greeted us at the pyramid. It seemed to latch on to our group, walking just ahead of us as if leading us through the ruins. Surprisingly, it kept us on the path, going as any group of tourists would. If we lingered to take photos, the dog would go out ahead and look back at us, waiting. We joked that we should give it a treat since we were supposed to tip tour guides. At one point, it broke off from our group and ran up to the security guard at the pyramid for some attention before coming back to us. We were sad to see it go as we drove off in our cab to the next site, but I was adamant about not taking any dogs with us.
{The bestest guide dog ever. Yes he is!}
We left Pachacamac and went to a nearby restaurant, where I had eaten every day when I worked there. It’s a higher class place and I ordered before seeing the menu so I didn’t know what the prices were (I asked the waitress what the daily specials were). I ordered an arroz con mariscos, which was rice covered in all kinds of seafood, from clams to shrimp to even jellyfish and sea snails. When I got it, it was gigantic. On the plate was a whole hardboiled egg and a small lobster! When I got the bill I found out that my plate was 40 soles ($12.70 or so). Our individual lunch budget was 9 soles. Oops! Well since Bob wasn’t there I was the boss so I pardoned myself. Besides, that was the best arroz con mariscos I’ve had here.
Our next and last stop before returning was San Bartolo, a local surfing town. Since it is winter here, the town is pretty much closed up. But, we went for the archaeology! Well, sort of. The town sits on a giant shell midden which was made when prehistoric people dumped their seafood trash over thousands of years. Now, the ground is sedimentary rock overlaid by topsoil-like substrate with shells and bones embedded within. That’s interesting as it is, but when I climbed a hill overlooking the ocean, we found that the view was far cooler.
{A huge-tastic view of San Bartolo.}
We spent a lot of time there watching the waves, climbing rocks, and looking at crabs as they skittered around. After that, we went home to grungy old Lima. But is Lima so bad? That’s the topic of my next big post.