Peru and Bolivia 2005, part 2 (Lima)

After having a good night’s sleep, I started with sightseeing the next day. My main goal was to visit the Museum of the Nation (Museo de la Nation) which is situated in a modern, concrete building. I liked the museum very much. It displays the most important aspects of Peruvian archaeology: remains of the pre-Inca civilizations, as well as the artefacts made by the Inca. There are absolutely fantastic pottery pieces and it is clearly obvious that all the peoples who lived in this area were exceptionally skilful potters. In addition to items made of clay, there are also textiles, stone sculptures and stelas, as well as dead men’s heads mummified through drying out. This used to be done in south Peru where the desert climate suited this kind of ‘preserving’ of the heads. These are not sculls where only bones can be seen. No, no, there is skin and hair. It is also possible to see holes drilled through the middle of the forehead through which these ancient nations pulled ribbons, probably to handle the heads better. The heads were used as adornments and for magic purposes.

In addition to different archaeological objects, the museum also displays models of the most interesting sites in Peru – the Nazca site with its geoglyphs, reconstruction of a mural from the temple Huaca de la Luna, as well as a replica of the tomb of the so-called Lord of Sipan in order to show what it looked like when it was discovered and how it was organised. By the way, the discovery of this tomb is compared to the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamen in Egypt. The reason is that this is the only completely undisturbed and untouched tomb ever discovered in South America and it has provided archaeologists and historians with a myriad of interesting data and insights.

In the museum it is also possible to see samples of weapons used by the Inca. They were mostly made of stone, either as a ball that is placed into a broad textile ribbon, to be waved around the head and then released, or as a rock with a hole in the middle through which a wooden handle was placed and then used as a club. In any case, they proved to be very ineffective against the Spaniards in their metal armours. It is also possible to see samples of shells that were dived out of tropical waters and that were used as a currency. Gold and silver had no material value in terms of a means of payment, but were mostly used for making adornments and ritual objects.

At the end of my visit to the museum, I also went to its ethnographic section which I quite liked. There are numerous couples of dolls dressed in national costumes, male and female ones. There are many tribes and ethnic groups in Peru and they all have their typical traditional clothes which they regularly or at least occasionally wear, thus expressing their ethnic affiliation. One can see an exceptional wealth of colours and combinations and it is interesting that hats, or rather some form of headwear, are mandatory both for men and women.

In order to get to the museum and later return to Virginia’s restaurant, I used public transportation which consisted of mini-buses and vans of different sizes. However, no matter what their size, it was all small and tight for me, but I actually didn’t mind it at all and even enjoyed it as a part of the adventure linked to a stay in a foreign country with different habits and customs. As a side note, Lima is a huge city with over 9 million inhabitants which is more than 4 times the number of residents of my hometown and it takes quite some time to get from one end of the city to another.

In the evening, I went out with Virginia to the part of Lima called Barranco. It’s a traditional, bohemian quarter and there are lots of bars and cafes where artists gather. The houses mostly consist only of a ground floor and only here and there it is possible to see one or two upper floors. The state does not permit the demolition of the old and building of the new, so everything comes down to reconstruction and maintenance. The problem may occasionally be that a lot of the old owners do not necessarily have the money for the maintenance.

We first got to the Plaza Municipal, also known as Parque Municipal, and there we came across a parade. It is my impression that people all over Latin America do love those group events they organise in the streets. This is also where a carnival is organised every February and there are lots of events around it, in other words, lots of fiestas, dancing and celebration. But, these street parades can also be seen in other periods on different occasions. Everything is organised, with lots of music and choreographed dancing to the beat of the music. Here I saw my first parade of the kind. It was led by an orchestra with drums and trumpets, and then there was a lady who used a megaphone to address a bunch of kids with parents who followed her carrying some shining ornaments or whatever.

Walking around we came to the ocean or rather to the end of the elevation above the ocean where the houses are, but there was nothing to see there since it was already completely dark. Still, Virginia drew my attention to numerous restaurants that could be seen in the private houses located in that area. In order to fill their budgets, families open restaurants in their homes since it allows them to earn something extra. When I passed there it all seemed rather empty, but apparently it gets full during weekends. We also went to a local Bridge of Sighs (Puente de los Suspiros) which, unlike its Venetian namesake, is indeed linked to lovers and their sighs. It is a wooden rather simple bridge, but a bridge with a reputation.

Then we went to Miraflores, a very popular quarter full of tourists, new buildings, chain hotels and shopping malls. This part of the city is also situated on an elevation above the ocean, like Barranco, but there was more light here and I could see the waves of the mighty Pacific. We went to a cafe that was in the area, had a pisco sour each and chatted nicely which was quite feasible since the only background sound was provided by the ocean. I belong to the old school and don’t like cafes where I cannot hear myself think, let alone what people I’m sitting with are saying. When we left from there, we ran into a friend of Virginia with her husband and another friend, all of whom I logically saw for the first time in my life. Still, following the local customs, I hugged and kissed with all of them, although I didn’t exchange a word with any of them. I just smiled while they spoke with one another, but that type of greeting, which I find so cute and nice, is obviously a mandatory thing.

It was already the next day that I moved on, but in order to do that I had to learn some local customs. As a creature of habit, I expected to go to a central coach terminal and buy a ticket for the first coach that suited me. But, here it was not to be so. Namely, there are different coach companies and each one of them has its own terminal, so I first had to figure out who drove to the place I wanted to go and then I started calling them one by one to see the times and if they had seats available. I did find it a bit complicated, but I eventually managed. First I went to a nearby office of the given coach company in order to buy the ticket and then I went to their terminal that was a little farther away. In all of this, I encountered more customs that I found strange. When I bought the ticket I was asked for my passport and they also asked for it when I boarded the coach, although I did show them the ticket. Luckily, Virginia’s mom gave me a good piece of advice and I made a photocopy of my passport the first day and continued to show that copy for the rest of my trip. It was also highly unusual for me that one of the company’s employees stood by the entrance into the coach and filmed by a video camera all of us getting in. At first I felt quite uncomfortable, but over time I got used to it. It was all on account of security.

And the issue of security is quite problematic. For instance, Virginia advised me to keep all of my things that I carry into the coach with me on my lap. It happened to her that she placed her small backpack onto the floor by her seat, only later to find out that something was stolen from it. She also reminded me when we walked around to be very careful, as there are numerous highly skilful pickpockets. Even before heading to Peru, I read my guidebook including the part dealing with security. There I came across a rather unsettling story that sometimes robbers start to strangle their victim and when the latter passes out because of the lack of oxygen, they let the victim go and rob it blind. They have absolutely no intention of killing the person, just to make it faint. I must say that I didn’t have a slightest problem as far as my safety was concerned, but I was both very vigilant while on the street and quite nicely hugged my small backpack that I kept in front of me while taking a coach.

The coach left on time. From it I could nicely observe the horrific traffic jam that ruled the streets of Lima. There are a lot of vehicles and the traffic seems completely chaotic. The drivers, and especially pedestrians, really must be extremely careful all the time and continuously look around them. Also, the air was very polluted in those days and I could feel the strong stench coming from exhaust gases. There are many older models of vehicles and probably the quality of gasoline is dubious, but I have to admit that such quantity of pollution was probably additionally caused by the time of the year. During Lima’s winter, there are lots of clouds and mist, and the blue skies are a rare treat, while the atmospheric pressure keeps both these clouds and the exhaust gasses firmly above the city.

The coach I was in was in way a little out of date, but it was a typical inter-city type of coach, meaning that I had ample leg space. So, with my legs comfortably stretched and with my small backpack on my lap, I headed towards Nazca that was my next destination situated in the south of the country.