We spent our last day in Mira Flores at Huaca Pucllana which is an ancient burial and sacrificial site about 1600 years old and built in the time of the Wari Empire (the clever little sods that turned up just before the Incas.) The photos generally speak for themselves but we did manage to get an archeologist working on the site to give us a guided tour. The site was lead by women and the priestesses had painted the walls yellow to show thier feminity over the males (Daniel didn't like that bit).
Once the Wari tribe vanished, the site, built much like a flat pyramid, eroded and became covered in dust, sand and soil. When the Inca's arrived in Peru they did not realise the "mound" would actually serve well as a small town underneath the dirt! For a race of intelligent men, famous for their ingenuity and hiding their own cities out of sight of others, not so good at the exploring! Yesterday morning we managed to scramble into the back of a hailed cab to make our way down to the capital. Needless to say the journey was eventful and fast! The driver insisted on us wearing our seatbelts and within 5 minutes I knew exactly why. No indicators, no wingmirrors, no fear! He did get us there safely though and we checked into a rather nice hotel very near to the Main Square in Lima. We headed out into the city visiting beautiful palaces and government buildings. The older, more traditional structures were very vibrant and painted bright yellow...I reminded Daniel of what that meant! We spent the afternoon at the San Fransisco Convent (the Convent of Saint Francis) and the old Lima catacombs. The convent is now home to 35 cardinals and we had the pleasure of listening to them play "soccer" in what must be the holiest football pitch ever! We saw the Fransiscan library, the oldest library in South America, and I managed to catch a rather humbled glimpse at the first spanish translation of the Bible. The catacombs, a maze of tunnels and chambers directly beneath the convent house the bones of over 25,000 people who were buried there over 150 years. Tonight we dine in the Main Square with some of the guys staying at the hotel with us. Tomorrow we head for Paracas and a little further south to see the Nazca lines. Thought of the Day: Poverty is the mother of improvisation. Nevertheless, an empty baked bean tin and a comb is not a musical instrument!