This lovely colonial city retains much of its original charm with elegant mansions lining the streets. As we boarded our bus for a long drive to our first stop we were told that we would be taking the Pan American Highway (U.S. Highway 1) which connects Alaska to the north, through the western U.S. and through South America all the way down to Chile/Argentina. This is certainly a busting little area. There are taxis everywhere. Our guide told us that one of the main ways people generate income is to use their cars as taxis. Evidently, it is very easy to get a taxi license in Peru.
I noticed that there was a considerable amount of construction but nothing seemed to be completed. Our guide told me that taxes are based on the completed living space in a home. Consequently, many families build a first and second floor but leave only outside walls and windows on the top floor - no roof or other finishes. That way they are not responsible for taxes on that area. At some point in the future they may finish the third floor construction when they need extra space and can afford the taxes.
We arrived at our first stop, the ancient city of Chan Chan, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the largest clay city in pre-Hispanic America. Excavations continue here but already an enormous compound has been uncovered. First, we entered the outer ceremonial square which was built for the poor, or common, people. As we walked further into the interior squares we reached the area set aside for more distinguished people, and finally reached the place where royalty only was allowed.
Animal and human sacrifices were common events for the ancient people here. Since it was considered a great honor to serve as a sacrifice for the gods, many high profile families, as well as royalty, gladly offered their young daughters, usually 15-25 years old as a sacrifice. It is believed that the girls were given something to drink (similar to ecstasy) before the ceremony so they wouldn't feel the pain. Offering oneself was seen as an honor, not a punishment, so the sacrifice was made to feel as comfortable as possible before she was killed. It was critical to rulers that their subjects believed that their rulers were the sons of the gods. So, rulers would consult with astrologists to study the stars so they could predict weather and convince their subjects that they were divine, thus maintaining their positions of complete obedience.
There were many battles during this time and Chan Chan suffered substantial casualties. There was a Shaman who served the town and when a soldier killed an invader the Shaman would cut off the head of the invader, sew closed all of the orifices of the head and present it as a trophy to the soldier who killed him. It was believed that the spirit and strength of the slain invader would remain with the soldier. In 1533 the Spanish explorer Francisco Pizarro came to Chan Chan looking for the "gold god." When he discovered there was no gold in this area he killed everyone who lived there and the site was abandoned. Numerous funerary bundles were discovered in Chan Chan. People were buried in the fetal position, wrapped in luxurious textiles, and accompanied by colorful symbols of the culture. We saw representations of spiders throughout the compound, which was viewed as the symbol of death.
Our final stop was to see the Temple of the Dragon, or "Huaca Dragon," a 1,100 year old adobe pyramid temple. There wasn't much to see here except for a lovely unobstructed view from the top of the ruins. It was initially given the name "Temple of the Dragons" in 1845 by an American archeologist because there were many carvings of dragons on the outside wall. However, it was renamed "Temple of the Rainbows" which is more in keeping with the local culture and the time it was built. The rainbow is a symbol of blessing and was viewed as a message from the upper world.
As we drove back to the port I noticed that they have nice sandy beaches here which is not true for many beaches we have seen so far. We were told that surfing and other water sports are popular in this area. There were large empty fields with small brush and trees. Mountains formed the backdrop for our ride. Houses were quite square with little adornment and many fields were unattended. This area is not terribly clean and there does not seem to be the pride of ownership we saw in Ecuador. The last major earthquake, a magnitude of 7.9, was in 2007. Many buildings were destroyed and the effects are still clearly evident.
We asked our guide if there is a current problem with terrorism here. He told us that in the 1980's communist terrorists killed many country people, particularly farmers, so many of the remaining country people fled to the city, leaving everything behind. It was a time of high inflation and the economy was extremely depressed. Thankfully, terrorism is no longer an issue. There is minimal crime in this area. Even the firefighters are a volunteer department.
We returned to the ship tired from climbing around among the ruins all day but feeling like we have a much better understanding of the past and current culture of this area. Next, it's on to Lima where we will spend a couple of days.
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