Peru, tierra de contradicciones...

Waving goodbye to Al at the bus terminal in Banos the other day made us realize that – despite the fact that in so many of the countries that we have visited on the trip we have been able to spend time with good friends and family – the next time that we will see a familiar face probably won´t be until we get to Uruguay. It made us realize that even though we still have many kilometers to go, we are getting closer all the time. Especially since we have crossed over into Peru we have felt that we are finally and officially in South America (although we still have to cross the entire Andes region to get there!). Even though there were many mountains involved, we drove from Banos to Cuenca in one day, winding our way down the “Devil’s Nose,” a really steep part of the mountains where people (gringos, to be precise) actually pay good money to ride down on the roof a train! We were quite high, and we were literally going through the clouds on many parts of this twisty turny drive where parts of the road were not in very good condition. It was night by the time we reached Cuenca, and we decided to head for the old city in the centre of town. Lucky thing that we did, because we found a very calm place to park ourselves, right in front of the police station, next to an Internet place and a great pizzeria! We got up early the next day (partly because we were in the police parking area!) and drove around the city, which is actually really nice because it is much more arts oriented than Quito. There is also a river crossing right through the city, and it is nice to see the old colonial houses beside the river and the people really using the boardwalk areas. We were at almost 3,000 metres above sea level which meant that is was a bit chilly so we decided to keep on driving to get to the coast that same day, which meant that we changed climates about four times in one day – from cold and overcast mountains, to fertile green cow pastures and valleys, to desert dry canyons, to rainy, jungle banana growing areas, to the sandy beach – all in one day. We stopped for lunch in Machala, known as the banana growing capital of Ecuador, and kept driving until the border town of Huasquillas. When we got there we followed the signs to the border. Much to our surprise, upon reaching the end of the road we discovered that the bridge to Peru was completely under construction and that there was no way to pass. After panicking for a few minutes, someone drove by and let us know that this is to be the future border crossing, and that the real border is actually in the middle of the town. Whew. The town seemed like something out of some weird movie, and the border was basically located in the middle of a chaotic market scene. We finally made it to the border and after dealing with some official beaurocracies (but still easier than border crossings in Central America!) we were finally and officially in Peru. We drove for a couple more hours – through mangroves and rice fields - and were in Mancora before it started to get dark. Al had recommended for us to stay in a place called “Sol y Mar” (located beside a party hostal called Loki who, by the way, rejected us because they do not even allow children on the premises!) so we parked in their lot beside the swimming pool and camped out for three nights. It was fairly warm in Mancora and is summer there all year round, so there were quite a few tourists there soaking in the rays and trying to catch some waves. We spent most of our time watching sunsets, watching the sea birds catch fish, and eating delicious cebiche for breakfast, lunch and dinner (I know, but in Peru it is supposed to be spelled with a b and not a v). The kids were having a great time drinking abundant amounts of the disgustingly golden-coloured Inka Cola until they realized that it is owned by the Coca Cola Company (what a disappointment!). On Thursday the sun went behind the clouds and we took it as a sign that it was time to head south once again. We made it to Chiclayo by nightfall, with the idea that we would find a place to park the westy and take a detour for a couple of days into the jungly mountains of Chachapoyas (the capital of the Amazon province). There are some really cool pre-Inca ruins nearby, a fortress of the Chachapoyas cloud warrior people called Kuelap, and the kids were very excited about going to visit them (they seemed to be really excited about a 12 hour overnight bus ride too, for some reason). Unfortunately when we got to the bus station we were informed that all buses to Chachapoyas had been cancelled that day because of indigenous protestors blocking the roads. We decided to stay overnight in Chiclayo and try again the next day, and so we found a reasonably priced hotel with hot water and internet and spent the night. We also found this great place to eat called Boom, which reminded us of a cross between the Café Coca Cola in Panama City and La Pasiva in Uruguay, that had the most delicious and gigantic mixed salads we have had on the trip so far! [short foodie aside: the best part about Peru is without a doubt the food. They have every fresh ingredient you can imagine, and they are not afraid to use lots of interesting flavours…a nice change since we have been getting kind of tired of plain chicken, rice and salad every day. We haven’t seen so many delicious and varied chilies since Mexico, and they have about 400 different kinds of potatoes and lots of kinds of corn as well]. The next day after breakfast we set off for the bus station to try our luck once more, but no go. It looks like the government has delayed passing some bill in favour of the indigenous people (surprise) and so the road blocks will continue for some time, so our trip to Kuelap has to be cancelled indefinitely (but anyone interested should look it up online). Instead, we decided to visit the Museum of the Royal Tombs of Sipan close to Chiclayo, a museum that houses all of the artifacts from a nearby Moche (pre-Inca) tomb site that was discovered in the 1980s (when it was being robbed of all its gold). We were pretty much frisked to make sure we didn’t try to take any pictures of the artifacts, but you might be able to find out about it on the internet ( I know there was a famous National Geographic article about it in the late 80s). They were able to repatriate some of the gold artifacts with the help of the FBI and international border controls, but much of it disappeared or was melted down and they only got 6% of it back! The entire coast of Peru is basically one big desert, so there are an amazing number of archeological sites (many of them still “undiscovered” as of yet) here. We were actually shocked at how much it looks like Egipt or something! We didn’t realize that it was so dry here, and the desert scenery has surprised us (thousands of kilometers of desert coastline….). That particular discovery meant that archeologists were able to learn a lot about the Moche culture, just from studying the way the tombs were organized and the contents of the tombs themselves. From what we have gathered so far, human and animal sacrifice was huge. After visiting that museum and marveling at the beautiful craftsmanship, and the tragedy of its loss (this is pretty much the only place in Peru where they actually have any pre-Colombian gold, as most of it was long ago looted and melted into “Spanish gold,” and any that was found more recently was also stolen….) we kept driving south toward Trujillo (which was founded by Pizarro in 1534, but that is another sad story in itself…). We made it to a gas station a few kilometers north of there and spent a rather restless night (it is the first time we felt a bit nervous about popping the top of the westy, so we just all squeezed in down below), despite the fact that we had a guardian owl perched up above us, and woke up to numerous birds chirping in the trees. Close to Trujillo we visited some well-known ruins called Chan Chan (which means sun sun) which was a huge adobe city in the middle of the desert. There are 20 square kilometers of ruins, but only a small fraction of it is set up for people to visit. One of the most impressive aspects of the place is the fresh water reserves, filled with ducks and plants, a system that is still used by desert-dwelling people to this day. After visiting the ruins we stopped for a seafood lunch in Trujillo and kept driving until late afternoon, when we discovered this wonderful little fishing village called Tortugas, just north of Casma and west of the Cordillera Blanca mountain range (several peaks of more than 6000 metres each!) This little village on a perfect bay was just what we were looking for, peaceful and quiet – it was the Peruvian version of Punta del Diablo! There are 25 families that live there all year round, and the rest of the houses are owned by wealthy people from Lima who only visit during summers and on long weekends. We met a couple of people who work taking care of houses there, but for the most part we were completely alone. The boys scraped some fresh mussels off of the rocks and after a simple pasta dinner, watching the sunset and pelican activities we went to bed early. In this town, the lights literally go out at 11 pm! The next morning we woke up to the sounds of Inca turns, pelicans and other sea birds fishing for their breakfasts. We reluctantly left Tortugas in the early afternoon, and after a quick oil change and another exhaust pipe weld we visited the Sechin ruins just outside of Casma, a small site that is much older than many of the others – 1600 BC! They had the most amazing carvings on the walls of the central temple, violent depictions of decapitations and eviscerations, people with blood gushing out of their wounds, etc - quite graphic! And they also have a more than thousand year old mummy that is disconcertingly well preserved – another young female victim (or lucky chosen one, depending on your point of view) of ritual sacrifice. At the door of the museum they have a hairless Peruvian dog, a species that has been keeping people here company for thousands of years. Very strange looking, but they are said to have healing properties because of their elevated body temperature and people use them to help cure arthritis and other ailments! Her name is “Cori Tika” which means Golden Flower in Quechua, and we have to admit that she is so ugly that she is actually kinda cute! When the Spanish arrived with their own breeds these hairless dogs all but died out completely, and the only ones that survived were the ones who lived in the most isolated areas. After visiting the ruins, we kept driving south through the desert, admiring the dune formations. From the Panamerican highway you can catch a glimpse of virgin beaches, completely empty and without even a road leading to them. Sand, dunes, rocks and garbage – that is virtually all we saw for thousands of kilometers of Peruvian coastline. Before nightfall we reached a sketchy city called Barranca, a couple of hours north of Lima. We decided to look for a hotel with safe parking, and went out for a late dinner of grilled chicken, fries and salad (another really yummy one!). One every table sat the ubiquitous bottle of Inka Cola, and we were the entertainment of the restaurant (as well as the street) – obviously not a lot of foreign tourists come to this city! From Barranca we tried to drive to some really famous and relatively newly discovered ruins called the lost city of Caral (a civlizaton as old as the ancient Chinese or Egyptian ones!) but the road was in terrible shape (and under construction) so we didn’t make it all the way there. The BBC did a special about it that is worth taking a look at online. A bit disappointed once again, we kept on driving, passing the city of Lima in a desperate rush because we could barely breathe due to the smog. On top of that, the drivers in Lima are ten times worse than the drivers in Ecuador so we were lucky to escape with our lives! That night we didn’t quite make it all the way to Pisco because by the time we reached a place called Chincha (known for being the home of this great Afro-Peruvian music) it was dark and the police stopped us because one of our headlights was not working. After asking around and being rejected y several hotels, we spent the night at a gas station (once again without popping the top). The next morning we reached Pisco relatively early and were amazed at the damage that had been done by an earthquake that virtually destroyed the town in 2007. Thousands of houses were destroyed, and although people are trying to rebuild they are still living in the rubble. The oldest buildings disappeared, including the cathedral which collapsed with 180 people inside of it, killing them all. Everyone that we talked to told similar stories of delayed (and in some cases a complete lack of) help from the government. Apparently the government even downplayed the strength of the quake to avoid having to invest too much money in rebuilding efforts. The only buildings that have been successfully rebuilt are banks and other private investments. More than one person commented to us that the Peruvian government has forgotten about them… As we said before, without a doubt the best thing about Peru is the food, but the worst thing is the injustice. This is a country full of contradictions. There is tangible poverty everywhere, at the same time there are amazing cultural, material riches. Oil, a giant coastline of fishermen, everything grows here – but the riches are so poorly distributed. There is a complete lack of infrastructure in all but the most touristy areas (and they are really touristy). Right beside brand new, three-story neon-lit casinos there are hospitals housed precariously in cargo containers. We have been through many, many poor countries on this trip, but Peru is by far the one where social injustice and complete lack of hope is most tangible. In general, people seem to be resigned to this way of living, not smiling or expecting very much. For thousands of years they have gotten used to the fat that the rich rob it all and that is just the way it is. They need a change of government and attitude urgently! From Pisco we went to the Paracas National Reserve, an amazing desert at the edge of the ocean, a beautiful combination of desert and sea. We bought some scallops from some fishermen at a small port in the park and Gustavo asked a woman who runs a restaurant if we could prepare them there. We spent the night beside the Visitor’s Centre of the park, watching the pink Chilean flamingos and looking at the starry sky. The next morning we got up really early so that we could go on a boat tour to the Ballestas Islands, some really cool rock formations some kilometers off shore where an amazing variety of birds and sea mammals congregate including sea lions, Humbolt penguins, Inca turns, and even some bottlenose dolphins! These islands are known as the “poor man’s Galapagos,” and we are glad that we got a chance to go. On the boat ride we also got to see a neat formation on the side of the Paracas rocks known as the Candelabra, which is probably dated from around the time of the Nazca and Paracas people which is meant to represent the San Pedro cactus (a sacred and hallucinogenic tool). There is another interpretation involving San Martin and some Masonic symbol, but I like the other one better….). Mateo even made friends with the tour guide who gave him a necklace with a fossilized shark tooth on it! After the boat ride (and some really bad cebiche in a tourist-oriented restaurant beside the boat socks) we headed for the Oasis of Huacachina, close to the city of Ica, which is a fresh water lagoon surrounded by palm trees and high sand dunes in the middle of the desert – it truly looks like something out of a film! For years it was a place where the well-to-do of Lima came to get away from it all, but now it is a place where international tourists come to go sandboarding and race around like maniacs in dune buggies. Ariel and Mateo have been spending lots of time going up and down the dunes (most time is spent going up, unfortunately). We are parked in the dunes beside Hostal Rocha which is run by a wonderful family with a small pool and some really neat talking parrots and a scarlet macaw who lives in the tree by the pool. Mateo has made friends with one particular parrot called “Chubby” who only lets Mateo touch him! He rides around all day on Mateo’s shoulder, mumbling like a crazy person. The first night we spent chatting (and drinking Pisco sours) with a really nice couple from France who are riding their bikes around Argentina, Bolivia and Peru, and since they are coming “up” and we are going “down,” we exchanged some useful information about places to visit and stay. Since then we have been meeting an assortment of travelers (including a couple from Germany/Holland traveling in their ’78 westy!) and Peruvians, and just generally relaxing a bit before getting on the move again. It is hard to find a place with fast internet connection in Peru, and our wireless on the laptop seems to be on the fritz, but we have been trying to update this blog for days! From here (if we ever leave!) we are going to leave the coast for good and go into the Cuzco and the Sacred Valley. We are planning to find the poor person’s route to Macchu Picchu (involving walking for hours along a defunct train track instead of spending big bucks on a train from Cusco) because even though it is going to be insanely touristy and expensive, we feel like we still have to go to Macchu Picchu. Then, we head toward Lake Titicaca and Bolivia, which is going to be both less touristy and less expensive.
Al final, acompaniar a Al a subirse al omnibus el otro dia nos hizo dar cuenta de que,-- en todo este viaje hemos estado de visita con gente querida y en intervalos regulares -- la proxima vez que vamos a ver una cara familiar sera cuando lleguemos a Uruguay! No se, hay algo en el aire aca en Peru que ya nos hace acordar mucho a Uruguay y nos hace sentir mucho mas cerca, aunque todavia nos falta bastante para llegar (cruzar todos los Andes, por ejemplo!). La manejada de Banios a Cuenca la hicimos en un dia, llegando de noche a Cuenca. Fue loquisimo, con muchas montanias y curvas, bajando por la “Nariz del Diablo” (donde los gringos pagan por bajarlo sentados en el techo del tren), con mucha neblina (o mas precisamente, nubes!) y en muchos lugares la Panamericana no esta en buen estado. Fue muy lindo, pero muy dificil de manejar. Cuando por fin llegamos a Cuenca nos dirigimos hacia la ciudad vieja que, por supuesto, es muy linda y tranquila. Alli encontramos una pizzeria rica con internet al lado, entonces nos quedamos estacionados para dormir, porque en frente estaba la seccional de policia. Al otro dia nos levantamos temprano (bueno, la verdad es que la policia nos hecho!) y salimos a conocer un poco la ciudad, que tiene un malecon muy pintoresco al lado del rio, y hay muchas casas coloniales. Es una ciudad mucho mas chica (y mas linda!) que Quito, sin lugar a duda. Hacia un poco de frio (estabamos a casi 2,600 metros de altura) y decidimos seguir camino hasta la frontera. Ese dia fue el mas loco e increible que hemos tenido en el sentido de cambiar climas dramaticamente – de casi 3,500 metros a la playa en un solo dia! Bajamos de la montania, pasamos por cerros verdes, unos caniones deserticos, y despues por selva donde llovia. Con muchos muchos bananeros en el camino, hasta terminar en la playa – todo eso en un solo dia! Paramos a comer algo al mediodia en Machala, la capital de la produccion de bananas del Ecuador, que esta a una hora de la frontera y donde hacia mucho calor! Cuando llegamos a Huasquillas (la frontera con Peru) seguimos los carteles para la frontera – pero cuando llegamos el puente estaba completamente roto, y no habia paso. Al otro lado de la construccion veiamos los carteles que decian “Bienvenidos a Peru,” pero no podiamos llegar! Entramos en poco de panico por un momento, hasta que paso una camioneta y nos contaron que esto va a ser la frontera nueva, y que todavia hay que pasar por el centro del pueblo para cruzar a Peru. Para cruzar tenes que meterte en la calle principal, que funciona como un mercado central (o tal vez solo fue ese dia) y fue medio caotico, pero al fin pasamos y despues de un rato estabamos en Peru! Fueron un par de horas mas manejando– por plantaciones de arroz y zonas de manglares - hasta llegar a Mancora, un pueblo de pescadores/surfistas donde siempre es verano. Despues de ser rechazados en el hostal mas conocido, Loki (pueden creer que no dejan entrar ninios!?), fuimos al hotel de al lado, que Al nos habia recomendado. “Sol y Mar” es mucho mas tranquilo y tiene una piscinita y nos estacionamos alli al lado de la playa por tres noches. Alli aprovechamos un poco de calorcito antes de entrar en las montainas de nuevo (con toda seguridad la proxima playa que vayamos a ver sera Punta del Diablo!). Desayunamos, almorzabamos y cenamos con cebiche (todavia hay una controversia gigante, pero en Peru los que saben lo escriben con “b” no con “v”), los nenes tomaron abundante Inka Cola (hasta que se dieron cuenta que es de la misma compania de la Coca Cola – que decepcion!) y miramos pelicanos y otras aves de mar volar por el Pacifico buscando peces. El jueves nos levantamos con un dia nublado y decidimos arrancar para el sur, pasando por unos desiertos medios extremos y crudos (en todo el viaje hasta ahora creo que no habiamos pasado por desierto todavia) hasta llegar a Chiclayo. La idea que teniamos era tomar un omnibus hasta la ciuadad de Chachapoyas, por la montania de nuevo, esta es la capital de la provincia de Amazonas, y alli cerca se encuentra un sitio arqueologico pre-Inca muy imporatnte llamado Kuelap. Como no hemos tenido muchas aventuras todavia, decidimos ir a visitarlas. Una ciudad bastante grande, lo primero que hizimos fue buscar la compania de onmibus que va hasta Chachapoyas – 12 horas! Pero cuando llegamos nos avisaron que los indigenas del Amazonas estaban haciendo bloqueos en las carreterras en todo el pais, asi que no saldria el bus (ese dia hasta cancelaron el tren que va a Machu Picchu!). Decepcionados, entramos a buscar un hotel porque no habia un lugar tranquilo para dormir en la camioneta. Nos dimos el lujo de un hotel medio bueno (pero igual barato) con tele, agua caliente e internet (asi nos pudimos mantener al tanto de la situaction en la carretera). Despues que Gustavo y los chicos miraron el partido de Nacional, salimos a comer algo en un restaurante llamado Boom, que nos hizo acordar a una mezcla entre el Café Coca Cola en Panama y La Pasiva en Uruguay! Alli comimos las ensaladas mas ricas y abundantes que hemos enctonrado en el viaje hasta ahora (ya era buena hora!). tambien probamos una humita de choclo, que aca son bastantes parecidas a las de Mexico, pero lo mas rico fue la papa a la Huancaina. Lo mejor de Peru hasta ahora – a parte del cebiche, que sirven acompaniado de pedazos de maiz, yuca, y batata dulce -es que comen con muchos chiles picantes distintos (desde Mexico que no encontramos tanta variadad) – aji amarillo, rocoto, habaneros, huacatay – a cual mas rico! Aca hay mas de 400 diferentes variedades de papa, y tambien muchas variedades de maiz. Sin duda, la comida de Peru es impresionate y super variada. Finalmente, despues de ir a la terminal de bus para aseguarnos, los omnibuses no salian – los bloqueos seguian: el gobierno postergo la decision de una ley a favor de los indigenas, y parece ser que la cosa esta mas que jodida – asi que no podemos contarles de lo bueno que esta la fortaleza Chachapoya de Kuelap…lo van a tener que buscar por internet. Volviendo de la estacion nos encontramos con otro Uruguayo que tiene un restaurante y nos sacamos una foto con el! Lo que si decidimos visitar fueron ruinas y museos en la costa norte, donde estan muy bien preservados en el desierto. Lo bueno con lo de los desiertos es que sobrevivieron bastantes restos de ruinas, momias, piramides y artefactos de oro y otros metales – como en Egipto! Por supuesto, que culturas pre colombinas, e incluso pre incaicas. Asi que fuimos a el museo de las Tumbas Reales de Sipan, cerca de Chiclayo. El sitio en si queda a unos kilometros al sur, pero trajeron todo lo que no se robaron al museo. No nos dejaron entrar con la camara, pero pueden ver fotos por internet porque es un lugar muy famoso, porque fue descubierto a fines de los anios 80, despues de que se dieron cuenta que habia mucha gente robando cosas de las tumbas! Con la ayuda del FBI y otros agencias internacionales, pudieron rescatar y repatriar algunos de los artefactos (el 6%) pero la mayoria del oro de este pais fue robado. Sin embargo, es el lugar donde hay mas oro todavia (los espanioles se llevaron – y fundieron - todo hace siglos) y las piezas son realmente inmpresionantes (imposible de imaginarse las piezas increibles que se fundieron y conviertieron en el oro que deambulo por Europa, y el resto del mundo ...) A parte pudieron apreder sobre la cultura Moche solo estudiando las tumbas y las ofrendas….por lo que vimos se trataba de muchos sacrificios – animales y humanos - para los dioses….Despues de visitar el museo seguimos para el sur, parando unos cuantos kilometros despues para dormir en un estacion de servicio sobre la querida Panamericana. El lugar parecia bien al principio, y hasta teniamos un buho de la buena suerte, pero despues de un rato comenzamos a sentirnos un poco incomodos, y fue la primera vez en el viaje que decidimos no levantar el techo de la camioneta, para no llamar mucho la atencion, asi que Mateo durmio con nosotros y Ari durmio en el piso. Nos levantamos bien temprano (por estar incomodos y por los pajaros que cantaban mucho) y arrancamos tempranito. Paramos cerca de Trujillo, para visitar otras ruinas conocidas, las de Chan-Chan (Sol Sol) que era una ciudad de adobe gigante en el medio del desierto. Son 20 km cuadrados de ruinas, pero solo una fraccion esta habilitada para visitas. Hay 25 pozos de agua dulce, oasis en el desierto, y es un sistema que sigue funcinando hasta ahora. Otra vez, muchos sacrificos y se nota que para estas culturas los pajaros y los peces eran simbolos muy importantes... Paramos a comer en Trujillo, y seguimos camino. Eran las 4 de la tarde cuando llegamos a un pueblito de pescadores en una bahia perfecta que se llama Tortugas – era Punta del Diablo version Peruana, pero mucho mas tranquilo. Hay 25 familias que viven alli todo el anio, y en los veranos y fines de semana largos llega gente de Lima a sus casas de playa. Por fin, encontramos un lugar que pudimos descansar de verdad – no habia nadie! Conocimos algunos guardianes de alli, y un par de mujeres del pueblo, pero no habia nadie mas. Solo nosotros, los pajaros, y las olas. Vimos el atardacer espectacular entre las dunas de arena, y los chicos sacaron mejillones de las rocas para cenar. Despues de las 11 de la noche las luces del pueblo se apagan (literalmente). Al otro dia nos levantamos con aves marinas, y hablamos con un doctor de Lima que pasa todos los fines de semana alli (con razon!). Justo le estaba visitando su ajihada, Veronica, y nos hicimos amigos mientras nos explicaba sobre las comidas de mar (el Papa es pescador en Casma ). Despues de un cambio de aceiete y una soldada de canio de escape rapido, seguimas para las ruinas de Sechin, mucho mas viejas, 1,600 antes de Cristo! Con grabados y simbolos muy violentos, pedazos de cuerpo descuartizados, tripas y sangre corriendo, y una momia de hace mas de mil anios (otra vez, una joven victima de sacrificio…) todo muy bien preservado. Alli tenian un perro sin pelo, perro peruviano, que son autonctonos y hace miles de anios estan acompaniando a la gente de estos lugares. Dicen que porque la tempuratura de su cuerpo es muy elevada, la gente con artiritis y reuma los usan para aliviar los dolores (con abrazos de perro pelado). La perra se llama “Cori Tika” que quiere decir Flor de Oro en Quechua, y hay que admitir que es tan fea, que es linda! Cuando llegaron los europeos estos perros casi se extinguieron, y los que sobrevivieron son solo los que vivian en pueblos mas aisaldos.
Nos cansamos de manejar en el desierto, aunque es tan hermoso y desolado que hasta duelen los sentidos. Hay playas completamente vacias que se ven desde la Panamericana, y no hay camino para llegar a ellas. Arena, dunas, rocas, y basura - es lo unico que se ve por kilometros y kilometros. Manejamos hacia el sur hasta llegar a una ciudad que se llama Barranca, media feucha, nos quedamos otra vez en un hotel con cochera porque no nos sentimos muy seguros. Comimos pollo a las brazas, con papas fritas y ensalada (barato y bien servido) y en cada mesa no faltaba la botella de Inka Cola dorada. Eramos el show del restaurant, tanto en la calle como adentro porque obviamente no llegan muchos turistas alli! De Barranca hicimos el esfuerzo para ir a unas ruinas muy importantes que se llaman Caral (una civilazion muy antigua que fue “descubierta” hace relativamente poco que desarrollo al mismo tiempo que las civilizaciones chinos y egipcias!) pero el camino estaba muy mal y no pudimos entrar. Desepcionados otra vez mas, seguimos para el sur, pasando por Lima rapidito y sin parar (mucha contaminacion y un trafico de locos!). Esa noche queriamos llegar hasta Pisco, pero cuando llegamos a una ciudad llamada Chincha nos paro la policia porque no nos funcionaba una de las luces! Entonces nos tuvimos que quedar alli, en una gasolinera (despues de ser rechazados por varios hostales que nos dijieron que no podiamos dormir en la camioneta) hasta la maniana que seguimos lo poco que faltaba para llegar a Pisco. Todavia era medio temprano cuando llegamos, y habia un desvio para entrar porque estan arreglando la calle. En Pisco parecia que habia caido un bomba, muy post-apocaliptico, y cuando entramos a preguntar la gente nos comento sobre el terremoto que ocurrio en el 2007. Pisco fue uno de los lugares mas afectados, y recien empiezan a reconstruirla (por supuesto, los bancos y otras emprezas privadas ya lo hicieron, pero la catedral – antigua, que se derrumbo con 180 personas adentro, todos muertos – todavia no esta y hacen las misas en un container de metal). El gobierno prometio un monton de ayuda (y llego mucha ayuda de otros paises, pero nadie sabe donde esta) y nada. Tambien la casa donde vivio San Martin, en su estadia por estos lados cayo. Mas de una persona con la que hablamos nos comento que el gobierno se olvido de Pisco. Sin lugar a duda es un lugar lleno de contradicciones. Hay muchisima pobreza tangible, al mismo tiempo que es un lugar con tanta riqueza, cultural y material pero muy, muy, mal distribuida. La falta de infrastructura es impresionante, y los unicos lugares que estan mas o menos cuidados son los lugares turisticos (y son sumamente turisticos). Al lado de casinos impresionantes hay hospitales precarios y asentamientos bien pobres. Creo que es uno de los lugares en que mas hemos notado las injusticias sociales y la falta de esperanza. La gente en general parece estar resignada, nosonrien mucho y ya no esperan nada. Estan acostumbrados a que los ricos se roben todo hace siglos y listo. Necesitan un cambio de gobierno y de mentalidad urgente! De Pisco nos fuimos para la Reserva Natural de Paracas, una peninsula donde el desierto se junta con el mar. Un paisaje impresionante. Alli vimos muchos pelicanos y flamencos chilenos, y tambien muchos fosiles. Compramos unas conchas habanicos a los pescadores – riquisimas! Nos quedamos a dormir en el parque, y al otro dia nos levantamos temprano para dar un paseo en lancha hasta las islas Ballestas; unas formaciones de rocas impresionantes en el mar donde viven abundantes aves, lobos marinos, y pinguinos! Algunos dicen que son las “Galapagos de los pobres,” y la verdad que valio la pena. Tambien desde la lancha se puede ver El Candelabro, un dibjuo en las rocas del que no se conoce el origen. Puede ser de los Paracas y la cultura Nazca, representando el Cactus San Pedro (halucinogeno) o, si no del tiempo de San Martin (un simbolo de los Masones?). Despues del paseo nos dirigimos hasta el Oasis de Huacachina, cerca de Ica, donde hay una luguna rodeada de palmeras lleno de pajaritos en el medio de un desierto – es una cosa de pelicula! Hace muchos anios era un lugar donde venia la gente de alcurnia de Lima a descansar, pero ahora mas que nada vienen extranjeros a tirarse por las dunas con snowboard. Ariel y Mateo pasaron todo el tiempo tirandose – la parte mas cansadora es subir con la tabla despues, pero es un buen ejercicio. Ahorita estamos estacionados al lado de un hostal (se llama Hostal Rocha!) de una familia re buena onda donde tienen una piscina, una guacamaya y varios papagayos que hablan y una de ellas especialmente, “Chubby,” se hizo muy amiga de Mateo y estan caminando juntos todo el tiempo. Una noche nos quedamos conversando y tomando Pisco Sours con una pareja de Francia que estan andando por Argentina, Bolivia y Peru en bicicletas y como vienen “en subida” ellos, nos dieron unos consejos utiles sobre lo que nos falta del viaje. Despues hemos conocido mucha gente, turistas y Peruanos, y estamos descansando un poco antes de arrancar de nuevo. Hasta encontramos una biblioteca preciosa, con muchos libros de historia, filosofia y literatura aca en Huacachina! De aca vamos a decir adios a la costa y entrar hacia hacia Cusco y el Valle Sagrado. Buscaremos la vuelta para ir a Machu Pichu a lo pobre si podemos (porque nos parece que hay que ir, por mas turistico que sea), y despues hacia Bolivia. Por lo que nos han contado, alli esta mas tranquilo y tenemos ganas de ir.