Lima, Peru Day 1
Port of Callao
This is the start of two wonderful and exhausting days in Lima. If Santiago is striving to be New York then Lima is striving to be Miami. If Santiago is a city of two cities, Lima is a city of a hundred cities (actually 44 cities each with its own mayor and taxation all within the metroplex of larger Lima). And then there is Callao, a separate metroplex adjacent to Lima, which is home to the cruise and air ports.
The skies are overcast as I enjoy room-service breakfast, but the sun has come out and the temperature has started to rise by the time the tour bus leaves the port at 9:30. This tour, “An Archaeological Day in Lima,” is a poor substitute for not visiting Machu Picchu, but on its own merits provides a most interesting day. We drive through a series of lower- and increasingly-middle-class neighborhoods to reach the National Archaeological Museum in the Barrio Luis, east of the colonial center. Although parts of the museum are under repair and reconstruction, the parts that are open—all surrounding a lovely inner courtyard with flowering trees—provide an excellent overview of pre-Columbian and pre-Incan Peru. The pottery collection, arranged chronologically and well-explained by our guide, is astonishing. North Americans put so much emphasis on Inca culture, that we often forget that there is almost 2,000 years of tribal history before the Spaniards destroyed the Incas and ended pre-Columbian history. The pottery examples grow in beauty and complexity over the centuries during which these people are doomed to extinction.
We next drive through the San Isidro and Miraflores areas—two neighborhoods that have long been middle-class but are now stretching the financial means of even the upper-middle classes.This is the Lima of fine restaurants, expensive boutiques, Western hotel chains, and high-rise condos.Buildings here are not as high as in Santiago, because the soil structure is weaker and the threat of earthquakes and tsunamis is very real (also why there is no Metro/subway here as in Santiago).
Miraflores and San Isidro are also home to two important pre-Inca monuments.The HuacaHuallmarca is a highly restored pyramid built around 500AD.Originally designed as a governmental place (Huaca), the structure later became a large funerary site, with thousands buried under the soil.From the top (reached by dirt ramp) the visitor can see examples of the funeral practices of old combined with views of the spectacular architecture of the new Miraflores area.The HuacaPucllana was built about 100 years after the Huallmarca and containsmore parts that are original—as well as very fancy restaurant overlooking the ruins.
It’s then a one-hour bus ride back to the ship in Callao and a restful afternoon before dinner.
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