The trip that lit the fire of my ever-burning desire to travel: a World Challenge expedition to Peru in the summer of 2010. This month away, spent exploring city, jungle and village life, hiking across mountains, relaxing in hot springs and climbing a dormant volcano changed my life. Perhaps not in any profound, wishy-washy way, but ever since, I’ve always been looking forward to the next trip away, exploring the world and the people in it. To commemorate my beginnings, so to speak, I’ll be slowly releasing chapters from my diary of that month. The collection is also available in a bound book over at lulu.com or you can purchase it as an eBook pdf download. These posts of writings from years ago will be demarcated by writing in italics.

Yesterday we had a sixteen hour flight to Lima, the capital of Peru. The views from my window were often spectacular. None more so than as we entered the last leg of the flight, Houston to Lima. We had been drifting over the sea, far above the clouds for a few hours when a landmass scarred with valleys and glacial troughs emerged from the blue, like a rocky beach with the tide leaving limpets clinging to the mountains. Long shadows stretched away from the peaks, distorting the landscape like the gnarled skin of a crocodile.

Once at Lima we had pre-booked transport to the Inka Lodge. Close to midnight we hustled and bustled into the taxis and rushed off through a surprisingly busy Lima. The first thought was the run-down look of the whole place; very ad-hok constructions with little evidence of town planning. As a result the drivers were very aggressive, using the horn for anything from “hi” to “move!”

We appeared to travel all the way around Lima before heading inwards and rocketing down the thin and bumpy streets towards our destination.

Half in a daze, we arrived and shifted our bags inside. We were split up into our dorms with the six guys being cramped into a room with barely enough room for the beds let alone for us squeeze past.

The excitement of new surroundings threatened to impede our ability to fall asleep, but thankfully the beds were comfy enough to allow a rapid descent into unconsciousness. After a good night’s sleep we readied ourselves and headed off to town for breakfast. Founded in 1535, Lima has sprawled out among the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers, becoming a thriving metropolis rivalling Buenos Aires. It has been split in to 43 districts, and we were now walking through Miraflores, a district filled with gardens and parks and lined by pebbly beaches on its western flank. Ramshackle eateries and street-vendors crowded the streets around the main square, emitting strange smells and offering odd concoctions. We shied away, still not used to the place and vying on the side of caution over new foods. A small café off the main street served a range of American, Continental and European breakfasts; perfect. Here, we also planned the next few days.

A lively discussion of various activities and events going on in Lima ensued with everyone voicing their opinions as we settled the game plan. Eventually we decided on a day trip to an Incan temple nearby. We quickly seemed to head away from the central district as the buildings became quite low; akin to the slums of outer London with many run down shops intermingled with squat but quite amicable dwellings. According to the map we were now nearing our destination, but it certainly didn’t feel like it in such a suburban setting. Sure enough though, we turned on to a dead end with a small booth and tall gate at the end. Behind stood a pyramid twenty-three metres high made from what looked like small bricks of clay. It seemed so out of place in every way; its dusty, cream coloured exterior bulging haphazardly up above the scrawny housing scattered along the worn-out street.

Costing us only 10 Nuevo Sol each, we ventured inside. Attached to the ticket booth was a visitors centre housing artefacts from the site.

The Team in front of the Brick Pyramid

This was Huaca Pucllana, constructed in the Fifth century by the governing rulers of the time. They felt the need to express their religious authority, but also wanted control of the water canal system stemming from the left bank of the Rimac River. It became an important location for ceremonies and administration of the time. The modern day archaeological site covers four acres and has excavated two areas of Pucllana, the first being the pyramidal structure we first say, constructed in a terrace formation. This is where they worshiped their Gods, the pyramid serving to elevate the priests closer to the heavens. The second section was a series of walled off enclosures around the base of the mound that would once have been prime location for feasts and entertainment for the Lima people.

One of the first things that struck me was the apparent messiness with which the bricks had been laid with all of them at jaunty angles. We later found out that this was not at all because of incompetency, but instead quite the opposite: it was as protection against earthquakes that would shake the bricks violently. The ad hoc arrangement allowed a fluid movement and thus dispersed the destructive shockwaves and has meant that this sacred structure and many others alike are still standing today.

Not long after venturing inside we were confronted by a man speaking in excited English and offering our group a short tour of the archaeological site. He introduced himself as Alejandro which grew instant liking from our group as such an inherently Spanish name. We accepted and were soon following him amidst the walled enclosures at the base of the pyramid. He paused intermittently, describing the uses of a particular arrangement of bricks or the purpose of a certain enclosure. We passed through a bedroom and a kitchen, though to us it seemed more like an open courtyard, before ending up in a far larger area with a raised platform along one edge. This was, we were told, where they held the monthly celebrations, drawing people from all around the area to join in the festivities of numerous games, songs, dances, parades and no doubt copious amounts of luscious food. As we stood in this vast space, in the shadow of the main pyramid, I had vibrant images of exotic attire in a blur of thriving activity, with music sailing over the thrum of elated chatter.

As we were led us onwards around the base of the terraced mound we turned on to a side that looked hopelessly destroyed. Alejandro stopped us once more and explained a brief history of Huaca Pucllana. Just thirty years ago it was entirely like the side we were now in front of: a huge mound of loose scree that was used by local children as a playground. It is from this that it received its modern name, Huaca Pucllana, meaning “Sacred Place of Play” in Quechua, the local dialect. It was clear, however, that it was an ancient Inca temple and so archaeologists and historians fought for ownership of the plot and eventually, over the next fifteen years, it returned to the government and the long, slow process of excavation began.

The scree of the mound had come from the filler of the pyramid as not the whole construction was made of mud bricks, but just an outer wall two or three metres thick. The filler was made up of rocks and pebbles taken from the beach nearby. Over time, the weight of this inner scree had forced the wall outwards and spilt down the sides.

This mess had to be removed at a painstakingly slow rate by the modest team of archaeologists. This same team has also taken it upon themselves to restore the monument to its former glory but, to abide by international law, the restoration has to be done using modern techniques and a slightly different style, namely laying the bricks in an ordered, upright formation.

The site is still new and they are constantly working on it and finding new discoveries. Alejandro himself is one of the archaeologists working at the site, doubling up as a tour guide during the busier months of the year.

We trouped up to the summit of the mound to a clearing at the top situated in front of what was the sacrificial area. This was mainly used for animal sacrifices at the many festivals, but also, on special occasions, held host to human sacrifices. Also from the top we were given a superb panoramic view of Lima sprawling out in every direction. It seemed strange to have such an empty area of dirt amidst the busy streets of a capital city.

The tour was brought to a close with a brief visit to the on-site zoo that held a small number of iconic Peruvian animals including guinea pigs and llamas. Whilst Alejandro gave us a brief overview of the gourmet of the Inca we were visited by his companion, a Peruvian Hairless Dog that came initially as quite a shock as an almost ugly creature. It soon became clear that it had a friendly and playful soul that was only enhanced by a quirky mohican and small tufts of hair down its back and on the tips of its ears.

As first impressions go, Lima fared well. With its hectic roads and constant thrum of activity it was much like any other city, but it also held on to its rich cultural history through sites like Huaca Pucllana and even with its prized hairless dog. It had kept us busy for the day and promised to do the same tomorrow, but first we needed to recover and so we retired to our hostel after a brief meal in the centre of Miraflores.

Saying Hello to the Resident Llama