2012 AND MY IDYLLIC DAYS COME CRASHING DOWN- GUESS WHY?
The early years of our retirement seem to spin away as whirlwinds into a storm. In many ways, there is still a lot to write about in those years 2006 to 2012. It’s just that Ol’ JimboRed’s brain is having a struggle in sorting those times, into memorable events. I’m not joking around, either! We had many great adventures, during those early years, and one day I will come back to them. I bet you can’t wait, huh? For now though, I will skip ahead to January of the year 2012. Ol’ Bubbaloo decides it is now time for Jimbored to get off his butt and take her someplace. I don’t remember it being so much of a question, as it was a direct command. Kinda like, “I bought some tickets, pack your gear, we are going away!” I guess she just plain forgot that I was now a “non-traveller”!
I can remember being slightly irritated that I had not been consulted. Geezus, where was our club “MAA” (Men Against Abuse), when I needed them most? Most of them were hiding out and not saying shit about my situation. That because, a lot of them were married to Peruvians and didn’t want their asses kicked for trying to defend manhood. So, one fine day in January 2012, my butt was once again on an airplane. I can just hear you screaming out, “Where To”? Anybody that took a wild guess and came up with Peru, would be correct. This time the occasion was the christening of Bubbaloo’s nephew’s (Coco) and niece’s (Reggie) twins, A-ron and L-ra. The little devils were now about 4 or 5 years old and ready to be recruited by the Catholic Church. The 3 of us (me,L, & A) could hardly wait!
As usual on our trips to Bubba’s homeland, we made the inevitable stop in Lima. Over the years, Lima had become one of my favorite cities in the world. It was huge, cosmopolitan, and yet, steeped in history. Close to Lima was the place where the cursed Spanish landed 500 years earlier, before proceeding to plunder and pillage their way through the riches of the Inca. Oh, that part of Lima always sent me into a bit of a shit fit, until I realized that nobody, but me, even cared. Hell most of the people along the coast of Peru, thought they were Spanish, anyway. I seemed to be the only one concerned, with these evil invaders. So, just to get my juices flowing, the day after landing, we were on our way to see another Peruvian site, that had been pillaged by the Conquistadors.
On this occasion, we enlisted a son of our lifetime friend Gi to show us around and chaperone us in Lima. Rzo was a large, muscular, meat eating Peruvian. Besides his skills as tour guide, Rzo also knew every one of the top places to eat in Lima. Each day while we were with him, he took us to a new one, even better than the one of the previous day. In addition to that, he was also quite a photographer and, was studying, so he could unleash his creative style thru photography. He was the complete package; Guide, Photographer, Food Critic, Chaperone, Body Guard, and somewhat of a Playboy. So, accompanied by Rzo we took in many of the sights in and around Lima. He was extremely kind to us and very patient showing us around. He also pretended to love ol’ JimboRed’s stories. I just babbled away.
The site, we picked out for that day, was called Pachacamac and set just to the south of Lima. This site was another marvel of Peruvian Architecture. It outdated the Inca Empire by about 1000 years. However, it was still in use and active at the time of the Inca. Mostly it was used as a ceremonial sight, but also had administrative significance. What you/we needed to understand about this and many other sites in Peru, was that although they were magnificent, you had to remember just how much more splendid they would have been before the Spanish pillaged them. Even then, in 2012, standing at the entrance-way to Pachacamac was breathtaking. Hell, had I been there 500 years earlier, I would have probably fainted dead away at the sight of this spectacular place.
I remember arriving at the entrance and having a quick vote on hiring a guide, or letting JimboRed guide us through the ruins. I lost that vote 2 – 1, so we did hire a local guide to show us around. This, even though JimboRed, was a perfectly good guide. “What a waste of money”, I fumed! I was slightly hurt, but after a short pout, I got close to our guide so I could pick his brains about everything. He explained that the significance of the site, was, only, finally realized, in 1938. Prior to that a German archaeologist named Max Uhle started the excavation of Pachacamac around 1896. He worked with his own funding, as well as a few grants from a society in Europe.
It was only because of people such as this that many of the ruins still exist today. The Peruvian Government had other issues, at the time, to deal with, and the preservation of countless ruins was not high on the list. In many ways what stood between the locals, taking the mud bricks away for their own use, grave-robbers, and artifact smugglers, were only people such as these. Privately funded and fanatical about the preservation of history. Because of the many discoveries of Max Uhle, it was soon determined that this site was in use from around 200A.D. to the early 1500’s. Some even say that Pachacamac was used in secret long after the arrival of the Spanish marauders and the partial destruction of the temple.
Each new culture added to the temple, as they gained influence in the region. This continued up until the time of the Inca, when the Temple of the Sun was added. Hundreds of years ago, much of the temple was painted with red ochre pigments. The top sits at about 250 feet or so above the surrounding coast and must have been quite impressive when entering through the long wide, high walled, avenue. Especially for those with a one-way ticket. I say this because there is evidence of ancient human sacrifice in the ruins. I just shuddered when standing there imagining a hemp rope tied around my neck and an ancient Peruvian spear at my butt. Well, one thing for sure, I wouldn’t have been walking in. They would have had to drag my lifeless corpse and my soiled undies, in behind them.
Serious, government funded, excavation and preservation was not started until 2008. Up to that point a mixture of archaeologists with “little” government backing did their best to preserve the site and its history. As I said earlier, the entrance to Pachacamac was breathtaking. A long, wide, paved driveway lead into the ruins. You could visualize colourful processions of Royalty, Officials, Warriors, Priests and local Peruvians in the finest attire walking this avenue. Oh, if I could have lived in these times! What sights I would have seen. Even today this site covers about 600 hectares of land or about 1500 acres. Imagine what it would have looked like 1000 years ago.
Pachacamac contains about 50 structures. Some, from the earliest days and others added by the Wari culture in the 700’s and the Inca Empire in the late 1400’s. Additionally many other cultures contributed structures to this site, as they rose to power and influence from time to time. Apparently this area was named after Pacha Kamac, a powerful god of the local peoples. The Inca absorbed this deity into their culture, although not quite to the level of Viracocha, the most powerful of the Inca Gods. I point this fact out only to demonstrate the Inca tradition of absorbing cultures and their religions into the Incan Empire. They did not persecute or try to destroy cultures, rather they absorbed and learned from those they conquered.
Upon entering the ruins through the Grand Avenue, we began a climb on a wide, paved, earthen ramp. Most of Pachacamac was built on different levels of a huge mud/brick pyramid. The ramp wound its way up and around the sides of this huge pyramid, to the final temple at the top. Again, you might question the use of pyramids in Peruvian Architecture. However, my faithful readers, will remember that these were not the first pyramids that we encountered in this magnificent land. Remember the Lord of Sipan and our travels around the Trujillo and Chiclayo areas, a few years earlier. At the top of Pachacamac, there were 3 main temples still on display. They are Old Temple from the earliest days, the Painted Temple from the middle years, and the Temple of the Sun built in the later years, possibly by the Inca or his predecessors.
Throughout our tour Ol’ JimboRed impressed the guide with his Spanglish, and history of this and other ruins in Peru. Well, he was getting paid, so he just smiled and bobbed his head. I guess he felt it was better to put up with me than to wait down below, for another customer to happen along. Rzo, on the other hand, took my camera and put some distance between himself and my never ending monologue. He snapped away, and left the guide to deal with me. Ol’ Bubbaloo, as usual, just listened patiently. Invariably, every once in a while, she brought JimboRed back to earth with a few well placed, biting comments. Things like, “Jimbo, he is getting paid let him speak once in a while.” She made me sulk a couple of times, however, I recovered quickly.
At the time of our visit, I believe that the educated opinion was, that Pachacamac and all it’s temples (17 had been unearthed at that point) was used as a centre of administration. It was also speculated that the temples provided housing for the Royalty and their families. By that I mean the ruling families for whichever group was in charge at any given time. Based on our long experience of visiting and re-visiting sites in Peru over the years, we had learned not to say exactly how anything was, or had developed. Many times in our past, we had returned to places, only to find out that the narrative of events had changed over the years. The way we had thought it was, had evolved into something completely different, as new findings were made, and artifacts interpreted.
Macchu Picchu was a prime example. During each of our many visits over the years, the story of these ruins changed dramatically. What we thought had happened, over the course of a few years had been completely changed. At times when I thought, I knew the history of a place, I found out that the history had changed so that what I was saying was out of date. Many the time, I noticed people looking at Ol’ JimboRed during one of my diatribes, and then quickly moving away. Because there was no written language of these times, much of the history had to be derived from studying items found. Also local lore and legend, passed down over the centuries, had to be studied and interpreted. So, you never really knew what each visit might tell you about a site, that you thought you knew.
Besides the temples on the pyramid, we also looked at many structures surrounding the main site. One of these connected buildings showed me the true wisdom of ancient Peruvians. This one part of the tour fascinated me. It consisted of a beautiful well preserved building, which was an Inca addition, called the MamaCona. The guide told us, that this sacred building was where they locked away all of the Virgins of the Sun. Here they were trained in the useful arts of cooking, BEER MAKING, sewing, cleaning, hairdressing and pleasing their Inca. Wow, what a novel concept. Now, that’s what I’m talking about! I had tons of questions for our guide, but a couple of sharp looks from Bubbaloo, made me stifle myself.
Many of my most pertinent questions never got asked. Geezus! I, never came up with the idea of a training school for Virgins! But from the looks, Bubba shot at me, I might as well have. All I could think of was, “Yahoo, graduation on Friday”! “Let’s get the party started!” “Let’s see if they learned anything”. I screamed this out loud “under my breath” and made a mighty fist-pump to my favorite college ever! I could have listened to the stories of the MamaCona all day. However, Ol’ Bubbaloo soon tired of listening to me babble on about the wisdom of ancient Peruvians.
Pachacamac, like so many other places we visited in Peru, has so much history that it is hard to describe it in a glance. Even with my foggy memory, I could easily sit here for a few hours and spin out tails about these great ruins. Even now, through my fog and haze, I could still probably fill a few pages of lore. However, I will spare you that torture. Instead I leave you with the one memory of this visit that has stuck in my head all of these years. That being; after the arrival of the Spanish to an area just north of Lima, parties of Spanish Conquistadors (marauders) were sent out looking for loot. One such party was led by the evil Hernando Pizzaro, the brother of the leader, of the band of cutthroats.
So, in 1533, Hernando with 14 men seized and looted Pachacamac. There is no accurate account for how much treasure they looted. Legend has it, that, the Peruvian Priests upon learning of Pizarro’s intent, released all the Virgins of the Sun. Apparently these young ladies fled and scattered to the four winds. The Priests are also said, to have removed about 40,000 kilograms of gold and treasures before the looters could arrive. Up to the date of our visit there, none of this treasure has ever reappeared. No one has ever found it, if indeed it did happen, as the legend says. As always legends such as these created a dreamworld of adventure and conquests for JimboRed.
Some things, seemed incredible, and stuck in my mind, while listening to our guide recount the tail of conquest and looting. First of all, this was 15, Spanish criminals, who although they had weapons and horses, were seemingly quite defenceless if the Peruvians had just decided to throw their asses back into the ocean. It is incredible to me that no one jumped up and said, “this is bullshit”! “Let’s squash these evil devils”! Another thing that always stuck with me about this place was that, although we drove from Miraflores in Lima, about 35 kilometres to this place in about an hour, it did not happen like that in 1533. Pachacamac lay about 35 kilometres to the south of Lima across a very hot and dry desert. It would take an effort to get there, even with a horse.
With no Pan American highway to ride on, no maps and probably little help from the locals, it may have taken a few days to get there. Then with 15 men, it must have been a daunting sight to arrive at this huge pyramid and decide to loot it. I don’t know how much gold could be carried away by horses already carrying men and armour. But I couldn’t imagine it was much. However, it is also said that the Spaniards came back to loot, over and over, for the next 20 years. It is also said that many of the colonial houses and buildings dating from that period, were build with mid bricks taken from Pachacamac one small load at a time.
I must say, that standing there listening to the guide describe how this glorious site was ruined, made my temperature rise. I was about to have a major fit, when I realized that neither Bubbaloo, Rzo, nor our guide seemed too concerned with the desecration of another temple of their ancestors. That kind of calmed me down a bit, but I guarantee, I was still pissed! Oh had I been a Peruvian in those times. What amount of Conquistador ass I would have kicked? Perhaps in my mind only? I saw myself as the Peruvian Protector. We spent about one hour at the top of the ruins, just dreaming of how things would have been a few hundred years earlier. Rzo was clacking away on the camera and recording this fabulous tour.
From the top of Pachacamac we looked out onto the coast of Peru to the south of Lima. In many ways this sandy coastline framed by clear blue seas, was as pretty as any place in this world. I could have lived in this temple. And then spent my days, gazing over the unbroken coastline and dreaming JimboRed dreams. All the while snacking on bonbons and slurping Beer, brought to me by my now, “re-trained” Bubbaloo. Early in the afternoon we parted ways with this magnificent site at Pachacamac and headed off toward the coast to continue our adventures. By now all of this sightseeing had created a great hunger in ol’ JimboRed. Rzo knew just the place for us.
We spent the afternoon, looking around the beaches of Lima, Peru. This area was the “stomping” grounds of Rzo and his group of friends during the summer months. Apparently, each year they got together and rented a party house on the beach, near where we were. If I remember correctly, we were in an area called Playa Hermosa. This area was full of beach houses for the rich and famous from Lima, who came to the beach in the summertime. His summer house reminded me of the days of my youth. Little had changed over the years. Young people like Rzo, found a place, divided the rental by 12 persons and partied hard all summer. The three or four bedrooms, were wall to wall beds and bunks. He said it fit 12 of them very easily. Privacy? Who needs Privacy?.
In this same area, or perhaps a little further up the beach, possibly at Playa Los Pulpos we stopped on the beach. Rzo and Ol’ Jimbored quickly stripped off our gear and dived into the Pacific for a power swim. I could just feel the eyes of the admiring Peruvians looking at my snow white body. Bubbaloo was looking the other way, pretending that she didn’t know me. Into the surf we plunged and after a mile or two of triathlete type swimming we returned for a quick run down the beach, all to the admiring gazes of the local beach denizens. The water was cool, probably due to the effects of the prevailing currents that ran from the south, up the coast of Peru. The beach was golden sand, and the weather was hot. Ah, Paradise!
Fully exercised and sated, we jumped back in the car for our return to Lima. Although only 30 kilometres away from town, we knew that the traffic in lima would be impossible. And that our journey back to the hotel would take at least 90 minutes. JimboRed promptly piled into the car and fell asleep for the duration. I may have only imagined it, but I sensed a feeling of happiness and relief from my travel companions. I guess they just couldn’t take any more wisdom and lore from Ol’ JimboRed. Hell, I have now spewed out a few thousand words, and we are only 2 days into our World Tour of Peru 2012. Stay tuned for Part II, coming soon.
3 Comments
Craig
Another great remembrance of a recent past – relatively. Amazing how well the mud bricks survived the centuries.
Thanks for taking the time to recall and record your experiences – they are all great reading!
Cheers.
Craig
Jimbo Red
Thank you for reading C! Sometimes when I sit down to try and remember places or things that we experienced, it all seems surreal. Did we actually do all these things or is it just my slipping clutch powering my writings? I think the one greatest thing that we did do, was to take 1000’s of pictures. Going thru them helps me relive our times and travels.
Jimbo Red
The mud bricks are truly amazing, coupled with the dry desert like conditions in much of Peru, these hand made bricks have seemed to survive hundreds of years. Many of the homes, during colonial times were built of bricks pillaged from the ruins of ancient Peruvian sites. It is indeed incredible that they survive to this day.