Day 7

When I woke up at 7:00 I took a taxi to the airport in Lima. I am going to my home at last. Good bye Peru, I will never forget you and will definetly come back.

Day 6

Today I drove to Pachacamac, an ancient temple to Pacha Kamaq, the god who created man kind. I saw several pyramids. Archeologists have been able to recognize at least 17 of those pyramids. There was also a cemetery and multicolored fresco of fish to represent that Pacha Kamaq is the god of fish. The Wari sponsored the construction of Pachacamac so they could use it as an administrative center. Many Wari designs began to appear on constructions and lots of textiles and ceramics of this period were found in the cemeteries. Pachacamac became a religious state after the fall of the Wari. Afterwards the Ichma state developed and began to use Pachacamac as a religious site to venerate Pacha Kamaq. When the Ichma joined the Inca Pachacamac became an important administrative center. The Inca also allowed it to be a religious site for Pachacamac priests to function independently. They also let the oracle stay there. They did add a few buildings though, like the sun temple. I explored this site until 4 P.M. then I went to the hotel and began to pack up. At seven I went to a restaurant called the Restaurant Huaca Pucllana. There I ate two kinds of meat that turned out to be guinea pig and rabbit. They were very tasty. It was a good place to eat. Tomorrow I am going to the airport and continuing my journey but until then good night.

Day 5

Today at 4 in the morning I took a plane to Lima and rented a car when I got there. Then I drove to Chavin de Huantar. and joined an organized tour. This place served as a gathering place for the people to worship. It was also used for witnessing rituals, consulting an oracle, and entering a cult. But this religious city fell at the same time as the rest of the Chavin civilization. Its great ritual sites were no longer in use, some were abandoned and some were replaced by villages and agricultural land. For example, the Circular Plaza was replaced by a small village. Chavin de Huantar is separated into two parts the old and new temples. The old temple was built during 900 BC and the new temple was built during 400 BC. There are a lot of major structures, including Temples A, B, and C, and areas and buildings designated as the Circular Plaza, the Old Temple and New Temple. I explored the Circular Plaza, Old Temple and New Temple while I was at Chavin de Huantar. I've learned a lot. The Circular Plaza was used as an open air space within a ceremonial center. The plaza is a perfect circle with a floor consisted of pillow shaped yellow diatomite. The walls of the plaza were made of cut stone, principally granite. The Old Temple is an inward-facing structure built around a circular courtyard. Inside are obelisks and stone monuments with relief carvings depicting jaguars, caymans, and other anthropomorphic forms. In the center is a sculpture of Lanzon which is assumed to be the supreme deity of the Chavin. Inside the temple mortars, pestles, and conch shell horns have been found in the Old Temple. The New temple is also based on a gallery and plaza design and contains many relief sculptures including the Lanzon deity. I explored the ruins until 7:00P.M. and went to my hotel tired and hungry.

Day 4

At six in the morning I got up and took a taxi to the airport. I took the first plane to Trujillo, Peru. When I got there I ordered a tour guide and a bus driver to drive me to Chan Chan. Chan Chan is a city built by the Chimor, but it is not just a city, it is the capitol of the old Chimu kingdom, before the Inca Empire conquered it that is. As I explored this adobe remain of a capitol I learned a lot about its architecture. It is surrounded by ten 50-60ft walls and within those walls were citadels which housed reservoirs, temples, burial chambers, ceremonial rooms, and some residences. The walls protect the city from attackers,wind and sun light. Many walls throughout the city make it a labyrinth of passages. The walls of the buildings were constructed using adobe bricks and then covered with a smooth surface into which intricate designs were carved. Those designs were realistic or more graphic versions of realistic. In those designs I saw pelicans, fish, sea monsters, etc. I explored a bit more and then returned to my hotel. Tomorrow I am leaving to Lima so I can visit a couple of other ruins.

Day 3

Today I drove my rented to the Nazca Lines. When I got there I took one of tour planes. The pilot then flew us over the Nazca Lines. What had seemed like mere shallow trenches on land now looked like a bunch of engravings in the Earth . Among those engravings were monkeys, fish, people, sharks, orcas, and more. My favorite was the spider. The lines were made by removing iron-oxide coated pebbles. When removed the light colored Earth beneath create lines that contrast sharply against the desert. The lines were built by the Nazca people and scientists have a theory that the Nazca's gods could see the designs from the sky. Another theory states that they were built as pointers to the places on the distant horizon. Yet another theory that is much similar to the first one states that the lines were used in part of religious practice associated with the availability of water and growth of crops. Whatever the reason, most scientists agree it was linked to religion. The flight took a few hours and I saw the most interesting designs. Looking at the designs made me respect the Nazca, for they were able to oversee the construction of the lines, without looking at them from above. They must have been great mathematicians. After my flight over the lines that only the gods could see I went to the hotel and prepared for my journey to Trujillo.

Day 2

Today was one heck of a day. I took the Hiram Bingham from Peru to a city near Machu Picchu and took the bus to Machu Picchu. When we got their I went out to explore. Machu Picchu is so beautiful, as you can see in the pictures. Constructed in 1462, most archeologists believe that Machu Picchu was an estate for the emperor Pachacuti. But then the people were wiped out by small pox. It was never touched by the Spanish when they came here. And it remained unnoticed until July 4, 1911 when it was brought to the attention of the scholars by Hiram Bingham who explored it and wrote about it in his book "The Lost City of the Incas". Ever since then it has been getting more famous by the decades.It was regarded so highly because of its architecture. While I was hiking there I visited its three districts: the Sacred District, the Popular District, and the District of the Priests and the Nobility. In the Sacred District I examined the Intihuatana, the Temple of the Sun and the Room of the Three Windows, three famous temples dedicated to Inti, the Incan sun god. I prowled around the Popular District with its many storage buildings and simple houses for the lower class people. And a splendor to behold was the District of the Priests and the Nobility. The houses of the higher class people were in a group going down the slopes of the mountain. Those houses included the reddish walled houses of the Amuatas or wise people and the zone of the Nustas(princesses).The Monumental Mausoleum is also in that District.It is a statue with a vaulted interior and carved drawings. It was used for sacrifices or rites. Almost all of these buildings were built without a mortar. Mostly they were built in the classical Inca architectural style of dry stone walls of regular shape with lots of Earthquake like trapezoidal doors and windows and L shaped tied around the corners of the structure. After a little more exploring I went back to the hotel on the next train. Machu Picchu is wonderful, that's what I have to say. Visit it, you don't know what you are missing.

Day 1

After waiting patiently on the plane I finally reached Cuzco, Peru. What a sight for sore eyes. I am going to go to my hotel first, then start checking out the local scenery. I'll write what I see....

Boy what a day, I have had enough sight seeing. There I was minding my own business when a heard of llamas started chasing me. I got away by jumping into the trash can. But I did get a few good pictures. Any way I am going to Machu Picchu tomorrow. I will take lots of pictures and give some info about Machu Picchu. Wait, silly me how rude I forgot to introduce my self. I am the great archeological site explorer Levon Gevorgyan the II. And as I have nothing else to see I will say this. Good night.