...bienvenido 2009!

For the party and countdown to 2009 we returned to Barranco where we had a nice dinner and then tried to get yellow hats, as yellow is the lucky colour of new year here in Peru. Unfortunately we neither got the hats nor a bottle of champagne but we managed to find a collar or yellow plastic flowers and got a great start into 2009! We went to a couple of bars and ended up in one playing everything from 60s, 70s, 80s to salsa and lambada! We definately had a great time and if 2009 continues in this spirit it will be one of the best years, definately! :-)

So the new years resolution for 2009 is: traveling, being happy, making many friends and enjoying life to the max!

Happy new year and feliz año nuevo to all!

On the back of the entry ticket to the San Francisco museum and catacombs I found the prayer of Saint Francis which I´d like to share with you for the new year :-) Here comes the English translation...hope you like it as much as I do!

Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace,
where there is hatred, let me sow love,
where there is injury, pardon,
where there is doubt, faith,
where there is despair, hope,
where there is darkness, light,
and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console,
to be understood, as to understand,
to be loved, as to love,
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
Amen.

Adios 2008...

Until the late afternoon of the 30th I still had some hope that my tickets would show up or that I somehow could make it to Rio de Janeiro. When the time of the flight arrived and still no news from my tickets I got into a kind of panic - my friends Thomas and Bill waiting for me in Rio and me all on my own in Lima! I already imagined myself spending new year alone in my room watching tv or sleeping... In the morning I had gone for a run with my new friend from Plaza de Armas, Fito, but in the evening he didn't show up so I had no idea if he would be back for new year. But I shouldn't have worried - somehow my trip had developed its own dynamics during the last weeks and months and just like in a movie the right things always happened at the right time - and more important than that, the right people showed up at the right time! And so it happened also on the morning of the last day of 2008 - a year with many surprising encounters and experiences!

I got up on time to contact some local Couchsurfers or to find out about any expat or backpacker parties in town... at the breakfast table I met a guy I had seen the other day in the internet room - seemed to be as addicted to the www as me ;-) Anyhow we got talking and it turned out he also had no idea what to do for new year. So we decided to meet up for lunch and then check out what was going on.

In the morning I had my watch repaired and met a guy at Plaza de Armas - as usual, its impossible to sit down for a minute without meeting someone - who took me to the well of Santa Rosa. Here you can write a wish or prayer on a letter and throw it in the well. Lets see if it will come true ;-)

My hostel neighbour and me then met at 1pm at the Plaza San Martin - a plaza with a funny detail! Right under the statue of the liberator Don Jose de San Martin is a smaller one of Madre Patria which was supposed to have a crown of flames - llamas in Spanish - on her head. Instead the craftsmen adorned her with a little llama - the Andean animal! Anyhow, we met there and went from there to a very nice restaurant close to the Plaza de Armas where we tried the local speciality ceviche, a dish of nearly raw and marinated fish. And my 'compañero de noche vieja', Alberto, turns out to be exactly the kind of person you want to meet when traveling - open,easy going, intelligent and with a great sense of humour! He is from Napoli but speaks excellent Spanish - another plus point as I avoid speaking English as much as I can to improve my castellano skills ;-)

In the afternoon we went to Miraflores and to the beach. We walked along the beach and talked about most subjects under the sun - and I am quite happy to be stranded in Lima ;-) We ended up in a neighbourhood called Barranco, very bohemian and charming. There we met a group of guys from all over Peru, making crafts and selling them. They seemed ok and we decided to come back to Barranco for the last hours of 2008. Actually we had an extra 6 hours of 2008, as we had started the year in Europe and ended it here in South America, Alberto remarked!

From Barranco we took a taxi back to the hostel to get changed and I am not exaggerating when I say that this was the most hilarious taxi trip of all times ;-) We had bought some bananas at the beach and also offered one to the taxi driver - he refused with the explanation that these small bananas gave him "gas" and that he prefered the bigger ones. He then asked us to kiss each other and I told him that we're both catholic and that there will be no kissing before marriage. When he then asked why we're not married yet and Alberto replied that we don't know each other long enough I nearly choked from laughing. We then promised to invite the driver for our wedding and got out of the taxi laughing tears! The extra 6 hours of 2008 where definately well spent ;-)

Lima - Life is what happens ...

Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans. Once again I have to quote John Lennon ;-)

Yesterday night I took the night bus to Lima with the intention to getting my tickets today (Thomas sent them to the Travex Agency in Lima) and fly to Rio de Janeiro tomorrow. The flight looks good so I didn´t expect any problems...

But when me and Couchsurfing friend Enzo arrived at the Travex Agency this afternoon they didn´t know anything about the tickets. They said they don´t even offer the service of receiving mail for Amex customers. I went back another time but no chance, they told me that they had no idea what I am talking of and don´t have the tickets. So it seems as I will spend new year in Lima, which actually doesn´t seem too bad at all ;-) Weather is perfect and there are lots of things to do around here! And I have met someone at the Plaza de Armas - like in Ecuador you won't be alone for long on Peru - and we went for a walk and a game of table football tonight and he seemed very happy about my misfortune ;-)

Moche, Chimu and back to the future

After spending two days lazing around in Trujillo and Huanchaco beach I finally overcame my inner temptation and went on a tour to visit the archeological sites around Trujillo. Usually I don´t like tours and also this time I got a bit pissed as we spend too much time waiting for people, having lunch in a bad restaurant and so on. But the sites we visited definately "valen la pena" - are worth it.

In the morning we first visited the Moon Temple. The Moon Temple belonged to the capital of the Moche empire, build and inhabited between 100 BC and untill around 800 AC. The Moche worshipped nature and most of all the sun and the moon. The sun and moon, day and night, represented to them the duality of nature, the positive and the negative side. The Moche accepted both sides and tried to find harmony and balance between the two. They also represented their Gods both smiling and angry in various pictures to represent this duality.

The buildings of the Moche empire are all made of mud bricks which braved the winds and rains - but unfortunately not the various attacks and worst of all, lootings. Today you can still marvel at part of the mural paintings which have been excavated and restored but the graves of the Moche rulers and their treasures have been looted by the Spaniards. Unfortunately the treasures can´t even be found in Spanish museums anymore because the Spanish melted them down into gold coins. In their greed for gold the Spanish even changed the riverbed of the Moche river to flood the Sun Temple - which used to be the biggest pre-Columbian building in the Americas before this happened - to make the water wash out the treasures of the tombs and chambers.

Somehow it made my really sad to learn about all this - so much beauty and craftmanship lost forever! And even though the human sacrifices of the Moche sounds very cruel - their admiration for nature is something we could learn from today and its a pity that there is not more left to study their culture. But yes, the human sacrificas which are also depicted in the murals are quite scary. For example they used to drug prisoners and push them from a rock close to the city whenever there was a storm or other indication that "the Gods where angy". This ritual was depicted on some ceramics excavated at the site and later confirmed by bones found at the bottom of the rock.

After visiting the Moon Temple we went back to Trujillo to have the usual lunch break - too long as always - in a typical tourist restaurant. The best way to spoil any nice tour... but ok, I survived and we went to visit the Rainbow Temple, a Temple belonging to the city of Chan Cha, the capital of the Chimu culture which successed the Moche culture and was finally conquered my the Incas. In the Rainbow Temple the murals depict mythological creatures and human sacrifices - especially children. Our guide explained that they usually sacrificed the most intelligent and brilliant kids. We where all wondering what future a society can have that sacrifices the most promising of its children... Maybe that´s why in the end the Incas took over.

After the Rainbow Temple we went to the main Chan Chan excavations and visited what is left of one palace and the burial grounds. But also here the site has been looted so many times that absolutely nothing has been found by the archeologists. Some Spanish texts exists about when the Spanish found the site - at that time they still found some beautifully dressed mummies wearing exquisite jewlery - but by the 1950s when the archeologists started excavating the site everything had disappeared - what a pity!

One witness of Chima times can still be found at the site - the naked Peruvian dog! Ugly as sin but worshipped as son of the moon by the Chimu. The Chimu used these dogs in religious ceremonies to ask the Moon to send rain. Nowadays the Peruvian dogs just laze around and pose for tourists taking pictures ;-)

Tranquilo in Trujillo

On December 25 I took the bus to Trujillo. I had chosen a daytime bus beause I wanted to see the landscape but then ended up sleeping most of the way as there was not much to see - the region between Piura and Trujillo is desert like with only a few villages and Chiclayo as the only bigger town inbetween.

Trujillo itself is very charming - just the right size to walk around the town in a day or two, visit the many stunning colonial churches and buildings and test the numerous little cafes along calle Pizarro.

I used the first day to relax a bit and make the usual "pit-stop" of checking my mails, looking for a "lavanderia" (laundry) and - getting my nails done! During the last weeks and months this has turned into one of my favourite pasttimes (besides going fishing ;-)). Its a great way to meet girsl - as usually as a gringa you will mostly meet men - and have a chitchat about life in general and particular. And then of course I got many compliments for my untypical backpackers hands and feet ;-) Today I was especially lucky in my choice of "sala de belleza" - the girl doing my feet was very good in her job and also well liked by the others, I guess, as they sat down next to us to have their lunch break. I stayed at least one hour and we covered subjects from the economic state of the US to the affect of family planning on Peru´s society. The girls were really sweet and definately much better educated and informed then you´d expect from the average esthetician.

So, next time you think of paying for a Spanish class in Antigua or Cusco - save up the money and better invest in a pedicure in Trujillo ;-)

I rounded up this nice and sunny day with a yummy dinner of avocado sandwhich and fruit salad at a lovely Italian restaurant-café planning my adventures for 2009 :-)

This is the view from my hostal, Hostal Colonial Trujillo at sunset...

Merry Christmas!

Actually Roberto and I had planned to go camping for christmas and spend "Noche Buena", the night from December 24 to 25 on the beach. But then I got the mail from Thomas telling me he would be in Rio de Janeiro for New Year. So I decided to hurry up and leave Puerto Lopez before christmas - which, I have to be honest, I do regret now, even though I had a nice christmas in Piura.

As I didn´t know anybody in Piura I was expecting to spend christmas in a hostel, reading or sleeping. But - how so often on this trip - I was lucky and met a fellow "Northern Light", Martin from Hamburg. He had seen in the hostal register that I was from Mainz and when we later met in a cyber café we started talking... and decided to have christmas dinner together. Later we went to mass in the cathedral which was really beautifull and breathtaking. The church was so crowded, people were standing outside on the sidewalk. Only when "Silent night, holy night" was playing I got a bit homesick... but Martin with his wonderfull northern accent managed to cheer me up quite soon. Actually we had a great time later on as to most kids we were by far a much bigger attraction then the different Santa Clauses offering to pose for a picture ;-)

We will always have P...uerto López!

After 10 days in Puerto López it was really hard to say goodbye. If I hadn´t Bill and Thomas waiting for me in Rio de Janeiro I would have stayed for at least another 10 days, definately! Another 10 days of fishing, cooking and playing "Shitty Head" ;-)

Puerto Lopez is a place where you leave your cellphone and wallet at the beach to go for a run and when you come back it will still be there. You can also leave open your door at night - which makes it easier for your friends to come in in the morning and kick you out of bed ;-) I will miss all of this.

But most of all I will miss Roberto who made my stay in Puerto Lopez so relaxed and memorable, always giving his best to show me the beauty of the place, tasting the best local food and meeting the nicest people. He took me fishing, running, cycling, snorkeling and taught me dancing on the beach, we went to mass and to the circus, we had coffee and "cachos" in the afternoon and wonderfull dinners at night... and he even accompanied me all the way to Guayaquil and made sure, I got on the right bus to Piura, which meant he had to stay over night at the bus staion and wait 5 hours for his bus to go back. I guess a friend like that is the best christmas gift one can get :-) And when he told me the same thing just before I was leaving I decided that I will be back to Puerto Lopez in 2009 - not only for the whales :-)