We woke up still in heavy mist that coated everything in
dampness. It was really eerie – we could
literally only see a few yards – Which explained why we found ourselves camped
in a day parking area, and hadn’t even been able to see the toilets that we just
on the other side of the track !! No
point in walking anywhere, so we had breakfast and headed back down the trail
to the Ranger’s Station. This reserve is a weird area – In the middle of
desert, it only rises about 500 metres ASL, but is almost always covered in
this thick mist which provides so much moisture that plants grow here. One of the plants is a kind of vine that
covers other normal plants with a web like coating. Most odd.
Anyway, back down, a quick Buenas Dias to the Ranger’s and then back on
the road south.
In the desert we continued to pass the long sheds in the
desert every so often. We had decided
that they must be for chicken’s because chicken’s are the main food in this
part of the world, and I guess they need a lot of them to supply the demand
! Later in the day we stopped and asked
a policeman and he confirmed that they were for chickens – What is odd is that
a lot of them are derelict – It seems a lot of people try to make a living
breeding and selling chickens, and not all of them succeed.
We passed through
the now seemingly endless desert of sand interspersed with irrigated crop
growing of corn, asparagus, and others, and then through a twisty pass along
side the sea, with heavy mist on the road.
It was then through more desert before suddenly there was a lot of low
cost housing all over the place and covering the hills almost as far as you
could see into the haze / smog (not sure which it was !). We were in the outskirts of Lima. We didn’t
plan to stop, so we just motored through on the main road – It was pretty
hectic often with 5 lanes of traffic trying to squeeze into 3 lanes on the road
! Pretty normal, but we made it through
in a couple of hours, and once out on the other side, stopped for fuel and
found a little place selling hot dogs that smelled so good we had to have one
! Hmm – Not as good as they smelled, but
OK, and did us for lunch, but we did take a photo of the place just in case we
decided to sue them later due to stomach problems !!
Just south of Lima we turned off to Pachacamac where
there are the famous (and big) Inca Temple of the Sun and other Inca ruins
spread over a large area. It certainly
must have been something to see in its heyday in about 1400 AD, with its red
walls which would have been visible from miles away. Situated on the coast with views in all
directions, it was a major fort for the Incas.
The archaeological restoration has been done very sympathetically, with
new material only being inserted in order to retain the original walls and prevent
them collapsing further. This method
simultaneously serves to demonstrate what parts of the temple and other
building would have looked like in the past – Indeed in some areas the original
render and red colouring are still visible.
It is a big site, and over looks the current town, as well as extensive
sporting fields including several polo fields, soccer pitches, and a bull
ring. As we came back down to the car
park we saw a weird dog with no hair – And found out that it is a Peruvian
breed of hairless dog ! Not very
attractive !!
After a quick ice cream we went out past an enormous
hammock hanging by the road, and on down the coast. Quite an interesting road, winding along near
the sea, and with a number of high end resorts either being built of just
finished dotted along the way. Then it
was into Chincha Alta which is all wine production and tasting cellars – And
for some reason lots of life-size golliwogs !
You don’t see them much any more, let alone full size ones ! Then for some reason Chincha Alta got busy –
Really busy !! It was an hour or more
before we got through, by which time it was getting dark and we still hade some
45 kms to go to Pisco and then Paracas Nat Park where we knew we could camp in
safety. So the last hour was not much
fun in the dark, especially through Pisco, and then out into the National Park
where we couldn’t read the signs very well, and probably missed a couple of
turnings ! But suddenly we saw a sign
with a tent on pointing down to a beach, so drove down a dirt road for about 1
km, found deserted beach with a deserted
restaurant there in the dark, so had a quick supper and went to bed exhausted
!
Photos are here https://picasaweb.google.com/117739775480775657932/0141LomasDeLachayToParacasNP?authkey=Gv1sRgCM-TxZTQwoOHhgE#
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