Enchanted Forest and Moon Pyramid

Actually, we wanted to stay in Lima for one more day. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to do so as more overlanders have arrived and we had to leave our spot. After what felt like endless 19 km through the suburbs, we left Lima heading north. The suburbs or outskirts looked pretty bad in some areas and had nothing to do with the glamour and glitz of Miraflores. Our next destination was Lachay National Park. Quite mystical. It strongly reminded us of an enchanted forest and during our little hike, we were always prepared for the seven dwarfs or Little Red Riding Hood to appear behind the next bush. Unfortunately, we didn't come across any of them, but we did see countless bird species and small salamanders.

 The next few days, we had to cover some kilometers again, so we had two driving days ahead of us. Everything went well without any major incidents. The next highlight were the Mochica pyramids. So far, we found the visited ruins quite nice, but these pre-Columbian sanctuaries were quite impressive. This was probably due to our friendly English-speaking guide. Not only did he explain details about this site, but he also helped us understand the jumble of history. That means putting the different cultures (Nazca, Mochia, Chimu, Inca culture) in chronological and geographical order. What I (Silke) find quite interesting is that these ancient Peruvian cultures had no writing, so there are no records, which makes the work of archaeologists quite difficult. The visited site was probably a divine temple and served, among other things, for ritual murders of young men and was reserved only for priests. The extent of this ancient city and the preserved wall paintings were quite impressive.

After so much culture and kilometers driven, we needed a bit of relaxation.