Chan Chan

The pre-columbian city Chan Chan was built around 800-850 AD. The Incas conquired this city too in 1470. About 30 000 people lived here and it's about 20 square kilometers wide. There are about 9 different areas very near each other and I visited one of them. The others are closed due to on-going research and they constructions are also a lot weaker. Maybe in the future the sites will be opened to the tourists.

In Trujillo I took a bus to this site and first the bus left me in the middle of the desert and I was confused. Where is this historical city?! I asked a old local man sitting by the road and he told me to "start walking that way". After abut 20 minutes of walking in the heat I started to see big walls and inside of them was one of the temples of Chan Chan. I was alone with my tour guide. The walls were carved full of pictures of fish, pelicans and fishing net. The city had a traditional big main plaza were the Chimu leader held ceremonies and shows by musicians, priest, singers... Behind the last wall of this city is the Pacific Ocean. That is why the people in Chan Chan mostly ate marine wildlife. Chan Chan was never used as a religious center so the Chimu-people usually travelled to other cities like Pachamac to practise their religion.

Main Plaza.

Fishnet carves.

Long corridors to the Main Plaza, so the Chimu leaders could follow what is going on there.

They had also acces to water inside the walls.

Chimu people looked something like this.

National Museum of Peru

I visited the biggest museum in Lima, Museo de la Nacion. There was mostly pictures of the past. The most interesting was the years of terrorism 1980-2000 that I have already written of before. Here are some shocking pictures and stories from that time.

A woman accused of being a member in a terrorist group in Cusco prison in 1985. The child was the product of rape perpetrated by law enforcement officials.

Parents of Ernesto Castillo Paez show a photograph of their son, a student at the catholic university, who was detained and then was dissappeared by the members of the national police in Villa El Salvador on October 21, 1990.

Rescue efforts after a car bomb from the terrorist group exploded in Lima September 9, 1992.

Relatives of one of the thirteen victims murdered on February 11, 1985 by alleged terrorist group members in various of the Marginal Road, in Tingo Maria.

An undentified woman was transferred to the morgue of Ayacucho after a confrontation between members of the terrorists and the national police. November 1983.

Survivor of massacre of Lunamarca recovering at the regional hospital of Ayacucho in 1983.

Exhumation of the remains of journalists killed in Uchuracay, Ayacucho in January 1983.

Enjoying life

After the first week of staying in Kusillus hostel in Miraflores, I had to move to Puriwasi hostel a few blocks away for one night. There was no room in Kusillus and I was supposed to stay with a friend because we were going to the same party last saturday. It was too complicated due to his work and he lived so far away so I just went to the next hostelin the area and slept in a dormitory with couple of other people. I would highly recommend Puriwasi hostels to other travellers. The staff knows english, the place is higher up in a building with a very bohemic athmosphere and nice facilities. There is a roof terrace with a bar and restaurant too! Big spacy bathrooms and rooms.

Otherwise I have met a lot of my friends, I have been going out for dinner, movies, drinks with Carolina, Jorge, Adrian, Ale, Xiomara, Daniela and others... I made cupcakes with Ale last week too at her home. I've only seen Renatto a few times since there is a visitor restriction due to his wound being uncovered, it's a risk to go there and bring bacterias to it. Tomorrow I'll see him before I take a buss to northern Peru to a city called Trujillo. He maybe will get home before I go back to Finland, so there would be more time to hang out with the guapo. Trujillo is known as a the capital of everlasting spring. It is also close to two historical and archeological monuments from the pre-Columbian time. Chan Chan is  the largest adobe city in the ancient world. It is also a part of World Heritage Site like Machu Picchu too. It was designated to UNESCO 1986. The another monument is The Temple of Sun and Moon, it is the biggest pyramid in Peru. These two monuments will definitely be worth checking out. There is also a famous beach 10km from Trujillo, the beach of Huachaco. I will only be staying one night and two days in Trujillo so the schedule is tight. After that my plan is to continue to north to the city of Chiclayo.

Last week I visited Museo De la Nacion, biggest museum of Lima. I will be posting about that when I get the pics on my computer. Last weekend there was a reunion of last years Pasteleria and Panaderia class, it was at Melissas house and it was fun to see old friends and get to know new ones. Melissa will take me to a salsa class before I go home... I will die of shame that day.

 Here is couple of photos of Puriwasi hostel taken from online, since I dont have my computer with me I will upload most of my journey posts when I get back from Finland.

Thank you for donations!

Denise Lindh

Johnny Winsten

Heidi Grönqvist

Alexandra Grönqvist

Josephine Grönqvist

Hannu Hänninen

Arvid Lönnberg

Emma Augustsson

Mira Lehtonen

Martta Kaskinen

Kristiina Laxell

Anna Törnqvist

Emilia Harlin & family

Alicia Jalava

Laura Lackman

Eveliina Korpela

Victoria Siren

Salon Workshop

Malin Karlberg

Milja Suihko

Pekka Saarelainen

Sirja Konttila

Cecil Fagerström

Johan Korpi

Mikko Knuutila

Eva Lindroos

John Lindh

Hanna Lundström

Zinita Grönqvist-Lindh

Teija Grönqvist

Jörgen Grönqvist 

Kim Lindh

Johanna Lindqvist

Saga Strömfors

Gretel Grönqvist

Kurt Grönqvist

Jacob Aalto

Marika Mehtälä

Henri Stenberg

Josefine Winsten

Maija Pentti

Jenny Winsten

Eva Nilsson

Linda Kaira

Oskar Henriksson

Gustav Nöjd

Simon Eklund

Victoria Sundblom

Miko Hietanen

Cassandra Sell

Lisa Lemberg

Juho Käyhkö

Niina Kyrö

Tytti Elo

Fredrika Wulff

Nina Kjellman & family

Patricia Grönholm & family

Henriikka Iivonen & family

Finally here

After 30 hours of running around London and Miami airports I am finally "back home" in Lima. It felt like a year, exhausting to travel with 3 different flights and the waiting between them is even more annoying. Miami... talking about strict security control! Finger prints screened, photo of my face taken, questions why I'm travelling alone and why Peru... Standing in hundred different lines to check passport, luggage and VISA. Yes you have to apply for a visa to the US even if you are only passing by. It's only 14$ but still. I didn't get so much sleep on the flight from London to Miami but from Miami to Lima I was completely passed out. Otherwise I could recommend British Airways and American Airlines to other travellers. Friendly staff and better food than on the other airlines that I have flewn with. On my last flight my hand luggage (I only took hand luggage with me because I was afraid that my bags will not arrive in Lima) didn't fit anywhere. The flight was so fully booked but the friendly staff got a place for my bag in business class. Unfortunately I myself had to sit in economy class.

I'm staying my first week in a hostel in Miraflores, my favorite neighbour hood in Lima. Hostel is named Kusillus. It's 9euros per night. The room is allright nothing special but what to expect in Latinamerica and with this price. The location is excellent. It's amazing how much you can forget in 4 months in Finland. Here is soooo much people, where are they coming from. Like ants on the street enjoying from the heat. It's 25 celsius degrees and the sun is shining, Im loving it. Tonight I will meet up with Hector, one of my class mates from Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas. And on saturday with the girls! Carolina and maybe the others. On sunday I get to visit my favorite peruvian Renatto who is hospitalized at the moment. I will give him the surprise that some of you may know of ;) Here is pic of my room.

Back to Lima!

I have booked a trip back to Peru ;) I will be there for one month. From 18th of April to 14th of May. Exited but the flights are very long Helsinki - London - Miami - Lima. My dear friend Martta got a job from Chiclayo, it is a horsefarm and she is giving riding tours to tourist so Chiclayo will definitely be worth checking out too! I wanna take a vacation after a difficult start of the year and I wanna see everyone again. Especially someone I think about daily :)

The Child of Bad Luck

Many times in my life I have been wondering why do I always mess things up and Why do I have such a bad luck in life. This day was one example of it. I hate my internship work and today I was assigned to clean hotel rooms in a big hotel with a lot of rooms and big ones. Later in the day we went swimming with my sister and at the hall I broke my shampoo or it did actually explode all over my faces for no reason. Then I broke not only one but TWO hairdryers at the same place. Also when I tried to enter the locker rooms through a automatic gate my bag got stuck at the gate...

Last year I broke 7 chairs only by sitting on them. A couple of chairs lost their legs and a couple the seating part. Time to loose some weight huh? And the year before that I had a curse with bicycles. Within one week I broke a lock on a bicycle two times and finally the tire exploded too...so my dad decided to buy me a completely new bicycle. While I was holding the keys to my old bicycle lock, I was sitting on the toilet and at the same time when I flushed I dropped the f*cking keys to the toilet and there they went far away somewhere... Then with the new bicycle I fell about five times and it's a little broken now but I am not giving up on hope. Oh by the way my toilet exploded a week after I dropped my keys into it. One beautiful morning I opened my bathroom door and a tsunami of shit entered the whole apartment. That was what they call 'Let's fuck this shit - o'clock'. I just left the shit at my apartment and went to work, I called the maintenance guy from work and told him there was a little surprise at my apartment... Fix it porfavor.

This year... 2013. I was born 13th of Jan 1991. This year I have been in a car accident, that fucked up my lower back... I have caused the car two big injuries this year and last year one big crash and the year before that a smaller injury... Oh and also my credit card was copied so I lost over 400 euros. Also my knee is injured not only because someone surfed on top of me last year in Peru but when I was jogging with my dog I just tripped on my own two legs and smashed my knee in the ice and face in the snow.

What an update on a beautiful monday like this, I love my life! :)