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Chavin
First morning at our apartment, it is so good having a home again.
Today is our tour to Chavin and we arrived at the bus stop at 9am for the tour. We got on the bus and picked up a few people before returning to where we started before 9:30. We waited while a few people got on and the bus nearly fills up. We then waited another 20minutes for one guy, this got very annoying on a hot bus. The wife and child kept saying 1 minute, but not hurrying or calling him. We finally left and went straight to fill up with fuel. This was enough for one Peruvian guy who lets the guide know how he feels. We would have but it's not the easiest Spanish and it loses effect if it is in the wrong tenses.
The guide turned out to be really good, other than the waiting an hour part. He explained the schedule, and a few changes because it was after 10 and we were ment to leave at 9, and also that we will be home late. For the next hour or more he gave us a history of the area, cultures and more, in a loud clear voice that was slower than the average person. He got most people into it, with jokes and insults at times. He seems to love his job and he was very knowledgeable. We both understood parts which was great as sometimes they speak so fast and don't really care about the subject that makes it really hard to understand.
We stopped at a high lake on the pass (in the photos) and after that a tunnel with a Christ statue (also in the photos).
Next Chavin
Ok, History lesson time
Chavin is a very unusual temple complex built between 1500-200BC. It's one of the oldest major South American cultures and because of this site it influenced cultures long after its demise. They were peaceful cult based on the worship of natural spirits and an anthropomorphic god.
It is a major ceremony site of stupendous achievement of ancient culture, with large temple like structures above ground and they are noted for their sophisticated masonry, and a mysterious labyrinth underground passageways which are well ventilated through an advanced duct system. The stone work and carvings rival that of classical Greece and was never surpassed by later Peruvian cultures.
The location of Chavin is on the eastern side of the Cordillera Blanca, the perennial snow capped north-south range separating the coast and highlands to the jungle. This allowed its people to control the passage of goods and to enjoy a privileged access to exotic products.
There are three very unusual parts of the temple which are; the drainage system, the type of ceremony and the floating heads.
The drainage system is highly complex with 924m of granite lined canals found. It is able to withstand the torrential downpours of the area and were sealed underground. These allowed the construction of the underground labyrinth that stayed totally dry. The shear quality of the canals exceeds practical needs. It seems that most of the infrastructure was designed and built to create acoustic effect, whose source was only known to the temple priests. The noise was said to be the roar from the gods. Within the stone lined canals the water smashed over steps and around right angles bends, pushed by hydronic pressure. The sound was very load at the surface but amplified in the underground galleries.
In these underground galleries and the private smaller circular temple, ceremonies took place which only the priests and the high ranking nobles had access to. These included the initiation of the new priests and prediction of the seasons. During these ceremonies, the priests took drugs with hallucinogenic effects, such as the San Pedro cactus (taken in liquid form) and Vilca seeds (taken in powder form). San Pedro causes intense psychotropic visions that are slow in coming on but last a long time (approximately 18 hours). Vilca seeds from the amazon jungle produces immediate, short and intense hallucinations. The mixture of the two drugs produce an explosive cocktail with considerable side effects: first, a burning sensation; then, severe nausea, vomiting, visions, physical contortions, grimaces and groans that suggest the transformation of a man into a feline. This belief is preserved in the tanon-heads, or floating heads. These people would then enter the underground system with the sounds of the water and tripping, an interesting ceremony.
The floating heads were double the size of human heads and appeared to be floating (they extended back through the wall and are supported by the weight of the wall above). The heads show different stages of transformation of the priest into a jungle creature under the influence of drugs. The first set, the faces have slightly anthropomorphic features with almond shape eyes, big noses, closed mouths and faces convulsed as if nauseous. The second set, the heads have more anthropomorphic features with grimacing faces, bulging eyes and mucus coming out their noses. The third set, the heads have features more akin to animals (fangs, shape of the head and ears) than humans. In the fourth and final set, the face is completely transformed into a jungle animal (jaguar, harpy eagle or a mixture of both).
History lesson over, hope you enjoyed it because it was really amazing.
After this visit we piled back onto the bus and headed back. I swear I could have killed this couple and there child on the way back. Major tantrum number two, as long as the first (on the way there) and sitting next to us. Also, he was the guy who was really late.
A burrito and a beer later, we arrived home to say goodbye to Amira, she was leaving the house to us for four days!!
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