Trip report - Peru South coast, part 1

Huaytara (2 nights)

Huaytará is a town in the mountains, 112 km from Pisco on the road to Ayacucho, so actually it is a detour from the coastal route but highly worthwhile because of the well-preserved Inca temple that has been used as foundations for its colonial church.

Getting there:
From Pucusana, we took the combi to the intersection at the Panamericana, and then got on one of the "Soyuz" buses (also labelled "PeruBus") which frequently stop there, towards Pisco (15 Soles).
You have to get off the bus at the intersection in San Clemente, 3 km north of Pisco, where the road to ayacucho starts. At the intersection there are colectivos and combis to Ayacucho, which can drop you in Huaytara, and also some going directly to Huaytará (15 Soles, 2 hours driving time).

Accomodation:
There are several places, we stayed at Hotel Sama, 50 m from the plaza, good rooms with cable TV, hot water, WiFi (45 Soles). At most places in Huaytara, reception staff is not available all day, so you have to try your luck talking to neighbours or passersby, and see who can help you track down the staff or owners in a nearby store or having a chat somewhere...

Food:
There are several restaurants that serve nondescript food and also are closed at random times of day. There is one restaurant that we can recommend, the only one with more than 10 tables, at the left side of town hall (municipalidad) on the plaza (set menu or a-la-carte plates around 8-12 Soles). Also a bakery shop that does good coffee and fruit juices, on the street at the lower end of the plaza.

Activities:
Visiting the church with Inca walls - from inside (free). It is open most of the day. Prayer times are 8 am and 11 am. Please dont walk around taking pictures at prayer time, but otherwise, you will mostly have the church to yourself and can look at the strange arrangement of catholic saints in the niches of an Inca wall.

Main attraction in town: Inca walls on the outside of the church. Best time to visit is just after 9 am when the sun shines on the Inca wall. The access gate to the courtyard is often locked, but there is a friendly guard who will be around approximately from 9 am to 4 pm, open the gate for you and give explanations. He sells the official access tickets (2 Soles).
If you cant find him or are there in his off hours, well OK there is a weak spot in the perimeter wall on the right side, going up to the viewpoint. But please be gentle if you are confronted and dont piss him off, just say that you wanted to visit but couldnt find him.

Other activities:
The viewpoint (follow the stairs at the right side of the church).
Incahuasi ruins, some 20 km up the road and then a hike to the side. I didnt go. There also are some footpaths around town but no "famous" hiking trails that I know of.

... to be continued, in a couple of days ...

Tambo Colorado

Tambo Colorado, near Pisco, is the best preserved Inca site on the coast. It has the typical Inca style with trapezoidal doors and windows. Unlike the Inca ruins in Cuzco, it is built from adobe. It also has some remaining examples of painted walls, which gave it the name.

Getting there:
In central Pisco, two blocks form the plaza de armas, there are combis leaving for Humay, the village nearest to the ruins (5 Soles, 45 min travel time). The driver will drop you at the ruins, 1.5 km beyond the village, if you ask nicely. They also may agree to pick you up later, or the guard at the ruin has their cellphone number and can call them to pick you up. If all fails, stand at the road and flag down one of the buses and combis doing the Huaytara / Huancavelica / Ayacucho route.

Things to see:
The ruins are a maze of courtyards with adobe walls, rooms and hallways, where you can play "hide and seek" and marvel at the intrincate patterns of windows and the remnants of original coloring. The main Inca road from Pisco to Cusco once crossed the main plaza of the ruins, and you can follow it for some 500m along a steep hillside. This is a cool place to get the real experience of hiking an Inca road.

Services at the ruins:
The guard sells the entrance tickets (5 Soles), and there is a small museum and toilets. He will store your bags at his office. There is nothing on sale. Bring your own water and snacks.
The nearby village of Humay has a basic store and some places that sell simple meals, but no accomodation. So this place can be visited as a side trip from Pisco or on the way from / to the mountains. We did it on the way back from Huaytara. Try to get an early start, because transport back is harder to find when it gets late.

Ica (1 night)

Ica has no obvious attractions besides its reasonably pretty "plaza de armas" and the regional museum. The city feels hectic and overcrowded, with incredibly intense car traffic (mostly taxis). However, is is a very user-friendly place. The central bus terminal is located just two blocks from the plaza de armas, and half way in between, Calle Loreto has a choice of several hostales and hotels. Everything you need is in walking distance. Ica's bus terminal is used by all the bus companies and offers direct connections to Lima, Huancayo, Huancavelica, Ayacucho, Cusco, Arequipa and further South.

Getting there:
Soyuz/PeruBus has connections from Lima to Ica every 20 minutes (30 Soles). All the major bus companies like Cruz del Sur, Oltursa, Tepsa also go there.

Accomodation:
We stayed at Hotel Challaca on c. Loreto. Good rooms with cable TV, hot water, WiFi (80 Soles). They also have a free underground car park for guests.

Things to do:
Check out the plaza de armas, and the two colonial churches nearby that were recently damaged in the 2007 earthquake, They can't be visited from inside, but are still standing, and a good opportunity to see first-hand what an earthquake damage looks like.

Special Events:
We were lucky to witness the "Señor de Luren" procession this monday night. It happens every year, on the evening of the 3rd monday in october. The procession starts at 7pm with an incredibly huge crowd of worshippers, and then continues all night without interruption, for 15 hours, around the streets and neighbourhoods of the city center. Best time to see it is between midnight and 1 am, when the crowd is smaller. Each time the procession reaches a street or neighborhood, fireworks are launched so it is easy to find it at any moment.

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