Ayacucho / Wari (day 6)

Friday we headed out of Ayacucho to th ruins of the capital of the Wari civilization (pre-Inca). It is presumed that the city had a population of approximately 60,000 at its height. The Wari ruins are about 30 minutes outside Ayacucho, reached by combi (passenger van) via a great newly re-constructed road (cost: s/5, take the combi headed for Quillua). The ruins are mostly unexcavated and large portions of the area basically appear to be piles of rocks surrounded by dry desert cacti. However, there are a few large (12 meter high) walls which remain (see small person in archway for scale).

We ran into some interesting (and later itchy) wildlife out here in the desert, including many spiders similar to this one:


The Wari ruins are actually undergoing some restoration and re-creation, we're hoping they don't botch them up too much...

The ruins include five or six different types of funerary chambers; this is one of them:

After seeing the ruins (and getting some nasty insect bites) we flagged down a combi heading back to Ayacucho, and had lunch at a nice restaurant with a courtyard near the Plaza de Armas called La Brasa Roja. The menú del dia was quite tasty, as was the chuleta (pork chop).

We then had an adventure trying to find the Museo Arqueológico, which contains much of the ceramic and some monoliths recovered from the Wari site. We consulted two guide books with three sets of conflicting directions, none of which actually listed an address. After walking nearly a kilometer, uphill, in near-equatorial heat, we turned back and headed to the tourist information center, where we were told that we only needed to walk one block further than we had gone. An hour and one taxi ride later, we reached the Museo. (For reference, the Museo Arqueológico is located on Independencia, an extension of Assembla Street, just after the curve in the road. A taxi ride costs s/1 or you can take the no.10 or 3 combi for s/0.50)

My favorite piece of ceramic at the Museo was the death-cat (I am not sure what the symbolic significance of this piece is):


We caught the overnight bus to Lima with Cruz del Sur (to be continued...)

Overall Opinions:
Wari site: 8. Interesting ruins, although much of the site remains unexcavated. Bring insect repellent!
La Brasa Roja restaurant: 8. Get the menú (s/3) or the chuleta (s/9).
Museo Arqueológico Hipólito Unanue: 5. This is a very small museum. Most of the better Wari artifacts are on display in Lima at the Museo de la Nacion. A number of the pieces here are replicas.
Ayacucho in general: 10. This is a beautiful mountain city, untainted by tourism, with a lot to see both in the city and in day trips. The weather was beautiful and the food was great.