Barranca: a destination very close to the capital

Good morning everyone, I hope you're having a good time. The Norte Chico is called this way because it is near the city of Lima. However, when you start visiting it you will realize that it has a lot of places to visit as we have been seeing, what I like about this area is that it has on one side its cities with authentic stamp, in addition to its beaches that still are not saturated since there are even those that are deserted. Furthermore, you are able to visit its countryside. In the Small North you can eat very well typical dishes that are a delight to the palate like also fruits and cereals of all kind because many of their products have become the pantry of the city of Lima.

Barranca: a destination very close to the capital

Continuing with the area of the Norte Chico this time I want to talk a little more about an area called Barranca, one of the provinces of Lima that can be visited at any time of the year.

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Barranca is so close to Metropolitan Lima which is a must see destination when you want to escape the hustle and bustle of Lima. The city of Barranca is the capital of the province of the same name and is located in the last part of what is known as Norte Chico.

Beaches, meals, archaeological sites and recreational places less than 130 kilometers from Lima. The city is wide with a church that is its main religious temple called San Idelfonso. Barranca is a city where you can find crafts within the same center of its city and from where you can leave to make different excursions such as visiting the archaeological center of Caral which is considered the oldest civilization in America with more than 5000 years of history and that today has been declared World Heritage by the UNESCO.

The sea of Barranca is blue through its desert coasts where we find the image of a white Christ Redeemer with its small islands that are scattered along its sea and with a sun that sets during the sunset and makes us think that we are very far from the city of Lima.

In the summer season there are many people who come to its boardwalk to enjoy its waves and not only that, because a few minutes away there is a wetland called Bandurría where various birds are in their habitat without human presence.

In this area of wetlands and sea of salty water you can see many people who decide to come to spend a day of sun, beach and nature.

A few steps from there is also another place known as "Puerto chico" where today has become a cove of fishermen who take different fish from the sea such as lorna, among others to prepare very tasty stews like ceviche.

The Malecon of Barranca has some names that coincide with the Peruvian capital as for example there is also the area of Chorrillos and Miraflores. In Barranca you can find different restaurant stands where you can find the delicious ceviches as well as seafood rice, the particular thing about this area is that you can find everyday fish that are called "sustainable ceviche" since it is cooked according to the fish that can be found in the sea depending on its season.

On the other hand you can also find other dishes like the traditional tiradito that receives an Asian and Peruvian influence bathed with aji panca.

Barranca also has a lot of musical activity along its coast where you can find business with music and where you can also take a drink to make this walk or weekend getaway more enjoyable.

Puerto Supe

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Puerto Supe is one of the provinces of Barranca, at some point in the history of Peru it was one of the most important that this area, its ancient market and its stately architecture give an account of that glorious past that had at some point the area of Puerto de Supe. In Supe you can find restaurants and also fishmeal factories. Among its streets you can find ceviche vendors as the ceviche made with fish called pejerrey.

Definitely the small ports invite to know its streets and the world in a simple way, something beautiful of Supe is that it was a place of inspiration for different writers of Peru like Blanca Varela with its work "Ese puerto existe" besides Jose Maria Arguedas. Just a few minutes from the port is the Lighthouse Island where you can find inspiration to write and disconnect from life.

There, very close to it, there is also an area called Aspero that is located in front of the coasts of Barranca facing the sea and very similar to what would be Pachacamac in the valley of Lurin.

This is the poem of the poet Blanca Varela within one of the repertoires of "Ese puerto existe":

Puerto Supe

Está mi infancia en esta costa, (There's my childhood on this coast, )

bajo el cielo tan alto, (under the sky so high, )

cielo como ninguno, cielo, sombra veloz, (sky like no other, sky, fast shadow, )

nubes de espanto, oscuro torbellino de alas, (clouds of dread, dark whirlwind of wings, )

azules casas en el horizonte. (blue houses on the horizon. )

Junto a la gran morada sin ventanas, (Next to the big windowless house, )

junto a las vacas ciegas, (next to the blind cows, )

junto al turbio licor y al pájaro carnívoro. (next to the murky liquor and the carnivorous bird. )

¡Oh, mar de todos los días, (Oh, everyday sea, )

mar montaña, (sea mountain, )

boca lluviosa de la costa fría! (rainy mouth of the cold coast!)

Allí destruyo con brillantes piedras (There I destroy with shining stones)

la casa de mis padres, (my parents' house, )

allí destruyo la jaula de las aves pequeñas, (there I destroy the cage of the small birds, )

destapo las botellas y un humo negro escapa (I open the bottles and black smoke escapes)

y tiñe tiernamente el aire y sus jardines. (and tenderly tints the air and its gardens. )

Están mis horas junto al río seco, (They are my hours by the dry river, )

entre el polvo y sus hojas palpitantes, (between the dust and its throbbing leaves, )

en los ojos ardientes de esta tierra (in the burning eyes of this earth)

adonde lanza el mar su blanco dardo. (where the sea throws its white dart. )

Una sola estación, un mismo tiempo (One season, one time)

de chorreantes dedos y aliento de pescado. (of dripping fingers and fish breath. )

Toda una larga noche entre la arena. (A long night in the sand. )

Amo la costa, ese espejo muerto (I love the coast, that dead mirror)

en donde el aire gira como loco, (where the air is spinning like crazy, )

esa ola de fuego que arrasa corredores, (that wave of fire sweeping through the corridors, )

círculos de sombra y cristales perfectos. (shadow circles and perfect crystals. )

Aquí en la costa escalo un negro pozo, (Here on the coast I climb a black well, )

voy de la noche hacia la noche honda, (I'm going from night to deep night, )

voy hacia el viento que recorre ciego (I go to the wind that runs blind)

pupilas luminosas y vacías, (bright and empty pupils, )

o habito el interior de un fruto muerto, (or I inhabit the inside of a dead fruit, )

esa asfixiante seda, ese pesado espacio (that suffocating silk, that heavy space)

poblado de agua y pálidas corolas. (populated with water and pale corollas. )

En esta costa soy el que despierta (On this coast I am the one who wakes up)

entre el follaje de alas pardas, (among the brown-winged foliage, )

el que ocupa esa rama vacía, (the one who occupies that empty branch, )

el que no quiere ver la noche. (the one who doesn't want to see the night. )

Aquí en la costa tengo raíces, (Here on the coast I have roots, )

manos imperfectas, (imperfect hands, )

un lecho ardiente en donde lloro a solas. (a burnt bed where I cry alone. )

Supe

Supe is very close to its own port. It´s within a mountain area where you can see cattle and happy people who walk through its streets on what once was one of the best places in the Norte Chico and the thing is that Supe had many large farms that were disappearing with the land reform.

For those who want to know more about the history here they can find a cemetery of the Japanese colony that arrived to this part of Peru. The cemetery looks different from the traditional cemeteries that are found in other parts of Peru, you can realize that we are in a Japanese cemetery since each one of its pillars has Japanese words.

In Supe you can find some rich tamales that are already part of a tradition within Supe, here for example you can find the already famous Marengos tamales that have been shown in the same mistura exhibition and in its facilities you can find some pictures of famous people in Peru like Gaston Acurio.

Caral

The sacred city of Caral is one of those places with obliged passage if you want to know this part of Peru because this is Humanity's Patrimony for the UNESCO and through its ancient centers it is possible to know more of the history of Peru. Many archaeological remains exist along the Peruvian territory. Nevertheless, something unique of Caral is that this place has more than 5000 years of contemporary history to the Chinese and Egyptian culture.

Caral was developed thanks to the work of the archaeologist Ruth Shady who was doing an impeccable job to put in value this world heritage, in Caral you can find circular amphitheatres that show us a picture in the time of this great civilization of more than 5000 years of history.

The structures of Caral include temples, terms and constructions made of stone located in the valley of Supe. This place has a very important past for Peru and it is as I mentioned a obligatory step in its visit to Barranca, since here it is possible to understand the origin of the city and the Peruvian civilization.

Surrounded by mountains and the green valley beyond. Caral is a first class destination where you can interpret each of the sacred environments that stand and allow us to fly the imagination to love more to the history of this Andean country.

Caral has many hectares almost 68 and has almost 32 buildings to each pyramid has been placed a name to be able to differentiate it, in Caral you can also know the different scales of the Peruvian civilization and as I told you it is until the moment the cradle of the Peruvian culture, without a doubt you have to come to know this place of wonders.

Eat well

In Barranca you can find delicious dishes like the ceviches I mentioned, the tamales and also the tacu tacu that are made with beans. You can also find different flavors the average cost of a Tacu tacu goes from 15 to 25 soles and are generous portions that can be found in different parts of the province of Barranca.

Pativilca

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Again I keep realizing how wonderful it is to know every single corner of the Norte Chico here in Barranca. There is a little town known as Pativilca where there is a bridge that is perhaps one of the longest that exists in Peru.

On the other hand, Pativilca has a museum dedicated to one of the liberators of Peru, I mean great Simon Bolivar in that house you can find dance workshops for the locals of the area in addition to many workshops. From this place in Pativilca, the liberator began to plan the wave of independence of Peru.

One of the places that you should know in Pativilca with the alfajores of Pativilca, those who have a generous portion here you can also buy frejol colao that unlike the south is made with milk, you have to taste as much as possible, there is a business called Zoila where you can get each of these products.

Paramonga

Surrounded by sugar cane plantations, Paramonga has the tradition of cultivating this type of sugar product. Its square is wide and in that area you can find different hacienda houses that have remained silent and today are unfortunately abandoned, although if we look with our travelers' glasses we can realize the greatness that had formerly this place of Peru.

In Paramonga you can find different sugar cane plantations where nowadays the current owners develop their products to be able to export, not only sugar as an input but also sugar as alcohol.

For those who like to eat more, here you can also find places to eat a chancho al Palo. Paramonga not only has its city but also an archaeological center called "Fortaleza de Paramonga" its construction of the time of the Chimu culture. Even though it is called a fortress it is known that it also had a sacred space very similar to what today is Pachacamac.

However not everything is pink color in the fortress of Paramonga since unfortunately it has been forgotten by the authorities has made many people have written about some parts of its walls showing their little sensitivity to the cultural heritage of the country, we still have time to change this situation because as we have seen throughout this post the area of Barranca has so much to offer and give to any visitor who decides to come to know its landscapes, its people and its wonderful traditional food.

Few places have so many things like Norte Chico and Barranca where you can synthesize culture with fun as well as visit the countryside and on the other hand the fun of its cities that produce a unique atmosphere for visitors to know many adventures in an unforgettable journey, you know take advantage of the ride in Norte Chico in knowing everything that is possible because you will find an endless number of options for this tour so if you come by car or interprovincial car will be able to get an unforgettable experience.

Thanks you for reading this post, I hope it's useful, I wish you a super wonderful day as always.

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