Lost! Under Peruvian Soil

I seem to be too busy to blog much these days; and when I do have the time, I am usually tired and unmotivated to blog. But, I did talk about post about the Catacombs in Peru, so here it goes. The monastery forbade photographs (hmph!) so I had to settle for some pictures off the internet I found of the Catacombs we visited. A group of us numbering 13 went into the Catacombs, and let me tell you - this place reeked of death.  I have never seen so many human remains piled together like that in all my life. 

 I was actually the one who really wanted to come here! I have been fascinated with archeology since I was a young child, so when I heard about this place and saw pictures of bones, I really wanted to go! It is, however, sobering, when you realize that tunnels lead underground from the torture chambers to the catacombs.  The monastery of course says that these were all people who were wealthy or who served in the church...hogwash!  After visiting the Museum of the Inquisition and seeing how they would torture people who stood against certain Catholic beliefs, I have a hard time believing there is no reason tunnels lead from the torture chambers into this dreadful place.  I looked upon the faces of many who once lived and breathed, but now lay still.  Who knows the stories they could tell if they were alive. Who knows what they stood up for! Some of them may have had the truth and been martyrs for the faith. 

 Below is a stopping point in the tour where our tour guide was explaining a few things.  She then gave a direction for us that were past a certain tunnel to turn back around and go left through the tunnel, and for the people that were in front of the tunnel to follow us through. (which would mean the tunnel would be to their right.)  Well, some our group being ahead of the tunnel turned around and went left, where we were supposed to go.  The others behind only heard "left" so they went straight ahead and took a left! (instead of a right through the tunnel.)  We continued on with the tour and later turned around and realized a big portion of our group was missing! I was like, "where are my parents? where is everyone?" They were lost in the catacombs, just lovely! lol It was actually kind of humorous! Some of us continued ahead with the tour while others went back to search for them. At one point the tour guide even stopped and questioned us about where they were/if they were coming back. Needless to say, we kinda held up the tour at one point while they waited for the others to catch up. lol

 Skulls were literally piled in certain areas. Some places bones were simply scattered, and other places they were arranged in certain orders. Pretty morbid!

It was a neat place to see, but it was also relieving to get out and breath fresh. Ducking through small spaces and breathing in a musty, deathly smell for a while gets old! Anyhow, it was memorable to say the least. :)