Castillo Chancay, Peru

[Martin Hash]

There are obviously a lot craftsman in Peru that have never had any schooling in professional construction, but could copy what they've seen in other places. The Castillo Chancay was Disneyland without the rides; an eclectic mix of beautiful reproductions of castles, sailing ships, Chinese pagodas, Roman villas, and a potpourri of other architectural types and decorative motifs. The backsides and roofs of the buildings were incomplete, with no attempt to hide the rough construction. I could tell just by looking that only a minimum of rebar had be used; everything was painted concrete and wooden facade. The amount maintenance to keep the outside looking good must have been immense; labor in Peru must be cheap. It was all built on on a clifftop and even into the side of the cliff face; it looked like even the tiniest earthquake would send the whole thing crashing into the sea; maybe just a lot of customers stamping their feet at the same time.



Similar to how the castle was constructed, not by engineers but by artisans, the waterslide there was more form than function. I can confidently say it was the slowest slide in the world, certainly the slowest waterslide. In fact, there was no sliding; you had to push your way down inch-by-inch. At first I wasn't going to go but after watching my son wiggle his way down the thing while holding my grandson, the idea of riding the slowest slide in the world seemed a memorable achievement. It's not something I did twice, or ever want to do again but, hey, how could I pass up the opportunity?

Water Slide s.JPG