Well, we flew from Lima to Chiclayo, which is the biggest city in Lambayeque. It’s just a 50min flight. I have already looked for accommodation. We arrived at the evening and went straight to the hotel. We left our stuff and went out to walk around the city. It was my first time there too, so it’s was new for both of us.

Chiclayo is located in the middle of a desert, so the weather is warm and dry. As all the cities in Peru, it has its Main Square with a Cathedral built by the Spanish during the Colony. We visited different churches and walked around the crowded streets. Chiclayo is a commercial city. All the products from the East come through Chiclayo and also they have an important harbor.

People were  friendly and always wanting to help. We were walking around and thinking about what to do the next day. I was sure I wanted to visit the Pre-Inca Ruins and move at night to Trujillo. So, we went to a travel agency in the square asking them for a tour during the day and a bus ticket to Trujillo. The drive wasn’t long. We had our flight tickets back to Lima leaving from Trujillo in La Libertad.

There are great ruins in Chiclayo, but instead of taking advantage of that, I spent my day here eating ice cream and buying a pair of jeans. It was somewhat difficult to explain to the salesgirl what I was looking for. She could not believe that I didn´t have high heeled shoes, and why I didn´t want bell-bottoms. A fun day, and then off to Trujillo that evening.

On the bus, the Peruvian guy sitting next to me asked (in Spanish) whether I was nervous, because i was fidgeting a bit. That started one of the best conversations I´ve had on the trip, and it was all in Spanish. Luis Tello, the guy, is an artist/art professor and showed me pictures of his work (really good stuff). We ended up talking about religion, relationships (he was going to Trujillo to sign his divorce papers, married to a MORMON!), art, poetry. He said he´d seen me in his dreams..hmmm..not quite sure about that..and that he had a premonition about me. Then he proceded to completely predict my personality..yikes! A really nice guy though, and gave me his contact information in case I ever needed help during my travels. Bueno!

We had an overnight bus from Loja (near Vilcabamba) to Puira in Peru. Our tickets were only to Macara which is a town just before the border. We were searched by the police  at about 2am which was pretty annoying. We were mostly sleeping. They took all our details down for god knows what reason and we headed on again. On reaching Macara it was lucky we could go staright through because as we approached Macara it was dead (although it was about 3.30am) and pretty unattractive to say the least. Reaching the border was easy as. We hopped off the bus, got our exit stamps, walked over the bridge and got our entry stamps and filled out out tourist cards. Then a policeman ushed us over to them across the road where we gave our details to them (again, have no idea why). One of them was really friendly, reminded me of one of those big softies, he was near-giant size and looked more army though. I got back on the bus and he came up behind me as he had been searching it (and I was one of 2 people on there) and put his hand on my shoulder and said ´Hola, bien!?´ (Hello, all good?) with a big smile on his face. Gave me a bloody fright though. He had also tapped Nathan on the shoulder and repeated ´Bien, bien!´ as we had been at their post because he must have realised we had no idea why we were there, although all foriegners had to go see them before they got back on the bus (no Ecuadorians had to see them, so we take it it is all those with passports)!

We got into Piura and were straight on another bus to Chiclayo. It was pretty nice, a double decked one and we had wished we had chosen the seats right at the front for the best view. But nevermind, we soon got sick of the view which only consisted of desert and then rubbish in the desert, and then more desert! It seems people from around here use the desert as their rubbish tip, as there were actually tip trucks dumping it all there. They don´t even seem to cover it. It´s pretty sad to see actually.

We got into Chiclayo which is a pretty unattractive town (no matter what the guidebook says, or fails to mention). It´s dusty and nothing worth mentioning apart for a nice plaza. We tried to find a tour for the next day to Sipan and Tucume, but they wanted too much as all that was included was a guide and transport and you still had to pay for entry fees. What idiots fall for this... it is dead easy to get transport out there and you can hire guides at site. Sadly though, we found out the next day that the sites were actually closed (again, no idea why) for that day and possibly the next day. I was pretty upset, I really wanted to see it but we were both so sick of the town itself (and lack of nothing at all to do) that we decided to move on to Trujillo which is another 3.5 hours away.

Needless to say, we did nothing in Chiclayo in the end. Nevermind, is on our list for when we come back to Peru one day!

Chiclayo was supposed to be a stopover before I went up to meet Angela and Beatriz in Mancora by the beach, but I decided to skip it and come back later because it was on the way back to get to Cajamarca anyway.  The attractions were more archeological sites, including the most exciting, valuable and largest of recent excavations, the site of Sipan.  The story of the huaca at Sipan unfolded in the late 80s and could be optioned for a movie.  In 1987 a noted Peruvian archeologist noted the appearance of some incredible pre-Colombian pieces on the international market and his suspicions that they might have come from huacas in the Chiclayo valley plundered by grave robbers or “huaqueros” led him to the site of Sipan, where there was a brief and even violent struggle over the recently violated site.  The robbers had gotten into one tomb and had quickly sold the precious items on the world market.  Some were recovered in Philadelphia and from Sothebys in London.  One grave robber was shot and killed by the police guarding the site.  In the end, the local population was grateful because the importance of the find would bring tourists and money into their area.  Many were employed as assistants in the dig and as guards and employees of the resulting world-class museum.  In 1989 the archeologists discovered what would turn out to be the most important pre-Colombian find in Peru, the tomb of the Lord of Sipan.  This tomb contained the most precious works of gold, bronze, coral and shell necklaces, woven dress and other artistic expressions of the high Moche culture.  It tied together many pieces of the culture that had puzzled archeologists for many years, and the treasure recovered was the most precious ever seen in the Pre-Incan culture.  Altogether in the tomb, they recovered the remains of the lord, his wife, a concubine, a child, a warrior, the guardian of the tomb, a viringa dog, and a llama.  All were sacrificed to accompany the lord into the afterlife.  

The museum didn’t permit photographs but it was well done.  Clearly marked and lighted exhibits very professionally arranged.  The only downside was that everything was in Spanish.  I could understand but how many people coming to visit don’t speak or read Spanish?  You can’t call yourself a world-class museum without bi-lingual tags on the exhibits. 

First I saw the Bruning Museum in Lambeyeque.  Bruning was an archeologist and ethnographist from Germany who lived in Peru for most of his life, from the late 1800s to the 1920s.  He spent much time among the native people and discovered many important archeological sites.  The museum had a nice collection of both his black and white photos as well as objects from the ancient sites.  I particularly liked the life-sized dioramas.

The Tumbes Reales museum was impressive and I looked at nearly everything.  The wealth of objects extracted from the tombs was fascinating.  But by the end of the afternoon I had had enough of the ancient cultures and archeology for the time being and I decided to skip the actual site of Sipan and the other pyramids further north from Lambeyeque and to head to Cajamarca.  At the rate I'm traveling I'll never make it to the jungle!  So I bought a ticket for the bus the next morning.  Chiclayo as a town doesn't have much beyond the famous Mercado Modelo, but I just didn't have the energy to wander through it.  My hotel was located in the red light district (unfortunately you can't find out these things in the day when the taxi driver takes you there..I was looking for something cheap..well, I found it!) and I found that out when I went out in the evening to have a beer.  There was a place next door to the hotel and I went in, but when I asked for a beer the guy behind the bar told me sit with a girl and he would bring it to me.  That set off some alarm bells.  Well, I'm not naive (sometimes I am, ok, I admit, but in this case I was not!) and I realized what was going on.  That was confirmed when I walked a bit down the street and saw 3 more places just like it, and then at the corner a couple of girls less dressed than the norm, especially on a chilly and windy night.  Well, I grabbed a taxi and went to the center and found a nice grill and cold beer I wanted. Time to get out of Chiclayo, "the city of friendship" as they are known.  Yes, extremely friendly on the street that I was staying!

This place looks like a bit of a dump, but we've been on the go since 4pm yesterday so are staying nevertheless!

Went out for brunch then headed for the market, which was like a flea market!  The meat section was gross!  On one counter there were 2 goats heads just sat there staring at you.  Then there were pigs trotters all lined up.  Yuk!!

In the afternoon we went to the Tumbas Reales de Sipan museum where there are loads of ruins from Sipan in the 17th century.  It was amazing.  Getting there & back was fun too!  In a tiny minibus (combi) with 20 people plus the driver.  Oh what joy! 

Spent the afternoon chilling on the net!

December 26, the day after Christmas my family and I decided to go visit the city of Chiclayo, which is about 3 hours away from Trujillo. We left at 6am and got there around 9am. My uncle Toño was kind enough to show us around his hometown.

Now in Chiclayo, another large town close to the northern Peruvian coast (not seen the sea yet, I think it´s a few km´s away, but should do at or around Trujillo)  Good news - it´s better than Piura!  It´s more interesting with busy markets lining many streets and motortaxis zipping all around.  Plus it´s not nearly as hot as Piura, just nicely scorching!

I´ve stayed here for a few days using it as a base for exploring  the nearby ancient sites of Sipan and Tucume, and the accompanying museums at Lambayeque.  All very interesting (though there are only so many detailed descriptions of fairly indistinct recovered artifacts that you can try to translate before you glance just a solitary look at 5 displays at a time and rapidly move on), and more of the same (/similar) expected further down the coast at Trujillo.  They call this area the ´Egypt of South America´, so any interest that I´m showing in the various sites is being tempered by the thought that I´m turning into my Dad (who, for those unaquainted, is a little bit too interested in anything Egyptian!)

I have been in Chiclayo 4 times maybe and i had always a good time! My best friend is from there!! The best disco OZONO...visit Lambayeque..dont forget to buy a KING KONG (is a dessert)..and visit  The Senor de Sipan museum!!