10/07/2019 – Tombs and Pyramids, Chiclayo, Peru

We woke up to our breakfast in bed being delivered by our hostel host (not bad for the £5 we paid to stay here!). We had bananas, bread rolls, omelette and tea served to us on a tray. (We actually had coffee with us so had that instead of course!) We are staying in a place just outside the city centre, called hostal Satellite, we have a  double room with a private bathroom, it is very basic but clean, perfect! We started watching a YouTube video about the sites we intended to see today. Claire’s friend Charlotte, who lives in Lima, has sent us some really useful Peru advice, from which we made todays plan. We were trying to work out logistics of how to get between the different places of interest, which seemed like it could be a bit of a headache. Then we got a knock at the door - the hostel host had asked a Dutch couple, who were also staying in this hostel, to come and explain their tour they were going on for the day. It sounded like it eliminated the headache of sorting all the in between travel out, as well as providing an English speaking guide, so we decided to go with them on their tour. The bus was already outside so we had a few minutes to brush our teeth and then we were away. We ended up using a company called Moche tours, I believe they are recommended in the lonely planet guide. We got in the minibus that was at our hostel and then went to another location to pick up about 8 other Spanish speaking guests. We got on the road and introduced to our guide and the driver for the day. Our first stop was Sipan Huaca Rajada. This is an archeological site with Moche pyramids from 50-700 AD, and contains the tomb of Lord Sipan. It was only discovered 32 years ago! We walked around the tombs and saw how they were built, we even walked over the ‘adobe’ or mud bricks that it was made from.

Tombs of Sipan.

The resting place of Sipan.

Apparently apart from when the El Nino comes, it never rains here, which is why the ruins and artefacts have not been too damaged. Even so, it is amazing that the site is not protected more, and that we were allowed to walk over it! We saw a few burrowing owls around, which we later discovered were quite symbolic of the Sipan time, with their jewellery and decoration adorned with the owl image.

The Burrowing owl.

We went back to Chiclayo for some lunch. The driver took us to a very traditional Peruvian cuisine restaurant that was busy with both tourists and the locals. They serve lots of duck dishes, cebiche, even sting-ray (apparently a very local speciality!) We got served a drink called ‘Algarrobina’ which is a caramel like cocktail, which reminded me of Baileys (Aunty Hil, maybe you would love it!?) For lunch, Josh and I both had the chicken Tacu-tacu. This is a traditional Peruvian dish that was invented to use up leftover rice and beans, it gets mixed together and fried up and served like a patty. Next we got in the minibus and went to the Tucume pyramids. This is a site of 26 pyramids - apparently they are the newest pyramids that exist in the world! Our guide explained a bit about the site and about the Sipan era, and we looked in the museum at some of the ceramics, jewellery and other artefacts that had been excavated.

Tucume pyramids in the background.

We got back into the minibus and taken to the ‘Royal Tombs of Sipan Museum’ which contains all the most significant and important artefacts from the tombs we had visited in the morning, including the skeletons, textiles, jewellery, and gold. Our guide was very enthusiastic, always explaining and joking and pointing things out. He says the Peruvians are very proud of these sites we saw today, as they were discovered and excavated by Peruvians themselves, they didn’t need help from the Americans or others, and you can tell this from the way he speaks about it! It really was a fascinating day, I think dad would have loved it! Apparently it is not very touched by tourists yet as it is in an obscure part of the country, most tourists head to Lima and Cusco and don’t go this far North. I can imagine it will get more popular though, thanks to Claire’s friend Charlotte for that tip!

We got back in the minibus and dropped off at our hostel door with the Dutch couple. The tour provided door-to-door service and an English speaking guide, and was definitely worth the £12.50 we paid! We went in and chatted with our host before heading down the road to the supermarket to buy some snack food for dinner. We made cheese and avocado rolls in our room and settled down for the night.