Peru, Ancient People, Myth, Legend, Centuries Old Ruins, Pisco, & Ceviche - Part I Chiclayo the North

Part I: the North – Chiclayo and surrounding area

Peru, a country we traveled from north to south and the Andes in between, leaving only the jungle unexplored by us.  (We had seen the jungle while in Ecuador, see “We survived the Amazon”)  We wanted to visit pre-Inca civilisations, their architecture, and learn of their culture.  Nowhere is there more of this than in Peru.    Mexico and Central America have the Mayans, Peru and South America have the Incas. 

It has been an amazing journey sailing Limbo from New Orleans to Lima.   Not many sailors come this far south, for several reasons,  the primary one being head winds.  Very stubborn, strong head winds.  No one likes to sail an extra 400 miles tacking back and forth just to pull into a port that then charges them an exorbitant amount of money to enter their country.  They also tend to threaten you with fines for not adhering to particular guidelines made up as they please.  Had it not been for the Seven Seas Cruising Associations liaison, Gonzalo Rivago, we would have been at their mercy.  This is not so for land travel or people entering by plane.  There are quite a few people that leave their boats in Bahia Ecuador and travel by bus or plane to Peru.  The offset to the government officials is Peru itself.  A country filled with generous friendly people, and lets not forget the food.  Do not come here if you are worried about your waistline.  

Peru has been on my bucket list for quite some time as a place to visit and we both had dreamed of Macchu Picchu.  There is so much more than Macchu, although that is a highlight.  We started our adventures with a bus trip north of Lima, to the bustling city of Chiclayo.  This is primarily a commercial area but also used by tourist as a staging point to visit the sites of TÙcume, SipÃn, Lambayeque, and Batan Grande.  Chiclayo also has a central market famed for its section devoted to  mercado de brujos (witches market) selling everything from herbs to whale bones and the famed San Pedro hallucinogenic cacti. 

We arrived rather early with plenty of time to drop our bags and book a tour.  We got lucky with Sipan Tour company for pricing and a private guide with car.  We were able to make our own schedule with sites we wanted to see.  We went first to La Pimentel,  a small beach community that still uses the traditional caballitos del mar (made from totora reeds) boats for their small fishing industry. 

 Over the next two days we visited the archaeological sites of SipÃn , Sican, Tucume, and the Bosque de Pomac  a dry forest,  as well as the  Museo de las Tumbas Reales de SipÃn and Museo Nacional de SicÃn and Museo de Sitio.  Tùcume is also known as the valley of the Pyramids with over 26 adobe mounds to walk to.  The dry windy conditions and earthquakes, has left many of these structures looking like large mounds of packed dirt with some crevices and remnants of steps.  Looking closely, bricks could be seen, imaginary rooms with walls, etc.  Much to learn, some quite confusing as to who conquered who and when.  The cultural differences seem to be in their ceramics, religious idols, crafts and burial preferences.  Some were buried laying down, some sitting up.  All seem to be buried with their possessions to take into the after life.  The area was first inhabited by the Mochica where the Temple of SipÃn was the main burial pyramid for the nobles, then SicÃn who built in the BatÃn Grande area abandoning it after a disastrous rain in 1100 AD.  They then moved to Tûcume.  Then came the Chimu people, the Inca, and then the Colonial period.  I think this is the order of it.  A few references,  three museums, and one guide have a little different story for each.  They all furthered  civilization with textiles, ceramics, metallurgy, agriculture, and boat building techniques we continue to learn from and build on.  Of the area we saw, I believe the dry forest was my favorite. 

noble found buried sitting upright with his wife, concubines, child and 2 guards

 Burial Note:  When the husband dies, his wife and his concubines are sacrificed and buried with him.  If the child is under 14 years of age, they too are sacrificed and buried.  The guards are also killed and their feet cut off so they have to stay to protect the tomb for all eternity.  Our guide, Arturo said they were given juice from the San Pedro Cacti and then killed. 

1000 yr old tree and still growing

Arturo told us of a time when he went to Brazil it started to rain.  He had never, yes, never in his life seen rain.  His friend gave him an umbrella and told him to put it over his head so he would not get wet. He was confused as to why people were laughing and staring at him.  He had not opened the umbrella but held it above his head with it closed.

fallen bridge

  When the governor came for the opening ceremony, the bridge collapsed when the first car went over.  The driver had to be rescued and sent to the hospital.  He then was arrested and sent to jail for breaking the bridge.

We spent three days touring the area and went to continue our way to Trujillo.  While waiting in line for a bus ticket, my backpack was stolen, in it my clothes, computer, planner, guide book, and my travel diary.  Yes, I know a few paragraphs back I said what a wonderful people the Peruvians are.  They are.  I don’t want to sully mine or your view with one bad incident.  However, with no clothes, we returned to Lima to regroup and replace things I needed.

Continued Part II