A Journey Through the Night: the North Coast of Peru

We have returned from a trip to the North Coast of Peru to visit the sites of the pre-Inca regional cultures that existed there.  More on these cultures will be posted later, but let it be said now that the sites and sights are astonishing and amazing.

Our trip in a nut shell: We left Lima for Trujillo on the Monday night bus (nine hour ride) and we arrived in Trujillo for two days of touring archeological sites and associated museums. We spent two nights at the Libertad Hotel (very nice).  We then traveled from Trujillo to Chiclayo on a Thursday morning bus (3.5 hours) and spent that afternoon and the following Friday and Saturday morning touring.   We stayed two nights in Chiclayo at the Garza Hotel (so-so). On Saturday afternoon, we flew from Chiclayo back "home" to Lima.

An edited Google map showing Peru. Lima (the capital of Peru) is around 9 million people and the other major cities listed in official size are Arequipa, Trujillo and Chiclayo.  Each of these cities has about 1 million people if you include the surrounding areas.

The bus distance from Lima to Trujillo is 360 miles and from Trujillo to Chiclayo is 125 miles.  The landscape is all coastal desert.  The relief map on the right shows the Andes mountains almost going into the ocean, so the coastal desert is narrow. Rivers come from the mountains and pre-Inca irrigation canals turn the desert green. Sugar cane and rice are common crops. On our last two days in Chiclayo, the temperatures were 93 and 95 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a sense we have prepared for this trip for some time.  We have read Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond.  We have read 1491 by Charles Mann and recently read The Lords of Sipan by Sidney Kirkpatrick.   The Kirkpatrick book is a riveting read about the saving of one of the sites we visited from looters and smugglers in 1987.

The Enrico Poli Museum is within walking distance from our apartment. The museum is a private residence and features the private collection of the owner who is portrayed in the Kirkpatrick book as a criminal, a smuggler and one of the people who promotes looting of archeological sites. We perceived the man in the car in front of the house as a guard.  We did not visit.

 

Another museum in our neighborhood we visited prior to our tour was the Amano museum (great textile exhibits), and we saw a ceramic model made by the Moche culture of people on reed boats (note the little model in the upper left corner).  Julie exhibits good form on the real thing at the beach at Huanchaco outside of Trujillo, but note that she did not catch any fish.

 

 An example of irrigation and non-irrigation.  The little oasis contains the ticketing offices and some artesan shops that lead to Huaca de la Luna near Trujillo.

 A view of the desert on the way to Chiclayo from the bus window.

The smoke is from the burning of the sugar cane prior to havesting.  The view is from the top of Huaca de la Luna with some part of Trujillo in the background.

 

 Rice fields in the desert.

 We watched a horse riding and dancing exhibition in which the horses are one of the prides of Peru. The breed is known as the "Caballo de Paso," and they have been genetically bred to move with their legs on one side of their bodies and then the other.  The result is a very smooth ride. Here the horse and rider dance to music around the hat.

 The Peruvian hairless dog.  We saw a number of these.  The dogs were said to be a favorite of the Inca rulers. However, the lords of the earlier cultures had a royal spotted dog that is thought to be extinct.

 The cathedral on the main square of Trujillo. Some 15 years ago, the mayor decided that the buildings around the square should adopt the colors found in the nearby archeological sites - red, yellow, blue.... The abandonment of good old white caused quite a controversy - but it was done. Note the sheen on the concrete walks. Often this is a smooth finish - makes us nervous when we walk on it.

 The public library in Trujillo. We did not visit inside - but we sure liked the outside.

 Our excellent English speaking guide Patricia in Trujillo led us through a colonial house once used by Simon Bolivar (the George Washington of South America).  The ceilings in the rooms must be 20 feet high.

 Harold has been to Purgatory which is a high point at a site where 26 mud-brick pyramids had been built. Most have not yet been excavated.

Actually, Julie has been to Purgatory also.  Here we take a break and enjoy the breeze at the top.  We also watched the buzzards sailing around.

A welcome sign into the city of Chiclayo. The mural on the sign depicts the saga about how the Lambayeque culture was started by a group of people emerging from the sea on rafts.  The saga was recorded by a Spaniard in early colonial times.  We found all the people in northern Peru to be very welcoming.


Stay tuned for upcoming blog entries on the pre-Inca archeological sites we visited.