The Ruins are Ruined

Greetings from the (relatively) small town of Chiclayo! I arrived here in the overnight bed-bus from Lima. Again, the bed buses are the greatest. The ride attendant served a chicken dinner, we watched Night in the Museum (yet again, oh well) in Spanish, and I was able to lay back practically horizontal. In chiclayo, I feel like I have definitely returned to Peru, compared to the relatively cosmopolitan capital of Lima, and the international city of Cuzco. I again find myself the only gringo on the bus, the only gringo in the hotel, the only gringo on the street, etc. It´s comforting!!

Understandably, some of you may be asking yourselves, "What the heck is in Chiclayo, Peru?" Up until recently, the answer would be easy. "Not much."

However, in the late 1980´s, archaeologists and others began to notice a rise in artefacts being sold on the black market in or around this town. There are grave robbers, known in Peru as "huaqueros" (temple robbers), that go around digging holes in the ground hoping to find centuries-old treasures. At about the same time as artifacts were appearing on the world markets, several huaqueros around Chiclayo were suddenly noticeably wealthy.

A perceptive Peruvian archaeologist, Walter Alva, was able to persuade (pay?) police, etc., to protect the site. The locals were upset that their local source of revenue was being cut off. So, with the help of international funding, Alva was able to hire the locals as security guards, etc., and the local anger diminished.

The grave robbers had come within inches, but failed to discover, the grave of the "Lord of Sipan." This lord lived during the time of the Mochicas, another pre-Incan empire which attained amazing heights in the art of ceramics, gold and silver ornaments, etc. They were prominent in about 300 to 500 C.E.

The "Royal Museum of Sipan" has been described as the pride of Peru. It was built in 2002. It really is an outstanding museum, with a wealth of displays of jewelry, adornments, costumes, etc., of the Mochica period, all of which came from the burial sites that were not ransacked.

The people of the era built pyramids, a number of which are still partially standing. The architecture of the museum imitates this pyramid affect: you have to walk up a long ramp to the top of the pyramid/museum. You then walk past numerous exhibits walking down 3 floors until you reach the tomb at the bottom. It´s quite impressive.

I took a tour with a group of Peruvian tourists. They may not be able to get to Cuzco but they come here in droves! They definitely have the interest in their national heritage, when it doesn´t cost an arm and a leg. The tour guide announced that our first mission was to go out for lunch. My kind of tour group! I ate some sort of local specialty. I passed on the goat and the guinea pig and chose the rather pedestrian turkey with rice, washed down with what they called red corn juice. That sounds terrible, but it was like a cold tea, flavored with cloves and cinnamon, and was surprisingly good. We then went off visiting the museum and the ruins of Tucume.

On the way back, we stopped at the local junk food stands so my fellow tour-takers could dine on snacks that might as well have had a huge sign reading "Abandon hope, all gringo stomachs who enter here!" While the others chowed down on what looked like fried potatoes in grease, cotton candy (?), pork rinds, and other stuff, I ate an orange. Not very exciting, but later that evening I appreciated my restraint.

Today, we visited two more ruins, and two more museums. I´m exhausted!We climbed around sites where archaeologists were doing their thing. It was fascinating. The tour guide today talked at machine gun speed (in Spanish, of course). I now know more about pre-Columbian cultures, etc., than I ever dreamed of. If you should ever find yourself in northern Peru, I wholeheartedly recommend chiclayo and its pre-columbian treasures!

Tomorrow I´m off on my way to Ecuador!
Hasta luego!