Chiclayo

Chiclayo was our first stop in Peru, and we made it our base for visiting some nearby archaeological sites. Chiclayo is not an attractive city and not much colonial architecture remains. However, it was a pleasant enough city to stay in for a few nights as it is modern, has some good restaurants and its location in the desert makes for some lovely, cool evenings with nice breezes.

Túcume

Located 35 km north of Chiclayo, Túcume contains the remains of 26 adobe pyramids constructed by the Lambayeque people over 1000 years ago. Excavations have revealed that Túcume was a major urban center of a society of farmers, fishermen and sailors, and that its residents engaged in trade with multiple areas of the South American coast, northern mountains and the jungle.

When the Spanish arrived to this region they did not realize that the area contained the remains of pyramids; they though t they were just giant mounds of dirt. Frankly, this is what they looked like to us, and we were not that impressed by the site. Unfortunately, rainfall brought by La Niña over the centuries has eroded most of the pyramids.


However, the smallest pyramid, which was used for religious purposes, does have some well-preserved wall carvings that are quite impressive. The area around this small pyramid has excellent displays explaining the significance of the various carvings.


Visitors can climb a look-out point that provides a nice view of the surrounding area.Túcume is located in Peru’s northern desert, so it is very hot, very dry and there is no shade. Make sure to wear a hat and bring lots of water.

While at Túcume, we saw hairless dogs for the first time. We think they are rather sad looking.

More Photos of Túcume

Museo de las Tumbas Reales de Sipán

This museum contains 1800 year-old funerary objects and mummies of the Moche people excavated from adobe pyramids at the Sipán site. Excavations began in 1987 and have revealed about a dozen royal tombs. One of the most significant findings was the tomb of El Señor de Sipán, a Moche ruler and warrior. His mummy was found clad with various ornaments (breast plate, ear ornaments, bracelets, necklaces) made of gold, silver, copper and turquoise, and burial offerings in small clay pots. He was buried with eight people, apparently his wife and two other women (possibly concubines), a military commander, a watchman, a banner holder and a child. In another tomb were found the remains of what is thought to have been a priest, along with a sacrificed llama and dog.

This is a fantastic museum, and it is much more impressive than the actual Sipán site. We were really impressed with the large volume of well-preserved artifacts that are on display. The museum is shaped like a pyramid, and ramps lead you down to the displays of each tomb, mirroring the sequence in which archaeologists discovered the various mummies. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take any photos inside the museum.

Sipán

We spent an afternoon visiting the site of the Lord of Sipán excavation. The site has replicas of the mummies and offerings found so that visitors can see what the tombs looked like when the archaeologists made their discoveries. There is also a nice museum containing the findings of tombs that have been most recently excavated. We enjoyed walking around the site, but the highlight was definitely the museum.

More Photos of Sipán

Where we ate

La Parra: This restaurant serves excellent grilled meats and Chinese food (the Chinese dishes are on a separate menu that you have to request specifically). We really enjoyed this restaurant and ate here twice. We liked that it seemed to be very popular with the locals. During our first dinner we had beef and broccoli and a chicken in tamarind sauce, which was similar to orange chicken. The second time we shared a delicious steak.

La Fiesta: This might be the fanciest and most expensive restaurant in Chiclayo, but is still reasonably priced by US standards. We had a delicious traditional ceviche and a duck dish that was also pretty tasty. We discovered that duck is a popular dish in northern Peruvian cuisine.

Café Astoria: A tiny café with tasty breakfast sandwiches. This place was always busy, but the service is fast and people are in and out pretty quickly.

Where we stayed

Hotel Mediterraneo Chiclayo: We enjoyed our stay at this hotel. It was very clean, the room was spacious and comfortable, and the staff and hotel owners were very friendly and helpful. The hotel is located about a 10 minute walk from downtown Chiclayo. It was perfectly safe to walk during the day, and at night we took taxis, which were inexpensive. We paid USD $25 per night for a room with a queen bed and private bathroom with hot water.