Chiclayo -Sipan-Tucume

I'm just going to wrap these up in one post. We caught a bus 4 hours north of Trujillo into the archeological hot spot of the Chiclayo area (ie the Egypt of South America). Chiclayo itself is a big dusty hot busy city, only good for a hostel and some great hamburgers in the plaza de armas. there is also a massive market that has everything from swordfish to hallucinogenic cacti, dress clothes to......just everything. Really interesting and amusing. We thought we could do some final tourist shopping it turned out to be the city's (of 900k) one and only version of Wal-Mart.

Nearby is Sipan and Tucume, towns containing pre-Inca pyramids that are still being excavated. We visited the Sipan museum containing lots of gold and turquoise artifacts from the tombs (more than found with king tut) and then went further north to see the pyramids in Tucume around sunset. Again, I'm completely impressed with these ancient civilizations. Their craftsmanship (they figured out how to make and weld iron....and made insanely small turquoise beads by the millions. And construct massIve adobe pyramIds desIgmrd to wIthstand huge earthquakes) and ability to harness nature (their irrigation system...in the desert!!..is unsurpassed by any other ancient civilization) is mind boggling.

This was a worthwhile mini excursion for a couple days before heading back south a couple hours to Pacasmayo where there is a wave dubbed Chicamas big brother. Heck Ya!

Also pictured is a Peruvian Hairless. This is a certified breed of dog....