We have finished a wonderful week here in Northern Peru. I keep reminding the kids (and myself) we are here in the middle of winter. The beaches are practically empty most days - except for the myriad of surfers of all abilities and the fishermen. We have spent several days here doing nothing. Some of this was well deserved, last night was due to a serious breach of calendar reading (my fault) but we are enjoying another day of the beach before we set off.
To back up, we started with an overnight bus trip from Cuenca to Piurra (second largest city in Peru in terms of population). Mental note: when you are going to change buses in the O dark thirty of the early morning, you should ask if the bus will actually BE THERE waiting for you, or if you will wait hours upon hours on a concrete bench waiting for your bus to arrive.
From there we progressed in another bus to Chiclayo - a bustling city with close proximity to two amazing museums. While we were there one day, we took a tour (in English) with a fantasic tour guide named Julio (Sipan Tours). He spent a lot of time getting us prepped and ready to see the exhibits in the museums. He built suspense and stopped to answer all of our questions. It was a great day with alot of interesting information passed along.
A short bus trip (3 hrs) on another day brought us to Trujillo. From there we took a cab to the beach, Huanchaco. Otherwise a very crowded beachfront, the winter proves to be less hectic here. We had a small problem when we first arrived though. The hostel had booked us 2 rooms instead of 1 for all of us together so we had to find another place to stay (this turned out way better because the new place faced the beach from the patio!). This seems to be the case in alot of places. They don't have adequate rooms for people traveling in groups that want to share a room (ie families, I guess). Everywhere they are saying their rooms only accomodate 3 max. Ironic, I think, for a people who revere the family so much more than our culture does.
Yesterday we took a tour of two historic sites - Huaca de la Luna (Moche -500 to 700AD) and Chan Chan (Chimu 900 - 1470AD). We had another fantastic guide, this time named Henry (Puriana Tours). Two different societies, but the archeologists believe that the people that built Chan Chan had a transitionary period and reimerged in several cultures, including the Chimu who built Chan Chan. The tours of the actual sites were amazing! They have uncovered walls built in @700 AD that are painted and sculptured in multiple colors (see Helen's post from yesterday for a photo).
Currently, the archeologists do not know what minerals they used to paint with - soooo cool! And very difficult to explain how surreal it is to walk down a corridor in a palace that was only available for kings and priests of a distant past. The guardians of the palace (a re-creation) were in the photo I saw that made me want to visit this place. I liked them so much I wanted to have my picture with them. So here it is! I'm so glad we saw this!
Tonight, we get on a bus to Lima and then on to Ica. From there we explore the Ballestas Islands (known as the poor man's Galapagos) and Paracas National Reserve. Also, I do something I have dreamed about since I read about them in college - I fly over the Nazca Lines (fingers crossed for clear weather or they won't take off).
To back up, we started with an overnight bus trip from Cuenca to Piurra (second largest city in Peru in terms of population). Mental note: when you are going to change buses in the O dark thirty of the early morning, you should ask if the bus will actually BE THERE waiting for you, or if you will wait hours upon hours on a concrete bench waiting for your bus to arrive.
From there we progressed in another bus to Chiclayo - a bustling city with close proximity to two amazing museums. While we were there one day, we took a tour (in English) with a fantasic tour guide named Julio (Sipan Tours). He spent a lot of time getting us prepped and ready to see the exhibits in the museums. He built suspense and stopped to answer all of our questions. It was a great day with alot of interesting information passed along.
A short bus trip (3 hrs) on another day brought us to Trujillo. From there we took a cab to the beach, Huanchaco. Otherwise a very crowded beachfront, the winter proves to be less hectic here. We had a small problem when we first arrived though. The hostel had booked us 2 rooms instead of 1 for all of us together so we had to find another place to stay (this turned out way better because the new place faced the beach from the patio!). This seems to be the case in alot of places. They don't have adequate rooms for people traveling in groups that want to share a room (ie families, I guess). Everywhere they are saying their rooms only accomodate 3 max. Ironic, I think, for a people who revere the family so much more than our culture does.
Yesterday we took a tour of two historic sites - Huaca de la Luna (Moche -500 to 700AD) and Chan Chan (Chimu 900 - 1470AD). We had another fantastic guide, this time named Henry (Puriana Tours). Two different societies, but the archeologists believe that the people that built Chan Chan had a transitionary period and reimerged in several cultures, including the Chimu who built Chan Chan. The tours of the actual sites were amazing! They have uncovered walls built in @700 AD that are painted and sculptured in multiple colors (see Helen's post from yesterday for a photo).
Currently, the archeologists do not know what minerals they used to paint with - soooo cool! And very difficult to explain how surreal it is to walk down a corridor in a palace that was only available for kings and priests of a distant past. The guardians of the palace (a re-creation) were in the photo I saw that made me want to visit this place. I liked them so much I wanted to have my picture with them. So here it is! I'm so glad we saw this!
Tonight, we get on a bus to Lima and then on to Ica. From there we explore the Ballestas Islands (known as the poor man's Galapagos) and Paracas National Reserve. Also, I do something I have dreamed about since I read about them in college - I fly over the Nazca Lines (fingers crossed for clear weather or they won't take off).
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