After a quick breakfast the next morning, we packed, loaded, and continued north through the desert. This part of the coast seemed to me to be more brushy and less bleak than the area south of Trujillo. After traveling for an hour and a half on the smooth blacktop of the Pan-American Highway, we briefly stopped in a village named San Jose de Moro to visit an archeological site. This was not a pyramid, but an ancient burial area discovered underneath the village's football pitch. Not much was left, but we did get to see replicas of the large jars used as burial vessels. Archeologists believe they have identified the women buried here by headdresses they wore as figures depicted on Moche ceramics. After another half-hour of travel we turned east onto a bumpy shortcut to our next destination, the site of Sipán. This consisted of a rather modest mound with metal roofs protecting the pits on the top. In the pits were rough mockups of what the archeologists found 50 years ago. This, of course was the place where the richest and most elaborate ancient burial in the Western Hemisphere was discovered. We were to see what was found in these pits the next day.

We again headed towards the ocean for lunch, dining at a place called Fiesta. We were served tasty fish, goat, and of empeñadas. Our final stop of the day before the hotel was the Pyramids of Tucume. We arrived late in the day and climbed the mud mound closest to the visitor's center. The guidebooks call this a spooky and evocative area, but I think I was too tired to develop much of an appreciation for the site this trip. Our hotel for the evening was the Costa del Sol, in the pleasant city of Chiclayo, population 400,000. After a dinner of Peruvian Pizza, Sharon and I saw a children’s parade celebrating kindergarten at the central plaza. We found this a pleasant way to wind down the evening.

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Additional notes for this day, written by Sharon McAllister

Ray was taking his physical condition seriously and he drank plenty of water, which he mixed with the re-hydration salts. We both hoped the day of travel would allow his body to rest and give the re-hydration sugar/salted, vitamin-packed liquid opportunity to work wonders. We stopped at a convenience store early in the morning on our drive from Trujillo to Chiclayo and Ray purchased a Donofrio brand truffle-filled ice-cream bar, a snack sized bag of Doritos and another snack-sized bag of cheese puffs. Although he doesn't normally eat this much "junk food", he figured he would do what he could to help improve his condition by adding sugar and salt to his diet. I was glad to see him improving a bit; although, I must say his energy level was still quite low.

I don't have much to add to what Ray has already said, other than a few comments

The archaeological site at Sipán, known as Huaca Rajada, was excavated beginning in 1987 by Dr. Walter Alva. This Moche buriel site unearthed Moche rulers and provided archaeologists and anthropologists significant insights into Moche life. I was very glad we stopped here because it gave me a sense of scale. I did not realize so much golden treasure and pottery could be unearthed from such a small space.

Our pizza dinner at Chez Maggy, just down the street from our hotel, hit the spot. The buffet lunch had been quite large and neither of us was too hungry. We split a personal-sized pizza. S/. 11.20 ($3.64 US)

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Tuesday, May 30 written by Ray McAllister

Our schedule today was to visit 2 museums, First up was the Museum and site of Sican, (not to be confused to Sipán, a completely different place.) We found this place about 30 minutes from the hotel outside Chiclayo. There we found a modern museum with informative models and graphics. Several rooms were devoted to artifacts from burials nearby. One royal personage was buried for eternity in a very uncomfortable looking backflip position. Lunch was at a place called the El Rincon del Pato, or Duck Corner. Along with duck we were served fresh fish, vegetables, goat, fruit, and a special drink called Algarobina, made from the Algaroba or Carib tree.

Our final stop of the day was the Museo Tumbas Reales Sipán, the museum of the royal tombs of Sipán. This is a new slick looking building with a shape suggesting a pyramid. The museum was located north of Chiclayo in a town called Lambayeque, and was designed specifically to display the treasures found at Sipán. No photographs are allowed inside the museum. The large amount of beautiful things displayed at the museum is overwhelming. We like to say that “you can’t take it with you” but the Sipán rulers sure took it all with them, solders, priests, servants, concubines, llamas, and a TON of golden earrings, necklaces, goblets, and other baubles. All this stuff was displayed on 4 levels of beautiful displays and dramatic lighting. Near the exit, mock-ups of the artifacts found were displayed on manikins, giving a sense of what the royal court might have looked like 1200 years ago. The figures occasionally moved and startled tired museum visitors. This was a very worthwhile afternoon, even for someone like me who can wear out quickly in a museum. It seemed tastefully done and I imagined that if the Sipán Lord had to be dug up and displayed, he could not hope for a better and more magnificent home than a place like this.

We had dinner at the Hotel and walked the evening streets a little before packing for our trip back into the mountains the next day. We found many candy stores along the street. A popular candy in this region of Peru is called King Kong, named after the movie monster famous in the 1930’s when the candy was developed.

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Additional notes for this day, written by Sharon McAllister

Lunch at El Rincon del Pato was included with the tour. Again, there was lots of food! If you eat here, do head back to the H.H.S.S. (in Spanish this is "servicios hygenicos" or, baños.) These are just off a large room behind the dining area. In this large room you will find several cages containing monkeys and exotic birds. It's a little private zoo, tucked away to surprise the visitors!

Museo Tumbas Reales Sipán is designed architecturally like a huaca, or temple. The artifacts are displayed to replicate how they were found at the actual archaeological site. Several photographs show the artifacts in situ and then displays are set up to replicate the items in as near as possible the in situ effect. The museum is very well done and was a highlight for me on this trip.

The last exhibit in the museum is a diorama depicting the Lord of Sipán’s funeral rite. It contains several life sized animated figures and comes complete with light, sound and action. Perhaps this sounds a bit Disney-ish. Not so. The bit of action at the end put together for me how certain artifacts were used in life and it was a delight to gain this insight and understanding. I will admit to jumping out of my skin when the large ball-shaped instruments sounded. WOW! And, even the second time I watched the exhibit go through its paces I jumped, just a little.

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Come visit with Ray and Sharon at http://travelerstogo.com/ by posting your follow-up questions in the Carribean, Mexico, Central & South American forum. Sharon's alias is Sharon Mc1, and she is the destination moderator for that forum -- Ray's alias is alpacamack. We both love talking about travel!

Sharon recently wrote a practical travel guide for the Peruvian and Bolivian high Andes. It was a great deal of fun to write and she particularly enjoyed writing the restaurant reviews. Here is the link:

http://p104.ezboard.com/feuropetogofrm21.showMessage?topicID=40.topic

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Articles in this series include:

Being Optimistic in Northern Peru - 2006 -- This is an introductory overview to our northern Peru trip. http://www.worldisround.com/articles/304049/index.html

The Santa Cruz Trek - Cordillera Blanca - http://www.worldisround.com/articles/304050/index.html

A Day in Lima and the Drive to Huaraz - http://www.worldisround.com/articles/304051/index.html

Huascarán National Park & Yungay -- http://www.worldisround.com/articles/305785/index.html

Huaraz and Chavín de Huantar -- http://worldisround.com/articles/309031/index.html

Trujillo: Sechin, Moche and Chimu sites -- http://worldisround.com/articles/309039/index.html

Chiclayo - Sipán Archaeology & Museum -- http://www.worldisround.com/articles/309158/index.html

Chachapoyas, Kuelap & Leymebamba -- work is in progress and will be available soon

Celendín and Cajamarca -- work is in progress and will be available soon

Lima -- work is in progress and will be available soon

Trip planning resources -- work is in progress and will be available soon

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