Our short skirts, welcoming the first warm bit of sun we had seen for awhile, attracted lots of stares, whistles and comments. It was enough to send a grown woman racing back to her room for more clothes.
Discount
Without even really trying, we got a discount on our hotel room. Firstly one due to it being low season, and then again for paying up front. I like this!!! However, there was no hot water...
Sipán
We found the minibus to Sipán in a dodgy corner of Chiclayo and got off at the ruins with a couple of English girls and two hobbits from England. We flashed our STA-issued International Youth Cards, and managed to score the discounted entry, s/2.50 instead of s/7 into the Moche ruins!!! Still buzzing we decided to flash it everywhere and anywhere in the future in hope of more ignorant ticket sellers.
We were looking into the first tomb, a hole of mudbricks with a cane coffin, a skeleton and pots, when I discovered that my camera wouldn´t switch on. I didn´t hit panic stations, but was perplexed as to why it didn´t want to work when I wanted it to. After a bit of fiddling it was digging it´s heels in and I trudged onto the next tomb knowing that I would miss some great shots of the skeletons and buried treasure.
I must admit that this was a bit of an ignorant day for Emily and I. We were very impressed at seeing the bones of Señor Sipán and the others killed to help him on his journey in the next life. There were 7 other people buried with him (most of them had their feet chopped off), one dog and two llamas, along with about 212 pots (they must have been thirsty). We were remarking at how well preserved the bones were and that they were out in the air, covered only by a tin roof, and only discovered our mistake the next day at the museum with most of the artefacts. Along with the tomb of Señor Sipán, there were tombs of a priest and also Viejo Señor found there.
We wanted to find the pyramids, and walked around some giant, mountainous termite mounds for a bit, wondering where the hobbits had gone. We then gave up on the walk and I went back to the tombs as after another desperate attempt at getting my camera to work, I just needed to scratch the battery terminals, and hey presto, I was in business. We found the most hobbity looking guy at the tombs again and he told us we should climb up the anthills to get a good view of what it would have looked like 2000 years ago.
The views were pretty spectacular, except for the haze which prevented any long distance views of the surrounding flat area. Whilst we were running along the top of the anthill we discovered that what we were running on was actually the pyramids. We could see the bricks under the erosion. Feeling a bit silly, we laughed at ourselves and then I found a little cavey, tunnelly thing that I decided, Indiana Jones style, to investigate. I slid down some scree into the thin entrance. I edged in further, curious, and my mini maglite came in handy to see what was around the corner. I shone the light on the walls, but it wasn´t quite strong enough to see everything. I then thought I heard bird noises and bolted out, thinking a bat would fly out chasing me. No bats though. We were dusty but very excited on the mini bus ride back to Chiclayo. We felt like real explorers climbing over the pyramids.
Museo Tumbas Reales del Sipán
The museum was a replica of the Sipán pyramids and the grounds were covered with workers gardening, painting and goodness knows what else. We tried flashing our cards again, but the woman was obviously a veteran of these ruses and refused a discounted entry. It was very dark inside but the exhibits were very interesting (at least until we had basically seen the same pottery pieces and metal artefacts in every case). The museum contained all the findings from the Mochican tombs at Sipán. There were numerous representations of Ai-Apaec, the Decapitator. He was represented as a person holding a head in one hand and knife in the other, and was very cool.
Also in the museum we saw the real bones of the dead people, fragile shards of what they once were. They were carrying copper shields and had intricate beaded scarf things around their necks. We realised when we got to the end that we had missed a section. I wanted to jump over the barrier that said emergencia, but Emily wasn´t convinced so we had to follow the labrynth back around to where it was. After that, I didn´t want to walk the whole way, so when I saw that the coast was clear to jump the barrier, I motioned to Emily to follow. Unfortunately a guard walked back in the exit door in time to see us hurdling the barrier. He then wagged a finger at us and told us we had missed half the museum. We then explained that we had gone back to see what we had missed and that we had seen everything else. He was placated, we were able to leave. When signing the guest book my comment was Muy intersante. Yo quiero un decapitador Very interesting. I want a Decapitator.
The souvenier shop was set up for tour groups, selling a very small, pricey range, which didn´t include a Decapitator keyring which I wanted to spend some soles on. Obviously they haven´t twigged on the excellent market for tacky keyrings just yet.
Túcume
From the museum in Lambayeque, we got on a mini bus to Túcume for more pyramids. I got squashed into the back seat and virtually ended up on the floor. From the highway, we walked to Túcume and got discounted entry with our cards into the museum and complex. Túcume, whilst pyramids very similar to the Moche, were originally built by the Lambayeque, then added to by the Chímu, conquered by the Incas and then let to ruin by the Conquistadors. The whole area looked like giant termite mounds and Emily and I climbed some tiring stairs (I don´t know how I will ever do the Inca Trail) to get a view of it all.
On our way back down, we dared ourselves to go on the restricted trail to Huaca Larga, the biggest one that they were apparently currently working on. We were the only tourists in the complex so it was a bit easier. On the path we encountered numerous locals who we greeted with buenas tardes. They didn´t care that we were walking there and they themselves used the path every day as a link to Túcume. The excavation area was abandoned and we got some great views of the pyramids and the insides of them.
Things I Learned
* There is such a thing as too many whistles, stares and comments and it is very uncomfortable when groups of men part to let you walk through the centre, ogling you as you walk past
* I don´t look close enough to be an archaelogist, and I certainly don´t have the patience
* Always try and get a discount
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