Blogs from Chiclayo, Lambayeque, Peru, South America - page 7

I bet you didn´t expect to hear from me again so soon! In the last blog I didn´t talk about the tourist sites we´ve visited around Chiclayo. There are quite a few vestiges of old (pre-inca) civilisations in the region, some of them were only discovered half a century ago (the famous Sipan Lord). We spent a day visiting the Tucume Pyramids, which are the remains of a city part of the Lambayeque/Sican (and afterwards Chimu) reign. A few days before Easter, we went to Motupe to see a famous cross on the top of a hill. People come from all over the country to climb up to the cross and ask for a miracle, but the scenery is also nice. When we arrived at the start of the climb, I felt my stomach was in ... read more

C'est fait on a notre visa de 90 jours supplémentaires au Pérou, mais ce ne fut pas sans une petite frayeur non prévue au programme : Arrivés au poste frontière les douaniers refusent de nous valider notre sortie d'Equateur le même jour que l'entrée... nous comprenons vite qu'il est possible de "discuter" par l'intermédiaire de petits truants qui font leur bisness en corompant les agents de douane pour tous les touristes qui font comme nous. Un petit billet de 10 dollards et il n'y plus de problème, le passport est tamponé. Côté Pérou le douanier nous demande "Vous êtes allé en Equateur pour petit déjeuner ou quoi?" mais nous laisse passer sans faire trop de problème. Voila pour l'annecdote. Ce week-end on a découvert les "récréos-campestres", c'est des restaurants complètements perdus au milieu de la cambrousse ... read more

Back to bloging after a few weeks (ok, a few months...) of silence. We’re staying in Chiclayo, known as the city of friendship. The weather is hot and sunny, the beaches are nearby and the people really are friendly. Everyday we get up and jump into the cramped Combis (minivans that act as buses and carry up to 29 people!!!!) or Colectivos (personal cars that give lifts to people for a few coins), if your lucky you get to sit on the handbrake!! Both of them have hot salsa or cumbia blazing away. They also drive like they’d risk their lives to get a few extra passengers. I started off working with IMAR Costa Norte, an NGO specialised on irrigation systems for agriculture. I was part of a project for the development of artichoke production in ... read more

Trujillo Arriving on the late bus, we had little choice but to take a dodgey hotel, the type with hourly visitors, until the next morning when we changed to a slightly cleaner, huge, old hotel a block away. I got ill here (liquado con agua was the culprit) and so, spent a lot of time in the room/bathroom whilst Sal checked out the city. There are numerous archeological sites around this area - the Moche and Chicama valley. We only visited a couple because, quite frankly, after seeing one, I sort of got the picture of what the others would be like. I´m also not big on ruins. It´s just not my thing man. But in Peru, it seems everything poses itself as an important, Inca ruin. Gotta love that highly pumped Peruvian tourist industry. Chan ... read more

Thursday, July 14 We boarded our bus (El Dorado) in downtown Mancora- it was pretty full from the previous stop in Tumbes) around 11pm, and let me tell you that as soon as I got on, I wanted to turn around and get off! The air in that bus was hot and stale, and I felt instanly clautrophobic. I honestly thought I was going to have a panic attack and all I could think was ¨There is NO WAY I am going to last 6 hours on HERE!!!!!¨ As I looked around and saw most people sleeping, wearing jackets and coats, I knew there were would be NO AC and there was no other way to get out of town. Anthony and Amanda sat in front of me, I sat with Alex, and William sat behind ... read more