Blogs from Chiclayo, Lambayeque, Peru, South America - page 3

Dames y Caballeros ! Que estan haciendo ? Aren't you people bored yet by our ""funny"" reports and pictures ? Of course not, you wouldn't have tuned in if you were, de acuerdo ? How is home/work/family life doing, no struggle or strife at the frontline ? Good to know ... as you know we're always concerned about you. Ok, let's get ready for a new episode of the trip around the small small world. El Señor de Sipán ... who is this, any ideas ? Let's start with the country as such .. Peru, we dived into and thru this enchanting marvellous piece of earth ... and have to disappoint you heavily. We successfully skipped and cancelled the world-famous sites like the legendary lost city of Machu Picchu, the Inca capital Cusco, El Valle Sagrado ... read more

Ok, so since the purchase of my Enrique concert ticket has completely changed my plans, I had a few days to kill so I thought I would head north to Chiclayo. Well after a 13 hour overnight bus ride, which was redirected due to road blocks so it took an extra 2 hours on bumpy unsealed road, I arrived a little worse for wear. I travelled through some amazing desert country and some of the villages on the way looked like they were made out of adobe (mud mix) bricks and looked just like ancient ruins. Turns out despite being home to an important archeological find, The Lord of Sipan dubbed the "King Tutankhamen of the Americas", Chiclayo is not a hotspot for backpackers. I couldnt find a conventional hostel and things were a little dicey, ... read more

10 hours bus journey to Piura in coastal Northern Peru, via Macara/La Tina border crossing. Eventful so not too painful. We met 2 Irish guys - probably about 50 - clearly a couple but had cooked up some story about how they were going to meet their wives in Buenos Aires - odd! They provided us with beer and biscuits after the bus broke down (loud bang, puncture, resulting chaos for a couple of hours whilst the driver and conductor argued about how best to change a tyre) and it became clear we would be arriving in Piura very late with empty stomachs. We spent much of the journey fretting about how we had lost/never had our Ecuadorian Migration exit cards. People had told us the Ecuadorian immigration control was particularly sticky on the Peruvian border, ... read more

Day 54: Friday 22 August - Over the border into Northern Peru My 11pm bus from Loja reaches the border with Peru at around 3.15am. Everyone gets off the bus and waits patiently at the Ecuadorian side waiting for the border post to open. Word filters down the line that its not going to open until 4am.......great just what I need when I'm half asleep!! Luckily we don't have to wait that long and after around 30 minutes a light appears in the office and the border guard gradually starts processing the queue. After the formalities at the Ecuadorian side I walk over the bridge which crosses the Rio Calvas and into Peru. The border control at the Peruvian side can't be friendlier and after filling in an immigration form, getting the passport stamped its back ... read more

Yesterday, July 28, was Peruvian Indendence Day. Flags were raised, parades were marched, salutes were saluted. It was a huge party for everyone. We traveled to a small town nearby called Monsefu'. (Mohn seh FOO). We went with our new friends, Tom and Maribel. He is a transplant from the States and Maribel is his lovely wife. He is a fairly brave individual. He has left his former home in the US to move permanently to Peru to start his new life with Maribel and her son, Brian, who is a really nice young man. We just made a day of running around Monsefu', watching people, eating EVEN MORE FISH at the Delfines Restaurant, and scarfing down an order of picarones (a sort of Peruvian doughnut, fried right in front of you and eaten with syrup.). ... read more