Ruins of Tucume

The Valley of Pyramids of Tucume are also found in Lambayeque. Locals call this area Purgatorio (purgatory). The locals never go into this area after dark. And healers believe the pyramids have special healing powers.












This location is huge, covering over 540 acres (including 26 major pyramids and platforms). From the entrance you have quite a walk with only a few small trees to block the intense sunlight. Make sure you have on comfortable shoes, sun block, and water.


The stairs up to the top of the pyramid are the ultimate stair-master. We had a few people stay in the bus, while others made the walk to the pyramid but then turned back when they saw the long stairs. That left a few suckers, er....um...I mean brave soles to climb the path. These stairs were not all the same size. Also, some were taller and steeper. In the end, the climb was well worth the lactic acid build up, with the awesome view of the mountains and pyramids.




It was a great adventure, as well as a workout. On your way back to the entrance there is a small park with a lot of shade and also sinks with cool water to clean yourself from all the desert dust. To see all the excavated items from this site visit the "Museo de Tucume" which is located in Lambayeque.

The wedding

The wedding was at 8:00 p.m.. A quarter to eight everyone was gathering to go into the church when the lights went out. The bride was taking her pre-wedding pictures when this happened. The reason we weren't in the church seated was because another wedding was taking place. Can you imagine when the priest is about to pronounce you man and wife the lights go off. The whole town was in the dark for about 15 minutes. The priest quickly finished the first wedding and then we witnessed my brother and Antone get married. It was a beautiful ceremony.

The place was very elegant and the food was great. Here in Peru there usually is no bar - what they do is put the liquor on your table. There was white wine, red wine, champagne, whisky and soda. Johnny mastered the ice tongs. If you needed ice in your glass, he was the man.

With all the liquor people were having a wild time. These two gals to the left got drunk on apple juice. In Peru, receptions typically last until 6:00 a.m the next morning. The meal finished around 10 p.m. and the party promptly began. The dance floor was packed. We have a lot of blackmail pictures...these offenders will remain nameless, but you know who you are. If a lot of people ask to see the incriminating photos I will post them.





This is around 3:00 a.m. All night Johnny wanted to dance and play these drums. The band let him come up several times. This is him performing "Babalu" I think. He took a 25 minute nap at midnight and was ready to hit the floor again. We finally left at 4:30 a.m. We had initially said good-bye to everyone at 4 a.m and were going to catch a cab with Kristine, Vilms, and Micheal. They were ready to go and I told them we would meet them downstairs. We waited and next thing I know they were back on the dance floor. I think they ended up closing the place down. Everyone had a great time.

Chiclayo Part II: The Ruins

The main pyramid of the site. Scientists determined this was man-made since it consists of adobe mud.

"Snakes....why'd it have to be....snakes?" An actual tomb with imitation artifacts. The tomb was discovered under a soccer field.

Another tomb....

Young Indiana Jones: The New Chronicles

Either the world's first elevator, or another tomb.

A view from the top of the pyramid.

This is actually good advise...if the pyramids eroded this badly from wind and rain - imagine what a good leak would do.

Walking the trail...

A view of the Andes Mts. in the distance. Although these appeared huge, they were probably considered speedbumps compared to the mountains toward the west.

Chiclayo is near the ruins of the Moche culture (which ruled the northern coast of Peru prior to the Incas - from 1AD to 700AD). The main village was known as Sipan, and houses an archeological site known as Huaca Rajada. The site consists of two large, eroded pyramids (built by the Moche people using adobe mud bricks). In addition, several tombs have been found in this area of upper echelon Moche people - including the Senor de Sipan (the tribes leader) which was located in 1987. Some archaeologists believe this is the most important discovery in the last 30 years because it was untouched by looters.

I imagined the ruins as quite a tourist attraction. Maybe they had a mall next to the pyramids that sold things like t-shirts with "I partied with El Senor de Sipan" printed on them. They could even have a McDonalds there that sold Moche burgers. How about a 80-foot water slide? The possibilities were endless.

On our third day in Chiclayo, a group of us decided to visit the ruins. We charted a bus we could fit in - which reminded me of the bus that Kathleen Turner rode and broke down in "Romancing the Stone", except that our's was smaller and in worse condition. As the bus ventured onto the highway, we wondered how long the ride would be. A member of the group, who shall remain nameless (but her name rhymes with "baron"), said "Oh, only about 10 minutes".

For the next hour, we passed several dirt farms, sugar cane fields, donkeys pulling carriages, and places along the side of the rode where people just dumped their garbage. Then our bus slowed down to about 2 mph, as we realized we were crossing a river on a one lane bridge. The bridge made one of those in Madison County look like the Golden Gate. This prompted Alex to turn white as rice, which was unusual considering he had developed a tan which rivaled George Hamilton's. He began muttering "This just isn't right! Something's wrong." Little did we realize at the time that he had rented a movie called "Turistas" before the trip. The movie was about a group of American tourists that go backpacking in Brazil, only to have their bus drive off a cliff, and then ending up in a cabin in the jungle where they begin to be murdered for black market body parts. I believe this was a new Disney film.

After crossing the bridge, the bus drove through a very run-down village. The driver pulled over and asked a man where the ruins were. He said, "You're looking at it!" Well, I guess they call them ruins for a reason.

After another half mile of driving we found the entrance to the site. Upon entering, we learned from our tour guide that an archeological team had just located a new tomb and had begun excavation. They allowed us to peer in dig, but we could not take any pictures. We were also able to climb a section of the pyramids, which yielded a beautiful view of the Andes Mountains.

The bus ride back seemed much shorter, and everyone was happy they took the journey to see this beautiful Peruvian landmark.