Chiclayo Perú
November 2011
I've been here in South America for about four months and my travels have been visiting places or seeing the sights in and around Quito. We just had a national holiday with a five-day weekend so I headed south to visit a friend that lives in Chiclayo Peru.
And away we go..........!
Lucia and I left Wednesday morning on the 2nd and we flew to Guayaquil then took the bus the rest of the way to Chiclayo. Plane tickets "inside" Ecuador are fairly inexpensive but once you cross out of the country, the prices really take off, forgive the pun, so the bus it was from Guayaquil Ecuador to Chiclayo Peru.
All went well getting out of Quito, the plane was on time and after we arrived in Guayaquil, we started looking for a bus to take us south. We went to the HUGE bus terminal near the airport in Guayaquil so I could get my pocket picked and get bus tickets to any place south of Guayaquil. Guayaquil easily takes first place in my least favorite places in South America. Flat, ugly, humid and we have much prettier Churches in Quito.
Vacation traveling is pretty much the same no matter where you are so I won't bore you with our adventures traveling south. We arrived safely and reasonably well rested from sleeping on the bus so our 04:30 hrs arrival at the hotel in Chiclayo was just an early wakeup for our first day in Chiclayo!
As we were getting our bearings and trying to figure out the best route to Lindsay's house, we ran into her as she was walking down the street. Who else notices how small the World seems sometimes?
Okay, that's enough of an introduction, on with the pictures!
EACH PICTURE IS A THUMBNAIL AND CLICKING ON IT WILL OPEN A LARGER IMAGE
This is looking out of the window as the plane leaves Quito.
There were a few other pictures from the beginning of our trip but they were in the camera that was liberated from my pocket in Guayaquil.......
The seething mass of humanity that is the bus terminal in Guayaquil.
Wow!
I'm still impressed by the over-the-road buses here in South America. The paint schemes are similar to artwork on wheels.
It's just as busy outside the terminal!
Once outside of Guayaquil and rolling down the highway, I learned where the World's bananas come from. Without exaggerating, we drove past banana plantations for 2.5 to 3 hours! The next banana you eat probably came from Ecuador.
Passing through one of the small villages on the way south.
A double-decker sleeper bus baby!
Internet and telephone service way out here in the sticks. I guess if Hobbs can have it, so can this nameless place in southern Ecuador.
Here we are at the border crossing on the Ecuador side.
A few of the local homies hanging out watching the world go by.
Another thriving roadside establishment.
Here we are at the border crossing on the Ecuador side.
And here we are at the border crossing on the Perú side. Notice how much darker it is in Perú? Weird.........
We're still smiling, so we must still be having fun!
Nice hat!
The name of this bus line is Chiclayo so I'm willing to bet a nickel we can get to Chiclayo on one of these buses.
On a side note, the cock roaches ride for free on the Chiclayo line. To say that I slept lightly is an understatment.....
Even if we do have to share it with a few cock roaches, we are traveling in the double-decker sleeper bus dood!
My first day-time impression of Perú. Do you think there's any hazardous duty pay involved here?
Here is the entrance to our hotel.
"Best hot water in town!"
This is the street view of our hotel. Metropolitan eh?
Here's our first look at the main square in Chiclayo.
One of many paved avenues in Chiclayo.
Here is where Lindsay teaches when she's not living in the hills with the hill people.
Mis tres amigas.
Motos are serious transportation here. It's a shame that the USA considers them toys. Think of all the space we could save on the highways and in the parking lots if motos were taken seriously.
Here's the little restaurant where we had breakfast on our first day in Chiclayo.
On a side note, if you're done with your breakfast and other patrons need a table, you WILL be moved.
The note over the stairs asks you to use the handrails and avoid falls. No kidding. If you miss a stair here, it's really going to hurt. A lot..........
Looking at the outside of the restaurant, I think the building is taller than it is wide.
Here's the entrance to Lindsay's apartment building. Chica's got it going on. A copy center on one side and a telephone / Interweb access business on the other.
Well, she did warn us that it was pink......
The laundry room.
A view from the roof at Casa de Lindsay.
Another.
What do you mean "take two more steps to my left"?
These are absolutely the coolest vehicles on the planet. Moto-taxis! You're going to see more pictures of these.
A moto-truck!
Sweet!
This guy is saving up for a moto-truck.
Until then..........
I'm not really sure where we are but the sign welcoming us to wherever it is is pretty cool.
Okay, my moto-taxi would have to have shaft drive and be powered by the Honda ST1300 v-four.
Here we are at the Museo de Señor Sipán.
No pictures allowed inside but it was super chévere and you can learn more about it by clicking
"this link".
Am I the only one noticing a potential problem with the front brakes on this rig?
Chévere!
Okay, I'll stop with the moto-taxis for now.....
Here is a menu at one of the local eateries. These prices are in soles which change at about 2.7 soles to a buck.
Saying you can eat cheap here is an understatement.
I recommend the Ceviche. It's different fish or shellfish or both cooked in lemon juice and seasoned with whatever the house specializes in.
A little onion salsa on the side with your breakfast? I wish I could say that no one suffers because of this but you don't want to share the same breathing space with someone who just had this for breakfast.
We're allowed to take pictures outside the museum.
Here is one of the outdoor exhibits.
Who's that knuckle head tourist with the Mickey Mouse t-shirt walking around in the background?
Some more of the outdoor stuff.
Lucia and I gettin' a pose on.
It looks like we're doing the right thing by visiting on a weekeday!
Is this an armored car version of the moto-taxi?
A traffic cop's worst nightmare.......
Here we are catching a "combi" for a ride to Pimentel.
I didn't notice any buses here but there's a system in place where riders meet at these co-op locations and are organized into vans going to the same destinations or areas. It works really well and it only costs about two soles, (one dollar), for a 30 minute ride to the beach.
Here is a scuplture of some kind along the way. Soccer here is like baseball is in the States. It's actually way more serious here but the only thing we have in the States to compare it to is baseball.
Do you remember the comment I made earlier about the streets in central Chiclayo being some of the many paved avenues in the city?
Well.............
There are just as many that aren't paved. It only rains here once a year so they can get away with it. Here is what a lot of the side streets look like in the Chiclayo area.
One of the local universities.
What they save on pavement for the parking lot, they spend on books.
Looking out the front window of our combi on the way to Pimentel.
The local engineering college.
Okay. This is some serious, "third world" stuff here sportsfans.
This is some kind of low rent suburb between Chiclayo and Pimentel.
Another view of the "burbs".
Every neighborhood has to have one. Some guy driving the property values down by stacking crap all around his property..........
The town square in Pimentel.
Pimentel is a little beachside community outside of Chiclayo.
The municipal pier.
Here's looking down the beach at the oceanside restaurants and tourist shops.
It's all about the Ceviche!
Looking back at Pimentel from the water.
Along with the more conventional watercraft, there are a bunch of these reed fishing boats stacked along the beach. The fishermen use these to fish just outside the surf. Surprisingly, they do pretty well with these little boats.
Here are a couple guys bringing in their reed fishing boat while a few others work a net in the surf.
Here are some fishermen bringing their boats in to the beach through the surf.
Instant fish market!
Lindsay and Lucia discussing their strategy for getting the best price on the catch of the day.
It's only fresher if you catch it yourself!
Some more of the fleet.
Okay. That's enough of the beach for today. Here we are back in Chiclayo. These are the fountains in the main square where we started our day this morning.
Another view of the square at night.
Rye chicken? Must be a local thing..........
Here we are heading out for an evening in town.
Rest?
We're on vacation! Who rests on vacations?
Look! Through the pillars!
Is that a Starbuck's in Chiclayo Perú?
Wow! All the way from Seattle, Washington and it's not some cheap knock-off. This is an honest-to-goodness Starbucks! I talked with the people there and this is a satellite from a few Starbucks located in Lima.
Why don't we have these in Quito?
Oh well, it was nice to have a cup of coffee from home.......
Here is a short video of some native dancers performing in the mall.
Chévere!
Here we are heading up to Rustica's for adult beverages and Karaoke. Lindsay tells me that this is the ONLY elevator in Chiclayo and people come to the mall just to ride it. We did......
Here is the entrance to Rustica's. These guys are replicas of what we saw at the Museo de Señor Sipan.
Damn tourists........
The Krew, minus Lucia, our photographer.
The music is kind of loud but I think Lindsay is saying something about my camera, someplace dark and getting it out of her face.....
Pisco Sour. This is a brandy distilled from grapes and Perú claims this drink as its own. Before I came down here, people familiar with Perú told me that I had to try this while I was here. Good advice, this stuff is wicked good.
"Click Here" for more information on Pisco Sour.
Okay, the evening was a success and here we are in the WAY TOO BRIGHT sunshine looking for a combi ride to go see some ruins.
Sugar cane!
Here is some video of our combi ride back to Chiclayo from Pimentel.
The moto-taxis get zero respect on the roads and only the brave get through the many uncontrolled intersections.
Here's a load of sugar cane on the way in from the fields.
The raggedy truck and the haphazard loading reminds me of the loads I've seen on the roads around the norcal vineyards during the crush.
That mess sure looks a lot better in the rearview mirror....
Here's Lucia's school in Perú.
Did that last sign say we were three miles from Midland, Texas?
Sweet!
Here is the entrance to the interpretive center for the ruins being excavated in the area.
Dinner or pets?
That probably depends on how the tourist trade has been this week.
This dood looks like he's given The Speech about the ruins a few too many time.
And this was the last time anyone saw them alive.........
Here's a look at the interior of the interpretive center.
Our hoopty for touring the excavations is one sweet moto-taxi!
If any Texans in South America get homesick, all they need to do is visit cental Perú for some scenery almost as ugly as Texas.
I asked about the annual precipitation here and I was told there ISN'T ANY!
It looks like we missed the rush hour traffic this morning.
Our first stop on the tour is that hill. I never did understand why we came here but it must have something to do with something interesting. Maybe I'll learn to speak Spanish and I'll actually understand some of what is going on around me......
Check out this tough little plant. It can't even get enough moisture to grow leaves but it's able to put some flowers out there so it can reproduce.
Wild.........
What a tourist.........
That shelter below is where most people stop and take pictures of the surrounding area.
I figured I was going to get my money's worth and climb the whole damn hill.
Ciao.
Looking up the hill I can see some kind of construction in the rocks. I wish I understood what was said because that looks kind of interesting.
Another view hiking up the hill.
Here is some kind of bee or wasp nest. I'm close enough........
The view is always better from the top!
Sweet!
In this picture, I'm actually looking down on the buzzards.
This picture was worth the hike. This guy wasn't expecting company and I was able to get his picture before he disappeared.
This is a Sechuran Zorro or Sechuran fox.
"Click Here" for more information on this tough little guy.
Remember, where I'm at right now, they don't measure annual precipitation, it just doesn't rain here!
See it?
This hill is a wildlife refuge waiting to happen......
I think this guy likes the attention.
If I understand it correctly, and Lindsay explained it in English so there's a pretty good chance I understood it, it doesn't rain in this river, this river bed carries water through this area when it rains in the distant Andes mountains.
"Click Here" for more information.
Here we are at the excavation sites for ruins left behind by the Sican peoples. "Click Here" for some interesting information on the Sican culture.
Here are some of the ancient structures built about 2000 years ago. Working carefully, many time with only brushes and small hand tools, valuable artifacts have been taked from these ruins for display in museums.
That's a LOT of hand work getting that deep......
Wow! Patience!
Found the water table! It's amazing that in the midst of this arid landscape, there is still water down there if you know how to find it.
We were lucky enough to see this ancient broom before it was removed to some distant museum.
This must have been where they constructed the stairs for their double-wides in the trailer parks......
Yours truly and my pet vulture, Fred.
Here's a close up Fred. He wanted one for the family....
Here's some raw video of this area. It's kind of weird to stand here and think of the people that made this a busy place 2000 years ago.
Your turn. Go for a ride in our moto-taxi!
All that's missing is the theme song from the Flinstones.......
Hey, I think I found that other tomb they were looking for......
Here is a picture of the area from our moto-taxi.
Still waiting on the inspection for approval of the next phase.
Mañana.........
I'm not sure if this qualifies as a village or "new" ruins.....
Maybe one day after lunch, dood looked at his work and just said "screw it".
Wait a minute, I want to try something.
QUICK! New Mexico or Perú?
Here's another museum / excavation but we were too hot, tired, thirsty, hungry and just basically done tramping around in the dust to pay another $10 to look at a bunch of stuff we just looked at so we caught a moto-taxi to the nearest town and grabbed a combi back to Chiclayo.
Ahhhh......
Civilization!
The most important building in town.
An interesting comparison between this area and most of the United States. The most important buildings in this part of the world are Churches and the most impressive buildings in the United States are most likely to be government buildings.
It may just be me, but I think there's something really wrong that our country's government thinks so highly of themselves.
Again. New Mexico or Perú?
Well? Which is it?
Passing through Lambayeque on the way back to Chiclayo.
Again, you be the judge.........
Spooky........
One of the side streets in Lambayeque.
And the sign welcoming us to town seemed so promising.
Quick! Get that wall painted before OSHA shows up!
This seems like a situation where everyone wants to foot the ladder and nobody wants to climb it.
Back in the town square in Chiclayo.
Hmmmm........... Why the buzzards circling above?
I don't think she likes me.
Sadly enough, we need to head out of here tomorrow so we're shopping for bus tickets back to Guayaquil.
Can we ride the double-decker sleeper bus? Can we? Huh? Can we?
Sheesh..... I'm annoying myself!
Titanic?
If they are trying to build confidence, I think something got lost in the translation.
Super sweet paint jobs!
This is the first time I've seen the dual front wheels like the ones on this bus. It's a Titanic thing.
Back at Chiclayo central, here's a few pictures of the interior of the church in main square.
Another.
Our last day in Chiclayo and we're kicking around the market. This is a pretty big market as markets go in South America.
They have different areas for different goods and services.
You can buy your fresh produce, your fresh meats right off the carcass, fresh seafoods, clothing, office supplies, luggage and down "witches lane" you can buy everything from voodoo supplies to freshly harvested coca. That's right, you can buy your cocaine right here in the market!
Here's another view in the "general" area of the market.
This area isn't very specialized. Just a mess of everything.
Did I mention the area where you can buy your party supplies?
Some olives and other preserved fruits.
The olives are good but they can't begin to touch the stuff that comes out of Corning California.
Homie looks like he's been down on "witches lane" sampling the coca. Should he be handling sharp objects?
Fresh shark if you're into that.
Here is some goofy looking fruit they had for sale there.
I have no idea what it is but it looks pretty cool.
Okay. Here are some pictures from "witches lane". We don't exactly get welcoming smiles for using a camera in this area so we don't have pictures of everything, but enough interesting stuff to give you an idea of what goes on here.
Here we have potions, charms, dried up dead things and all kinds of voodoo stuff in case you want to take care of someone in a special way.
Here we have an assortment of herbs and spices along with some dried up deer feet and lizards that gave all for some potion to be named later.
Here is where you can buy your dried up vulture heads and a few other necessary ingredients for spells, medicines and whatever other witch-type stuff you might need.
The pet skunk isn't for sale.
His name's Fred............
Did you think I was kidding about the voodoo dolls?
If you need a dried monkey for your next party, we have that here too!
All that shopping has made me hungry. Time for lunch!
Do I want to know what that little black thing is? Do I want to eat it?
This is our last evening in Chiclayo. Our bus is scheduled to leave at 2 am so we headed out to the beach in San José to watch the sun go down.
While the beach at Pimentel wasn't much of a tourist attraction, San José is a straight up fishing village. This is a serious, old school fishing village and the only tourists here today are Lucia and I.
Me likes it, A LOT!
Chévere!
So ends another day in San José.
And except for the beer sampling marathon later before catching our bus out of town, this ends our adventure in Perú.
This is our carriage north to Guayaquil. It's not a double-decker but it's a sleeper bus. We got on in Chiclayo for the three week ride to Guayaquil but everyone else has been on the bus since Lima!
Here we are crossing out of Perú.
See you next time Lidsay......
And into Ecuador!
A little roadside shrine.
Here is the full-cama bus that brought us to Guayaquil.
All the way from Lima and the crew just parked it and walked away. I'm sure they're pretty worn out and sitting here in the parking lot all alone like this, the bus looks kind of tired too
Here we are starting our day with a taxi ride over to the waterfront.
I don't know what the monkey signifies but it's kind of cool.
Lucia gets a pose on.
The hill in the background looks pretty cool with all the multi-colored houses on it.
My turn.......
Sometimes I'm just awed by the life people live here.
The little tweety birds here are a lot prettier than what I'm used to seeing.
Here is some of the park that runs long the waterfront here in this part of Guayaquil.
Another view of the same waterfront park.
I don't know if coconuts are native to this area but they are growing wild along the waterfront here.
I couldn't read the plaque for this statue because it was written in Spanish but I think this statue is to commerate the first gay sailors to come out of the closet here in Guayaquil.
Sweet!
Lucia! Watch for the cops while I get a souvenir to make up for the camera that was taken out of my pocket here I Guayaquil.
Pretty cool boat. It's open for tourists to climb around on but our time here in Guayaquil is limited so we're going to pass on the tour.
Captain Jack Sparrow and I reliving the tale of the time we both drank a bottle of grog here at the waterfront.
Here we are in the park where the lizards run free.
We're going to visit that church in the background when we're done here.
The dood on the horse is Simón Bolívar. He is a pretty popular dood here in South America. You can read some Wiki information about him if you
"Click Here".
Here is the Ecuadorian coat of arms from their flag. If you're thinking that's a vulture on the shield, I'm going to agree.
One of the many iguanas living free in the park.
Cool..........
Pretty cool church.
After spending time visiting churches in Quito, let's see the inside before we decide if it measures up to the magnificent churches we have in Quito.
Okay. The interior of the church isn't of the same caliber of those we have in Quito but Guayaquil has us beat with the dead guy in the box.
We had the monkey and now the bird near the new mall.
Pretty cool.
The other side.
We had Starbucks in Chiclayo but I'm thinking that this is NOT affiliated with my home state.
Just a guess, but I'm going to put that out there anyway.
Here are some pictures of the hostel we stayed at in Guayaquil.
If you're in town, this is a clean, safe, cheap place to stay.
"Click Here" for information on the Dreamkapture Hostel.
Cool place.
Here's the common area where you can "hang" out and watch tv.
Here is a group of seafood restaurants close to the hostel where we ate twice. The first night we had ceviche and crabs. Our lunch today was another version of ceviche.
The interesting thing about ceviche is that every restaurant has their own version and the variety is endless.
Here we are back in Quito trying to make a night landing in the rain. The airport in Quito sits in a bowl and the pilots have to thread their way between a couple of hills and scrape a few tall buildings on the way in. So the dark and the rain make it kind of interesting. Our fourth time around we made it!
Okay sportfans.
That's it for this adventure.
Thanks to Lindsay for having us down and showing us the sights. I wouldn't trade Quito for Chiclayo but I'm ready to go back for another visit.
Actually, I'm thinking of heading back down, spending a day in Chiclayo then spending a few days traveling north but stopping for a day each in a few of the beachside communities.
Thanks again Lindsay and I hope we get to see you again soon!
One last picture and this one is a very special memory for me.
We were sitting in San José watching the sun go down and there was a group of about seven kids, all between five and seven years old, playing around taking peeks at the gringo and his friend.
One of the little girls came up and gave this flower to Lucia.
Maybe you can understand, but then again, maybe you had to be there........
Peas