Marian Johns' Journal of the Desert
Explorers trip to Peru in 2002
Images by John Page unless otherwise noted
Day 21, September
24, Tuesday
Trujillo to Chiclayo See Map
Sept 24, Tuesday – Kathy arranged for a guided tour today - $20 US per person – a little steep, but worth it. With traffic in major cities so chaotic and intimidating, we have found that hiring a local guide and tour bus is an ideal way to see tourist attractions. It saves time and helps prevent frazzled nerves, plus the drivers know what streets to take to get places quickly and the guides have a wealth of information.
Our Trujillo area guide, Michael, was very knowledgeable and he spoke good English – in fact, he was English - married to a Peruvian. He was a complete contrast to dark-haired, dark-eyed Peruvians. He had blond, nearly white hair and blue, blue eyes. First he took us to the Huaca de la Luna with its colorful friezes. This, I think, has all been uncovered since we were here before. He said the Huaca del Sol may also have friezes, but archaeologists have not yet attempted to excavate it to find out. In the souvenir shop there, I bought Mary and John a modern ceramic pot decorated with a Chimu design, as a thank-you for all their help as the kitty keepers.
Next, we went to Chan Chan, the huge Chimu city and royal palace compound made of adobe. I think much has been done here since our earlier trip.
Our guide mentioned the reappearance of a large fresh-water well – more like a fresh-water pond that, up until recently, was dry. It evidently existed in Chimu times, but dried up when the city was abandoned. Bought a replica Moche “portrait” pot there for only $3.
And last, we visited the Huaca Del Dragon with more large friezes similar to the others. It has been nicely restored. We saw this 36 years ago too.
I asked Michael why we see so many fields of marigolds and he said the flowers are used to make orange colorant, some of which is fed to chickens to make the egg yolks oranger.
Back at the hotel, we said goodbye to our eight traveling companions who are going home early. We remaining four, Reda, Paul, John Page and I, who are staying an extra week, started the drive north to Chiclayo – arrived there about 6:00 p.m. Charlayne will now share a room with Lorene for their remaining two nights. Lorene had been Reda’s roommate. I will share a room with Reda for the last week. Reda will now take over the kitty-keeper duties and Paul will be our chief communicator since he knows more Spanish than the rest of us.
Our hotel in Chiclayo, the Kalu, isn’t quite as nice as most we’ve been in, but it’s adequate and only $13 US for a double ($7.50 each), plus they have a parking area in the back. Unfortunately, our rooms are on the fourth floor! And no elevator! Actually, it’s more like the fifth floor because the hotel entrance is on the second level, with shops below at ground level. That evening, we walked six blocks to the plaza, looking for a restaurant. There were scads of rotisserie-chicken places but we wanted a regular restaurant with a choice of Peruvian food, not just chicken – we can get chicken like this at home. Once again, I ordered asparagus soup, but it didn’t look like asparagus soup or taste like it – good anyway, what ever it was. Also had Chicken Milanese, a breast pounded flat and thin, breaded and fried. This came with French fries.
