Northern Peru – a Cultural Insight

We arrived in the little-visited north of Peru after a lovely stay in Ecuador. We noticed the difference in two ways. Firstly, we were back at the arid, desert-like area close to the sea; and secondly we were in a land of ancient monuments and civilisations which are little known outside Peru, but which are awesome in their size and nature.

Firstly, we stayed in Chiclayo which was the centre of the Moche civilisation, which dates from the first to eighth centuries AD. They used adobe bricks to build flat-topped pyramids called huacas, which were used for military, religious and civilian purposes.

From Chiclayo, we first visited Lambayeque, which gave its name to the local Moche centre of culture, and its incredible museum to the “Lord of Sipan”. Barely twenty years ago, a nearby huaca was discovered to have countless riches as it was home to the burial chambers of two chiefs. Amazingly it hadn’t been looted, and was one of the greatest finds in the country.

The grander chief was found to have been buried with amazing bronze, silver and gold artefacts, which were now housed in the museum. Only the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamen exceed the findings at Sipan, and having seen these artefacts newly restored was amazing. Unfortunately, cameras and phones are locked away so there are no live pictures of what was an incredible site.

The next day, we visited Tucume, which was a large Moche community of 26 huacas. This did not contain as much treasure as at Sipan, but we could see how the civilisation arose and existed, which was interesting in itself. Unfortunately, time and El Niño, have eroded much of the adobe buildings, but archaeologists are still discovering new things about the Moche people.

As a counter to all the culture, we also went “native”. Plucking up courage to ride local minibuses, or “combis”, we found ourselves going out of town in a minibus made for fourteen people with twenty-two inside, and eventually ended up hiking into a local valley. After climbing up and down ladders and using ropes, we relaxed in a pool with the local Peruvians.

We were really enjoying our time in northern Peru and then headed much further eastwards towards the Andes/Amazon border to the quaint town of Chachapoyas. This was centre of the second civilisation we discovered in the region, the Chachapoya. They were a warrior nation and built a limestone citadel at 3,000 metres above sea-level.

Kuelap is only beaten by Machu Picchu in size and grandeur. It was built between the sixth and twelfth centuries AD; and was home to the chiefs, priests, artisans and important people of the Chachapoya society. We arrived by a newLy-built gondola to see this grand city, unfortunately shrouded in rain and cloud.

We did get some wonderful weather to see the most impressive waterfalls we have seen so far. At around 2,000 feet in height, this double waterfall was reached by trekking up a jungle-filled valley. We also decided to try and reach the bottom of the top waterfall, but after climbing for an hour we reached the plateau but not the waterfall itself. We climbed the equivalent of twice the height of the Burj al Khalifa, and were truly shattered at the end, but it was a great day.

Moving back to the coast we arrived in the largest city in the north, Trujillo. We actually stayed just outside in the small beach town of Huanchaco, which was another unexpected introduction to local culture. We found that the local fishermen were still using reed boats that were first used by the local Chimu culture from the tenth to fifteenth centuries.

The Chimu took over from the Moche in the west, and like the Moche, built cities out of adobe. Being arid, these cities remained largely intact, even after being abandoned after the Inca conquests of 1470. The nearby site of Chan Chan was a remarkable site to visit as we walked around some of the palaces, and saw the intricate bird and fish carvings in their temples.

We finally came full circle back to the post-Inca era, by visiting Trujillo itself. It was at one point the largest town in South America, and contains grand pastel-coloured buildings and churches from the Spanish Conquest from the sixteenth century.

So what a welcome to the cultural aspects of Peru. We have seen the move from the Moche to Chimu cultures in the western, coastal districts of Peru, and the Chachapoya culture in the Amazonian east of Peru. Both the Chimu and Chachapoya were crushed by the Incas who moved up from the south of Peru, but even this did not last long as the Spanish conquered South America in the middle of the sixteenth century, introducing the colonial architecture we have seen elsewhere in South America.

It has been a great start to Peru. We have discovered much about the pre-Spanish culture of the country, and look forward to discovering about Inca culture in the southern half of the country. In the meantime we will travel through the mountain and coastal regions, including the capital, Lima.