On the Road Again...

Plaza de Armas, Chiclayo

The city never sleeps, aka, it's noisy ;)

Sometimes, you just want fried chicken

Although we hated to leave, we eventually had to pull ourselves away from the hammocks and slow-paced beach life to head north toward Ecuador. Our first stop was Chiclayo, a crazy busy urban metropolis of 250,000+ people. After relaxing at the beach so long, the hustle and bustle was a bit of a shock. Although we did our normal shopping and eating in town, we decided to beat the city heat and head out to some of the surrounding areas.

 Need shoes, clothes, pig ears, witch doctor supplies? These markets have rows and rows of anything you could want or need. And perhaps things you would never want or need. A little overwhelming...

The areas around Chiclayo house some of the most well known, gold and artifact-filled royal tombs in Peru. Although we scoped out the museum and saw floors and floors of these artifacts, we opted to take the road less traveled and visit the Santuario Històrico Bosque de Pomac instead of the tombs themselves. The Santuario is a semi-preserved site that is home to over 50 pyramids, and is located within one of the largest dry tropical forests in the world. There is not much public transportation, so the best way to see it is by horseback! Kyra and I both couldn't remember the last time we had ridden a horse (trail ride? South Dakota?), so it made for an interesting day. We were the only ones on the tour, however, and by the end of the day we had not only seen some cool sites but we were galloping on our horses too!

Liz's horse always wanted to be in front. Surprise, surprise...

View of the forest, a pyramid, and the mountains from the top of another pyramid!

Our trusty steeds...most of the time.

Always more to uncover...

After a few days in Chiclayo, we made our way to Piura. Piura is further inland, and is insufferably hot. After days of touristy ventures, we took some time out to swim, eat some good healthy food, and see a chick-flick in an air conditioned theater (in English!). Sometimes you just have to do it...

Global warming has taken its toll. Everywhere we go, the people say there used to be more water...

The artisan market. This area is known for its woodwork, basketry, and various things made from silver or gold.

Piura was also the site of our first moto-taxi ride. Que chevere!