Sunday, May 9, 2010

Sechura desert

Ladden with a load of fruits and water we take a minibus from Piura to the edge of the desert and walk off into the sunset... The landscape was dry and beautiful, with sand dunes and prickly bushes. As we walk further and further into the desert, we pass a shepherd leading his goats back to the village. After we walked over a few ridges we agree that we want to go no further, put up our tents and settle around a fire. And then the mosquitoes attacked us! In the desert! Crazy.In the morning the rides do not come quick, so we decide to strategically split our forces. Jonathan goes ahead, and as soon as he leaves, we are picked up by a tractor-trailer. The driver is funny and talkative. Half way to Chiclayo he stops for a group of men hitch-hiking, and loads them all in his empty container.In Chiclayo, we finaly meet Tolik and Lusine, go to their hotel and get a room. And in the room, we find a treasure! A plastic bag full of expensive austrian clothes and other travel gear. The jewels of the hoard are: a multi-tool from Navimag ferries, a gasoline lighter, never used, and a sleek flashlight. Who and why would have left all of it behind?We apropriated the find, but if the owner comes back in time, we will give it back.
In the evening we figured our route with the guys: It looks like a lot of bus rides! Oh well, we`ll see what this way of travelling looks like!
Later at night, we reunited with Jonathan (who made it to Chiclayo half an hour after us) and talked well into the night.
The next day we went to the nearby ruins of Sipan with the guys. What looks like two muddy hills at first sight, are actually the remains of huge ancient adobe piramids. In the nearby museum there are a lot of excavated gold objects and descriptions of the tombs.

1 comment:

  1. Been a while since I checked in with you two. Glad to see that your adventures seem to be continuing splendidly:-) All the best!

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