In Peru

From Piura we went to Chiclayo and Trujillo, where we stopped for the night. The next day we went south without stopping in Chimbote, Lima, and Nazca, arriving at Arequipa some 31 hours later. It was a long trip but we wanted to avoid the traffic in Lima, and also wanted to be close to the Chilean border.

 

THE GOOD

In Chiclayo we stopped at the Lambayeque Museum, which has an outstanding museum showing artifacts from the Moches, a pre-incan culture that was later absorbed by the Incas. They have a an huge amount of pottery and many pieces of clothing surviving in very good shape. When we think of Peru we immediately relate it to the Incas, but the pre-inca cultures were at least as good, if not better, than the Inca's. This museum is a "must see" for anyone visiting this part of the world.

 

In Trujillo we visited the Chan Chan site. This was the capital city of the Chimu empire, also earlier than the Incas. The city was built with adobe, and have a reach variety of decorated walls. The Peruvian government is doing here a great effort to restore the place and stop further degradation.

 

Moving down from Trujillo we visited the the Caral Supe site, much closer to Lima. This was one the first recorded civilizations, already erecting pyramids at the same time as the Egyptians. They didn't have pottery, but they developed a system of government.

 

The Andes Mountains cross Peru from South To North. East of the Andes is mostly jungle. West of the Andes it has the desertic coastal region, which in fact starts at the north of Peru and extend South halfway into Chile. There are many rivers carrying water from the Andes to the Pacific, and they use this water to cultivate all sort of things in the middle of this desert.

The views are impressive, mixing the mountains, the sand dunes, the Pacific ocean, with sea fog covering everything, and a westerly wind blowing sand all the way to the top of the mountains.

 

THE BAD

Peru is repeating the same mistakes of the Argentinians in the 1990's. They privatized everything and sold all their assets to private investors.

What we see driving along the Panamerican Highway is that most, if not all, land along the route is in private hands. I am not talking of a few acres, but of hundreds of miles set apart for private exploitation. From existing experiments like that, we know that the private investors will take the produce and all the money out of the country, leaving only the minimum wages for the landless peruvian peasants.

One wonders why instead of selling the land to huge conglomerates they didn't distribute it to their own peasant and finish their poverty once and for all.

They don't need to look farther for good examples. Ecuador is a glaring example of an alternate policy to ensure that everybody has a job and something to eat.

 

The road to Arequipa is very dangerous. We Saw more than 50 crosses of people that have died in accidents along this road.

 

THE UGLY

Rich companies bought the land alongside the Panamerican Highway, and they started cultivating it with products for export. Not only that, they already passed a bulldozer over the desert areas in preparation for further development.

Now we are talking of thousands of square miles of deserts which are now exposed to further erosion and desertification. Any one, and I mean any one, that has studied a little about deserts know that, once desertification starts, it never ends. What these companies have done is to ensure that a desert that was stabilized during millenia, is now again exposed and moving.

I will say that globalization and the greed for money has now produced a crime against the peruvian people. I wish other peoples will learn from this experience and stop any government effort in this direction.

 

 

Some Mochica pottery from the Lambayeque Museum

 

 

more Mochica pottery

 

 

inside the Chan Chan walled city. This was a sacred city, and here we have some of the living quarters. Many places have a small roof to protect them while they work on restoration.

And is is one the decorations covering the lower arts of the inside walls. There are several types, but all representing some sea life.

 

 

A View of the coastal desert.

 

The coastal desert

 

The mountains already covered with sand.

 

Mountains, desert, and sea fog.

 

Sand dunes, a strip of sea, and the mountains covered in fog in the background.

 

 

The pyramids at Caral Supe.

 

The road ahead of us.

 

 

Still more of this very long road.

 

A detail of the sand climbing the side of the mountain.

The road near Arequipa