Peru Guide
The North
Túcume
The site of TÚCUME (daily 8am–4.30pm; $2.80 for students; guides sometimes available from $2), also known as the Valley of the Pyramids, contains 26 adobe pyramids, many clustered around the hill of El Purgatorio (197m), and is located some 33km north from Chiclayo. Although the ticket office closes at 4.30pm and the museum shortly after this, the site is accessible after these hours, with the main sectors clearly marked by good interpretive signs.
Covering more than two hundred hectares, Túcume was occupied initially by the Sicán culture, which began building here around 1100 AD after abandoning Batán Grande. At Túcume's peak, in the thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries, it was probably a focus of annual pilgrimage for a large section of the coastal population.
Today, Túcume remains an extensive site with the labyrinthine ruins of walls and courtyards still quite visible, if slightly rain-washed by the impact of recent heavy El Niño weather cycles, and you can easily spend two or three hours exploring. The site has two clearly defined sectors: North is characterized by the large monumental structures; while the South has predominantly simpler structures and common graveyards. The adobe bricks utilized were loaf-shaped, each with their maker's mark, indicating control and accounting for labour and tribute to the elite. Some of the pyramids have up to seven phases of construction, showing that building went on more or less continuously.
There's a viewing point, reached by a twisting path that leads up El Purgatorio hill, from where you can get a good view of the whole city. This hill, circular and cone-shaped, at the very centre of the occupied area, was and still is considered by locals to be a sacred mountain. The architecturally distinctive Museo de Sitio (daily 9am–5pm) at the entrance to the site, is also worth visiting.
From Túcume's plaza follow the right-hand road to the pyramids and the Museo de Sitio, a dusty two-kilometre walk, or better, take a mototaxi or combi colectivo for less than $1. At the end of the fields, the road divides: signposted to the right, is the track for the 30m or so to the museum and ticket office. To the left, accommodation – plus camping sites, shower blocks and local home-cooked food – is available at the Hospedaje Rural Los Horcones ( 
074/2243401 or in Lima 01/2243367, 
loshorcones@viabcp.com.pe, 
www.loshorconesdetucume.com ; Price: $15-25), whose buildings and hotel have been constructed with traditional materials in a style reflecting that of the pyramid site next door. Right in front of the Museo de Sitio, the Complejo Turistico Las Piramides ( 074/995959 or in Trujillo 044/370178, laspiramidestucume@terra.com) also has a nice campsite ($6 including breakfast), as well as a restaurant which is fully open at holiday times and a refreshment kiosk almost always open during daylight hours; they also organize excursions to local sites and ruins as well as horseriding tours.