MUSEO TUMBAS REALES DE SIPÁN

Give yourself at least two hours to see this extraordinary museum (Juan P. Vizcardo y Guzmán s/n, tel. 074/28-3977, 9 a.m.–5 p.m. Tues.–Sun., $2), 11 km north of Chiclayo in Lambayeque. The museum, shaped like a Moche pyramid, contains the gold masks, scepters, jewelry, and other objects of the royal Moche tomb discovered by Walter Alva in 1987. This museum succeeds in evoking the full grandeur and sophistication of the ancient Moche civilization (100–750 a.d.) in a way that adobe pyramids, now reduced to mud mountains, often do not. After nearly 500 years of continuous looting up and down the coast of Peru, it is nothing short of a miracle that these tombs remained undisturbed. Their meticulous excavation has unlocked many of the mysteries of Moche society, built around a hierarchy of kings, priests, and military leaders. Come with a guide (or hire one at the museum for $4) who can explain Moche cosmography and point out things a first-timer would miss: the king and priest found in these tombs, for instance, are the actual people depicted on ceramics and murals found throughout the empire, which stretched 600 km along Peru’s north coast to present-day Piura.

To reach Museo Tumbas Reales, hire a taxi in Chiclayo for $4 or take a $0.30 combi ride from Vicente de la Vega and Leonardo Ortiz, in front of the Otursa bus terminal. Slightly cheaper combo tickets are available at the Museo Tumbas Reales for those who plan on also visiting Huaca Rajada and Túcume.