Day 947
The Lady of Cao
The last few days have been full of visits to historical sites. We now had a decision to make, did we want to divert to see yet another? Our concern was we would either have to back track 12 miles from the site or take the road that runs next to the sea, which Google Streetview showed as a dirt track. Bumps we could cope with but sand is a nightmare. We asked around the cycling community but could get little information. In the end we decided to give it a go. After a night in Zaña, it was back to the endless desert and headwind. We had hoped to make a hotel but the wind was strong and despite setting off at 7am we were still 15 miles from a town at 4pm, so it was a wildcamp for us. By some miracle Tom managed to spot somewhere which shielded us a bit from the road and we set up camp.
We were up and away by 7am again and 25 miles later arrived at our destination. What a great decision it turned out to be. We were at a site called El Brujo. This, like Sipan, was a site where the Moche lived. It is set by the sea and the Moche took full advantage of its location developing the land with irrigation channels and creating special boats to use in the sea. What has made this site unique was the discovery in 2006 of an undisturbed grave which contained the mummified body of a young woman, buried with all the high honours normally reserved only for men. The riches and weapons buried with her makes historians believe she was either a high ranking priestess of even a Moche ruler. As late as the 1500s the Spanish had said that in this area women ruled alongside men and this discovery seems to indicate this was a well established tradition.
‘The Lady of Coa’ as she is named, is housed along with the items of gold, jewellery, ceramics and cloth found with her in a darkened room. She lays there, dressed in a simple shift dress, the tattoos on her arms and hands clearly visible. Tests have shown she was aged about 25 when she died, most likely during child birth. We have seen many skeletons but to see her mummified body was a very moving experience. No photos were allowed inside, it would have felt disrespectful to do so, but I know Tom longed to capture pictures of all the stunning treasures buried with her. There was lots more to see, on this site are 3 pyramids and we could explore her original burial tomb and wander inside various rooms deep in the partially excavated site.
Then for the road out of there, what would it be like, 30 miles of hell? Unbelievably, apart from a few rough sections damaged by the sugar cane wagons we had mile after mile of smooth tarmac. We camped for the night overlooking the beach. The sand was covered with millions of crabs. We sat, watching the sun set as crabs scurried to and fro, re-digging their homes for the night, patting with their claws to flatten the excess sand. It almost made our Top 10 list of wild camping spots, but the endless rubbish dumped here as in so much of the coastal area of Peru meant it didn’t make the grade.
