When you see photos of Chiclayo and the pre-Inca ruins of Tucume dating back to 800-1350 AD, you can be forgiven for being a little uninspired. The ruins, both in photos and in real life bear a resemblance to giant termite mounds, or from above some large excavation in the clay.

In the photo to the right what is in fact a weathered man-made pyramid looks far more like a hill. To appreciaate what this place must have been like requires some imagination.

In real life they´re much more impressive than images can really capture. Looking into the horizon at the distance you get some sense of the scale of what must have been here previously.

If however they'd really sought to "wow" visitors through the ages, the Chaclayo builders chose an unfortunate medium - adobe - and should instead have gone for the time-tested classic: stone!