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An 8 hour coach journey brought us to the city of Trujillo. Met at the coach station by Carlos and Jhonnie who our hosts. Jhonnie and his family kindly let us stay in their home, although they didn´t speak a word of English, we still managed to communicate using various methods of sign language :) An evening spent on the steps of his home chatting about cultural differences, religion, veggie food, what we did for a living, family etc. Singing could be heard from nearby church, making us feel content and relaxed.
A day spent exploring the city with spanish influence visible by the beautiful colonial architecture and colorful buildings. Visted a couple of houses dating back to the 18th century, featuring beautiful periodic furnishings, artwork and antiques. We were met in the afternoon by Jhonnie and his girlfriend who took us to Huanchaco beach which is famous for its reed boats that date back to the inca´s. Observed surfers, locals kids competing against each other as to who could do the most impressive somersaults off the pier and locals fishing. Visted a few local artisans and watched the sunset. No amount of words could describe the beauty of this place, with the contrast of desert mountains it was both breathtaking and thought-provoking with a really chilled vibe.
Booked a full day tour to take in the nearby historical sites which included Chan Chan, Las Huacas Del Sol y de la Luna and La Huaca Arco Iris. All represented the pre-inca civilisations (there was life before the incas!) but mainly the Chimu. Chan Chan is a vast area of crumbling mud walls, the largest mud brick city in the world. This capital consists of 9 sub cities due to the succession of Chimu Kings. From huge walk in wells, canals and temple pyramids to rayal palaces which were once lined with precious metals. The city was not looted even when conquered by the Incas, however gold hungry spaniards arrived and claimed these rich treasures. Impressive designs are engraved within the walls, fish, waves and sealife can be found as well as diamond shaped fishing net designs. What we found most intriging was the vast array of corridors which led to several sacred ceremonial areas. One can only imagine the Chaos that once filled these corridors, which also included raised platforms where people and animals rested their aching feet through these mile long corridors.
Las Huacas del Sol del la Luna (otherwise called the temple of the sun and moon) were pyramids strategically placed enclosed by a Chimu village. Unfortunately we were only able to view the Sun temple from afar as it now resembles a large sand pile due to erosion over the years. The Temple of the moon offered intrinsic views, this temple was well preserved due to the Moche custom of building new temples over old ones. We scaled the large bouldering steps to the side entrance of the temple, which we found to be riddled with rooms. Large scaled paintings and carvings were visible immediately, depicting idols. Much excavation is still underway uncovering further treasures that this site has to offer. The most breathtaking for us being the ceremonial plaza, where steps were cut into the land perfectly surrounding a plaza where many a sacrifice was made......a steep vertical plunge! Our visit was accompanied by the Peruvian hairless dog who is still genetically identical to the Moche/Chimu/inca times, not the most attractive looking dog!
La Huaca Arco Iris (The rainbow temple ) is one of the best preserved temples as it was covered by sand and discovered in 1963. The walls are covered with repeated rainbow designs with ramps leading to the upper level of the temple. From the upper level other temples can be viewed but again resemble giant sand piles. Large pits surrounding the temple, housed the bones of sacrificed children, who had been thrown from the upper level during sacrificial ceremonies.
Our evenings were spent with Ernesto whom we meet through couch surfing. A pleasant guy with a relaxed energy, introducing us to his members only golf club...!!! .....as well as taking us to watch a movie in ENGLISH!!!
We especially loved the numerous old style cafe bars which traded in authentic rich peruvian coffees.....keeping our physical bodies motivated throughout the day
Trujillo was a very culturally inspiring city with an enchanting plaza, inviting us to spent some quality time relaxing....the plaza comes alive at night soaking up the numerous families, children,partners and all enjoying the coolness of the evening compared to the heat of the day.
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