Continuing North
Trip Start
Jul 16, 2008
1
21
84
Trip End
Ongoing
Trujillo,
Peru
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
We first went to Chan Chan, a huge adobe city (like a big sand castle!) on 7.5 square miles of land. It was the capital of the Chimu empire, a peaceful culture that worshipped the moon. I was very glad to have a guide as I would have gotten lost on my own! There were many long hallways and big plazas and rooms. There walls were full of intricately carved designs, related to the sea, sea birds, fish, fishing nets. Apparently, when the Incas took over the area, they did not force the Chimu to change their ways but studied their culture so as to learn how to be more like them with all of their successes. They had managed to turn the arid desert coastland into a successful farming region, through a series of aqueducts to provide water throughout the whole region.
We then visited the Huaca de la Luna and Huaca del Sol, two pyramidal temples built by the Moche people from 100 BC to 850AD. Huaca del Sol is still being excavated and studied by archeologists and so is not open to the public. But Huaca de la Luna is open for public viewing and is pretty amazing! Painted murals have been uncovered. It is so amazing to me that the paintings have lasted for so long.
While on the tour, Michael was asking me about what I did. When I told him I was a teacher we started talking about my students and then I started thinking about what they would think of all of this. Whereas I was looking at all the designs and carvings and trying to understand what they were I realized that my students would just make their own interpretations of them, using their imaginations. Michael and I began doing this and it made the tour a lot of fun!
After all our touring, I wandered around Trujillo with Selina. It is a very beautiful old colonial city. There are large, elegant houses around the plaza area, painted beautiful blues, reds, or yellows. Every city I have seen here definitely has its own very clear style. I really liked Trujillo. A few blocks from the plaza were big shopping areas...some malls but also a huge market. Lots of street vendors selling food. The most popular street food item here seemed to be papa rellenas (stuffed potatoes...delicious!)
The next day I went to the beach town of Huanchaco, a 30 minute ride in a combi from Trujillo. When I arrived it was pretty cloudy. However, I ran into Jimena and her husband there and we went out for a delicous seafood lunch. It was great because we all wanted the same things so we got to share arroz con mariscos, ceviche, and chicharron. It was delicious! By the time we finished lunch the sun had come out and we got in a few hours laying on the beach. It got pretty windy and cold around 4 and so we took a walk. The town is pretty small and seemed pretty uncrowded. There are these really cool tortora reed boats. I think they use them for fishing but it reminded me of the Uros Islands in Lake Titicaca, and the boats they had there.
Was planning on heading to Chiclayo this evening but decided it would be better to wait until the morning as I don`t really like arriving somewhere unknown at night. Will head there in the morning.
