Mar 31, 2008 - Trujillo - a cultural explosion!

The number and size of the archeological sites aroung Trujillo is mind-blowing! We were lucky, and bargained our way to seeing as much as we could in a day and a half for very few Soles, including... Arco Iris (Chimu temple with lots of rainbows on the walls - hence the name); Chan Chan (HUGE Chimu city complex, made entirely of adobe, with ten walled citadels which housed ceremonial rooms, burial chambers, temples, reservoirs and some residences - it's really amazing!); Huaca del Sol and Huaca de la Luna (two Moche temples: Huaca del Sol...

Sep 24, 2007 - Peru - Trujillo

Trujillo in the north of Peru is a great example of how a colonial Spanish city should look. The buildings in the old part of the city have been beautifully restored and it was great just walking around taking it in. The major attractions around the area are the various pre-Incan ruins dating back over 2000 years. The area has little/no rain meaning the mud structures are generally well preserved, apart from the deliberate damage inflicted by treasure hunters after the Spanish colonisation. We visited a few of the ruins, and it was amazing...

May 18, 2007 - Trojillo

The bus arrived in Trojillo at 6am. I had slept most of night. I picked up my Morchilla and than went to look for a hostel. I found an inexpensive hotel with private bathroom. I asked for hot water to make some Mate and than had the 1st hot shower in days. Than I went to get my Laundry sorted and to phone my parents! After I had my self organized, I went to the tourist office, to get some info about Chan-Chan and buses to Guayaquil. I realized that I didn't have my card on me so I had to go back to the hotel. When I finally arrived at the...

Jan 10, 2007 - Lima, Trujillo and a little more

I have rented a place in Lima Peru (which is the capital). It is a large bustling and dusty city. Food and drink is sold on every part of almost every street; a culture obsessed with food! I am enjoying this culture...my waistline might not be! But never fear... I had more than enough food associated problems to keep my weight down...if you get my drift! Lima itself is not that fascinating in the conventional ways... but admiring the culture, learning about the prejudices, the dangers, the language and the every day aspects of life has...

Aug 26, 2006 - Trujillo

I arrived in Trujillo at about 6.30 in the morning having had about 4 hours sleep because the bus was so uncomfortable, and caught a taxi to my hostel. I arrived there in enough time to have a shower and then breakfast where I found out that the owners do tours of the ruins at Chan Chan and Las Huacas del Sol y de la Luna - the temples of the sun and the moon, so I signed up. First off we started with the temples of the sun and moon. Our guide was a bit of a motor-mouth-robo-guide, he seemed to have a pre-prepared speech for the entire trip...

May 14, 2006 - Trujillo et les ruines pre-incas

Nous voila a Trujillo, apres un trajet en bus qui nous a pris toute la journee de vendredi. Je n'irai pas plus au Nord avant mon retour en France ! La ville de Trujillo est assez mignonne, nous nous y baladons paisiblement le samedi en attendant le retour du soleil. Dimanche, il fait beau, et nous visitons les principales ruines autour de la ville. Ca change, ce ne sont pas les Incas qui les ont construites, mais les civilisations qui les ont precedes : d'abord les Moché (je fais l'effort pour l'accent cette fois, car sinon ca donne...

May 6, 2006 - Huaraz-Trujillo

Tomé bus de Huaraz a Trujillo, pasando por el Cañon del Pato, que es espectacular. Miles de tuneles atravesando cordilleras de varios cientos de metros de altura, en una pista super angosta. Parecia que nos podian emboscar en cualquier curva.....felizmente no pasó nada.

Mar 16, 2006 - Huanchaco, Trujillo city of eternal spring.

Got to Huanchaco last night at 2 AM. The bus ride was amazingly scenic, huge sand dunes on the right side and the pacific ocean on the left. There was this Peruvian lady Adela sitting next to me, she was riding the bus to Quito Ecuador a 30 hour ride, the bus is really comfortable though. My ride was 8 hours, when I booked the ticket they told me the bus leaves at 3 PM and arrives the next morning at 6 AM, but surprisingly it arrived 4 hours early, could it be my spanish (or the lack of) that I did not understand? Anyways, Adela started...

Mar 16, 2006 - Trujillo

We really didn't so much in Trujillo. After arriving at 6:00am on an overnight bus we have 15 hours to kill before getting on another overnight bus. We were hoping to cover more ground during the day, but busses only run these long routes at night. While at the bus station some thieves had another attempt at our bags. While sitting one distracted me and while I was gone they tried to distract Christine. Fortunately she didn't budge. Afterwards we were informed that there were 2 guys waiting right behind her to swoop for our stuff. These...

Dec 30, 2005 - Huaca del Sol & Huaca de la Luna

Today we visited Moche sites of the area the Huaca del Sol and Huaca de la Luna. We didn't really explore the former as there isn't much to see but the latter the Moon temple was quite brilliant. An adobe structure with original and restored coloured reliefs on some of its walls provided a complete alternative to Inca sites we have focused on of late. We went on a spanish guided tour and discovered quite a bit in our limited language on the construction and purpose of the site. The Moche were a totally different race to the Inca who...

Dec 29, 2005 - Huanchaco, Trujillo

Our overnight bus journey saw us arrive safe and sound at the Cruz Del Sur bus terminal in Trujillo the 3rd city of Peru. Without a reservation, and aware that holiday season is upon the whole of S America we took up the taxi drivers offer to find us accomodation in Huanchaco, "sleepy" fishing village 12kms outside the city centre. Three full hostels later we found ourselves with a basic internal bedroom which will be our home until after New Year. Our first task was to catch up on some sleep and with no natural light to remind us of what...

Nov 30, 2005 - Trujillo, Peru

We arrived, grumpy as per usual after a night bus, to Trujillo at 6.30 am. We were brought to our hostal which is in a fishing town called Huanchaco just a few Kms from Trujillo (northern Peru). On dropping our stuff and having breakfast, we set off on tour of the local Moche and Chimu ruins. The Moches and Chimus peoples were pre Inca civilizations. The Chimus built a huge city called Chan Chan, it contains several royal palaces and some of it is excavated. The scale of the streets, squares and altars impressed me. I could imagine all the...