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Trujillo, Peru
8° 7' S 79° 1' W
Sep 25, 2004 00:00
Distance 370km

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Tales from Huanchaco & Trujillo - Click Here

Text written in: English

Hello again all.
Finally got somewhere where i could rest for a day or two. Four long bus journeys in four days is not fun, but it serves me right for not giving myself enough time. I really underestimated how long it takes to get around here and the distances involved.
I´m in Huanchaco, Peru which is a really laid back, chilled out beachtown, though since it´s the middle of the week it´s also pretty empty. I´m in a nice hostel called ´The Three Dolphins´ which is really nice, with four floors, a roof terrace, nice view of the sea, etc. And i´m the only one in it. Which is kind of weird. I feel like i have to be back early so i don´t keep up the wee guy who runs it.
The town itself is lovely. Lots of seafront restaurants and bars looking down to the beach where the Pacific really crashes against the long sandy beach. You can see the locals paddle out to fish in their reed boats and coast back in on the surf, rivalling for control the actual surfer dudes who come here. So basically, i´ve been hangin about doing not much.
Yesterday i went into Trujillo, the big city just down the road, for the afternoon. Again, very colonial, some lovely buildings, a nice central square. Interesting to walk around in for a few hours.
In the evenings i´ve been sampling the local seafood in Huanchaco in a couple of the many restaurants, and can report that it is very good indeed. And averaging about 2 or 3 quid for a slap up meal with drinks can´t be bad either.
This morning i went to Chan Chan, which is just a couple of miles away. It is absolutely vast. Apparently it was the largest city in the Americas before the Spanish arrived, and the largest mud brick city in the world. Unfortunately, from a distance much of it now resembles a builders yard, with what looks like piles of dirt everywhere. Up close it´s very impressive, however. Huges walls up to 10 metres high which stretch for hundreds of metres, and the remains of something like 10,000 structures from mud huts to vast palaces and burial mounds. Apparently everyone left after they were conquered by the Incas, no-one is sure why. Maybe when their houses fell down because they were made of mud?
It´s all very fragile, and it´s not hard to see why it´s in the state it is. You could be walking along and step on a 700 year old brick and it just crumbles to dust. Oops. If this place was as popular as the pyramids at Giza it would be a huge flat car park in no time. But it´s so huge there´s no chance they will ever be able to protect it all, though there is a huge palace area that is restored and protected. That part is a bit touristy though (and woe betide you if you attempt to stray from where the arrows tell you to go). It´s better to just strike out on your own and start walking to the empty areas, even if it feels like you´re striking off into the desert. I spent about 4 hours tramping over and about it and didn´t meet a single other person. But saw only a fraction of the place. Found some pottery though.
Anyway, i´m off on the night bus back to the mountains tonight. Will report again in a week or so. Yes i know you all hate me, but if you don´t, my phone is now working so you can text me to say hello.
Adios!