trujillo
After three weeks of being in one place I suppose there would come a time when another bus journey was in order. This time an overnight stint. Trujillo is north of Lima and about ten hours away. It was a particularly uncomfortable trip. The AC did not work and we sweltered the whole way there. Not nice. But then again, my preparation was hardly ideal.......several pisco sours!
We arrived in Trujillo and made our way to a hotel I had identified using the Lonely Planet as a nice hotel. It was far from it. So we quickly changed. Trujillo is a small, quaint little historical colonial city and one of the most populous in Peru. It is noteable for being the named in honour of Francisco Pizarro's birthplace of Trujillo in Spain. The great revolutionary, Simon Bolivar had a house on the main plaza. But of more importance to me is the city's closeness to the sites where the Moche and Chimu civilisations began, flourished and finally disappeared.
The Chimu built the incredible mud city of Chan Chan. Made entirely of adobe bricks (sun dried mud bricks) and covering an area of 20 sq km. Some of the walls reached 20 metres in height. Must have been an amazing place to see when the Chimu were there. Now, apart from some restored sections, it is easy to see the extent of their work but probably not the majesty. There is the Moche ruins too of Huaca del Sol and the Huaca de la luna. The Moche civilisation built these massive adobe temples resembling pyramids. Now significantly eroded. At the time, they were the largest man made structures in South America.
Around these sites can be found an unusual Peruvian hairless dog. It is indigeous to the area. Their body tempertaure is higher than that of all other dogs. They look weird. The folk here are fond of dancing horses too. I went to see a show with a couple of them prancing about to music. later in the performance a barefooted senorita in a big frilly dress dances with them while waving a white handkerchief about. I can't say it was my cup of tea but the crowd seemed to like.
Apart from the tourist things most of the rest of the time was spent in company of Jacky's family. Cousins, nephews, Auts, Grandmother. Given my appalling Spanish that wasn't great but they were all very pleasant. It was good to do as the locals do, whether that was a night where the locals go out dancing or taking part in the international pastime of karoke. I belted out my standard fare of a few Frank Sinatra numbers after downing a large number of Cuba Libres! Not sure what they thought about my redentions.
We arrived in Trujillo and made our way to a hotel I had identified using the Lonely Planet as a nice hotel. It was far from it. So we quickly changed. Trujillo is a small, quaint little historical colonial city and one of the most populous in Peru. It is noteable for being the named in honour of Francisco Pizarro's birthplace of Trujillo in Spain. The great revolutionary, Simon Bolivar had a house on the main plaza. But of more importance to me is the city's closeness to the sites where the Moche and Chimu civilisations began, flourished and finally disappeared.
The Chimu built the incredible mud city of Chan Chan. Made entirely of adobe bricks (sun dried mud bricks) and covering an area of 20 sq km. Some of the walls reached 20 metres in height. Must have been an amazing place to see when the Chimu were there. Now, apart from some restored sections, it is easy to see the extent of their work but probably not the majesty. There is the Moche ruins too of Huaca del Sol and the Huaca de la luna. The Moche civilisation built these massive adobe temples resembling pyramids. Now significantly eroded. At the time, they were the largest man made structures in South America.
Around these sites can be found an unusual Peruvian hairless dog. It is indigeous to the area. Their body tempertaure is higher than that of all other dogs. They look weird. The folk here are fond of dancing horses too. I went to see a show with a couple of them prancing about to music. later in the performance a barefooted senorita in a big frilly dress dances with them while waving a white handkerchief about. I can't say it was my cup of tea but the crowd seemed to like.
Apart from the tourist things most of the rest of the time was spent in company of Jacky's family. Cousins, nephews, Auts, Grandmother. Given my appalling Spanish that wasn't great but they were all very pleasant. It was good to do as the locals do, whether that was a night where the locals go out dancing or taking part in the international pastime of karoke. I belted out my standard fare of a few Frank Sinatra numbers after downing a large number of Cuba Libres! Not sure what they thought about my redentions.
posted by Ciarán at 4:28 p.m.
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