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Máncora (21/05/2018 - 21/05/2018) Máncora: a tiny, rustic beach town on Peru's northern coastline, and my first stop in this beautiful country. This quiet, seaside village boasts epic surfing, excellent ceviche, and all-year-round, sun-drenched skies. It was far less touristic than Montañita, and had far more character: I liked it immediately.
Seeing as I had just gone from beach town to beach town, I thought just 1 day here would be
perfecto. It was also the ideal pit-stop as it was so close to the Ecuador border. My first night bus (I am getting braver) to cross the Ecuador-Peru border (at 3am) went smoothly. Although it was so sad seeing hundreds of Venezuelan families wrapped in blankets huddled everywhere I looked. Political corruption, food shortages, and unemployment are all contributing to the worsening crisis there; and Venezuelans are desperate to leave.
After arriving bleary eyed at 7am, I tuk tuk'ed my way along the bumpy, dusty beach roads to ditch my backpack at a hostel. One day was enough to tick off everything on my list here. I checked out the several kilometers of sandy beach, the local
mercado, sampled ceviche de pescado (far more spicy than usual, and
without a tomato sauce, like Colombia's take on the Peruvian classic). Also, a trip here wasn't complete without watching the sunset at the adorable, little light house. Once I had climbed the sandy cliffs to get to the light house, I was met with a load of sunburnt, pringle-eating, English speaking gringos. Ahh, here they are! From the light house, there was panoramic views of the coastline, the town and the desert. It was an awesome place to watch the sunset: a pro tip from Jordana Dangerfield.
As an evening treat, I hit up Máncora's best restaurant, La Sirena d'Juan, for a large slice of passion fruit pie for dinner (passion fruit is everywhere here, and yes dessert for dinner is acceptable when you're traveling). It was mind-blowingly good. Every bite was just incredible. After finishing the pie (sad face), I later caught my second night bus in a row to work my way down the Peruvian coastline, and I dreamt about the pie the whole way there.
Trujillo (22/05/2018 - 24/05/2018) Despite its reputation of being one of the most unsafe cities in Peru, Trujillo is an elegant, colourful, colonial city with fascinating pre-Incan archaeological sites nearby.
Ceviche!
Muy Picante It was also the first city in the country to declare independence from Spain. With little sleep on the bus thanks to the World's loudest snorer, I arrived at 8am absolutely exhausted and border-line hallucinating. I went for breakfast with a lovely English girl I met on the bus, then searched for my new hostel. With zero signage (I walked past it 3 times and eventually had to ask for directions) for tax purposes, more like a home than a hostel, Rafael only had space for 4 guests. Here, I was in the historical centre, just a short walk away from the grand Trujillo Cathedral, with its bright yellow facade. I spent 2 days here, walking around the gorgeous historic centre, making up on lost sleep, and visiting two of the best rated archaelogical sites, Chan Chan and Huaca de la Luna.
Chan Chan
Chan Chan was the capital of the Chimú civilization which lasted from 850 to 1470 AD, and was the largest pre-Columbian city in the Americas, making it the top attraction in the region. While the capital consists of ten-walled cities, only 1 is open to the public as the others are being studied and restored.
Unlike the Incas who were sun-worshippers, the Chimú worshipped the sea and moon (due its control over the ocean tides). As we walked around we spotted otters, seabirds, fishing nets and tidal waves patterns carved into the walls, as my Spanish friend attempted to translate the leaflet into English for me! Chan Chan was the centre of power for an empire that stretched over six hundred miles, from just south of Ecuador to central Peru. As many as 60,000 people lived here - most were servants of the monarch and privileged, wealthy classes. But it's glory days came to an end when the Incas conquered the city and broke up the Chimú Empire.
Huaca de la Luna (Temple of the Moon)
Another site baking in the hot desert is the immense and impressive Moche "Huaca de la Luna", which dates back 1500 years. According to Moche legend the old temple was originally built in honor of the God of the Mountain after it saved an entire village from dying in the jaws of a two-headed serpent demon. We learnt that Huaca de la Luna served primarily a ceremonial and religious function, and that fights and human sacrifice rituals were
a common occurrence here. What I found most fascinating was their odd building practices - the huge structure has six succeeding levels.. each one completely covering the previous structure. A new level would be built every few decades, hiding the previous level covered in colourful carvings and paintings. It is beautifully preserved due to being under cover under a huge pile of sand for centuries (it was only discovered roughly 20 years ago!), therefore the colours are pretty vivid. The site itself is dependent on private funding and, therefore, has only performed limited excavations. And, if you look out across the desert, you will see Luna's pyramidical counterpart, Huaca del Sol, still buried in this manner.
Moving On...
My time on the coast was short, but sweet. I liked Trujillo and Rafeal (he was so sweet), but I really couldn't wait to get to my next destination, Huaraz. Nearly wiped out by the earthquake of 1970, Huaraz is a trekking hot-spot with one of the most impressive mountain ranges in the World. Get me there now!
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