Huanchaco, Peru

Huanchaco is a sleepy beach town, not as nice as Mancora, colder water, and fewer waves. Still, it is a great jumping-off point for a couple of pre-Incan sites nearby.

The night bus to Trujillo from where we got a taxi to Huanchaco was terrible - I couldn't get comfortable at all and I'm consequently now suffering from a very bad back. Nevertheless, I couldn't miss the opportunity to see the sites, so today I've been to Chan Chan and Huacas del Sol and de la Luna.

Chan Chan is a pre-Incan ruined city, built by the Chimu people. We didn't have a guide so it didn't take us too long to wander around, as it is mostly the walls that remain that surround huge open areas. Some detail still exists in places on the wall carvings, but in many places this has worn away.

Huaca del Sol and Huaca de la Luna (Temple of the Sun and the Moon) are two enormous temples built by the Moche people, discovered as recently as 1991. Huaca del Sol is the larger of the two, but has not yet been excavated as Peru's archeological body does not have the money to do so. They've uncovered a lot of Huaca de la Luna, but it is still work in progress, and they contonue to work on it daily. Many of the wall carvings remain intact and still coloured. Our guide was amazing and gave us loads of information, as well as a short Spanish lesson half-way through the tour!

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