Trujillo

---

This is only a little blog as we had just the one night in Trujillo. Continuing from where I left off in Huaraz...

Dana, James and I boarded an overnight bus to Trujillo the day after returning from the trek, and arrived fairly early to a barrage of taxis clamouring for attention. We asked about a hostel that was in the Lonely Planet and the taxi driver told us it was closed, and recommended another one. I had heard about these scams to take backpackers to hostels they earn commission for, so we came close to calling him a liar and insisted he take us to the address we had. Unfortunately, he was right, and we all felt suitably terrible! We got out of the taxi, however, and went for a wander to find a different hostel, settling for El Mochilero, a few blocks from the main plaza.

Trujillo is a nice little place, with very interesting buildings, all different colours with big wooden windows. We had a peek inside the cathedral, did a free tour of the main bank on the plaza that used to belong a wealthy family and where Simon Bolivar spent some time, and watched a little parade around the plaza with dancers and drummers. Just outside Trujillo are two big Moche pyramids, Huaca del Sol y Huaca de la Luna, but to get there you have to take a micro bus, which was quite an experience. All three of us crammed into it with a bunch of school children and a lady with three giant plastic tubs! It was worth the journey though, really interesting ideas behind the actual building process. Each layer of the pyramid refers to a different Moche king and is built on top of the layer before. Plus the artwork of the time is fascinating. It was pretty hot there though, and quite dusty, so we watched the obligatory film about the history of the place, did the tour and caught the micro back to Trujillo.

That night, back at our hostel after going to the cinema, there was a cricket in our dorm that seemed to be magic. Not only did it actually sound like a bird, but every time you closed in on where the sound was, it moved in a split-second to the other side of the room. We had to give up and let it have it´s magic cricket way!

We only spent one night in Trujillo before heading to Huanchaco on the Peruvian coast to get some much-need sun and surf. It is only a short taxi ride away, so we hopped in a cab and arrived at a hostel called Casa Suiza in Huanchaco.

---