Day 74 - More Ruins

---

The hostel was a little surreal - walked through the family lounge, adorned with family photos, in order to reach our room. After a morning of faffing we met up with Heather and Erin (Jill had already flown home to Canada) who had made an unscheduled trip here (Trujillo) from Mancora. After the menu of the day at Strada (not the Italian chain you find in the UK, about a tenth of the price!) we jumped in a taxi to the Chimu "city" of Chan Chan, built around 1300 AD. This Chimu capital contained 9 royal compounds, one of which stood 10 metres high; the mud walls covered in friezes of fish, waves and sealife, the most interesting the sea otters and pelicans (important to the Chimu culture; located on the coast). Their main cult was dedicated to the moon, considered more important than the sun (worshipped by the Incas) as it could be seen both day and night. When it didn't appear, they reasoned it was in another world punishing thieves. Stars were also cult objects; they considered their ancestors originated from 4 stars (of the canis major and southern fish constellations). Orion's Belt was thought to represent 3 people - a thief in the middle, flanked by two men sent by the moon to catch the thief.

At the height of the Chimu empire, Chan Chan contained about 10,000 structures, from royal palaces lined with precious metals to huge burial grounds. The Incas conquered the Chimu around 1460, but the city was not looted until the Spanish arrived. After Chan Chan, we visited another Chimu site - La Huaco Arco Iris, meaning rainbow temple, probably used for fertility rituals and infant sacrifices. As expected, its walls are covered by rainbow designs, sadly without colour of course and are well preserved as it was covered by sand until the 1960's.

Spent the evening in the fishing village that the girls were staying in, Huanchaco, famed for its high ended cigar shaped totora reed boats called caballitos (little horses) on which fishermen paddle beyond the breakers, then surf back to the beach with their catch. We were hoping for beautiful photo opportunities with the boats at sunset, but the cloud cover robbed us of this. Ceviche for dinner, and an interesting ride home in a "combi" - tiny minibuses from which men hang out of the door touting for customers, stopping not at designated stops but wherever you happen to be standing. Cheap as chips despite being a little cramped - 30p each for a 12km journey.

Chris's Corner

Before dinner we found time for a quick street snack, the girls opting for Papas Relena- a potato baked with meat inside it. I on the other hand continued my personal quest to try any and all new foods I come across on our journey. On the street grill I spotted skewers of chicken feet... and so of course had to have one!

---

Photos

Chan Chan
With the Shipman sisters