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Published: February 26th 2009
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Huanchaco and Trujillo - 9th to 12th of Feb.
We finally got to Piura and it was noisy, hot and generally not so nice. There is no main bus station, just lots of individual ones for each bus company so we wandered around trying to find one that was going to Trujillo any time soon. We were in our warm clothes and carrying our heavy backpacks in Piura's hot and humid weather. On top of this, I hadn't been feeling well for a few days so while Richard went in search of a bathroom, I fainted in the middle of a bus station, backpacks, bags and all. I awoke to find Richard saying "Esta bien" (she/it's okay) and some nice Peruvian women throwing various liquids on me. They even came over a few minutes later with some other liquid which was meant to help but burnt my skin!
We soon realised that no buses were going until at least 11pm. Richard found a nice bus that was semi-cama (literally semi-bed; leather seats that recline quite far) and had a baño on board - my requirement for any eight hour bus journey! However, the last remaining seats were reserved so
the lady told him to come back at 7pm to see if they are available. Otherwise, it was the economy bus for us. We got some dinner and came back and thankfully, the seats had become available. Good work Richard!
With our bags deposited with the bus company, we were able to go off in search of the internet so that I could wish Neasa a happy birthday. After a couple of hours, we went back to the bus company and found a very Western filling station on the way that sells pringles, snickers and other lovely things. That was our snacks sorted!
The bus was really comfortable and for once we actually got some sleep. Well worth the 30soles each (less than $10)!
We arrived in Trujillo around 6am and got a taxi to Huanchaco. Huanchaco is a desert coastal town about 14km from Trujillo and accommodation is cheaper there. Plus I'm liking small towns alot these days. We were going to go to a hostel that the guidebook recommended but the taxi driver suggested another place called Plazza Hotel. The people at the hotel let us check in straight away, not charging us anything for
the early check-in. The bedroom was the best we've stayed in so far, a good sized room with a big ensuite and cable TV (oh how I love cable TV) and cost 40soles for the room a night, including breakfast. That's about $13 for both of us.
We walked around Huanchaco on Tuesday, down along the beach with it's views of the coast which stretched uninterrupted for what seemed like forever, just sea and desert as far as the eye could see. Huanchaco is another surfer town and the surf seemed really good so we spent a while watching the surfers. The fishermen here use these funny banana shaped boats to catch fish, which are lined up along the beach when not in use, and they have been catching fish this way for more than a thousand years. It's really strange to think that a custom could last some long.
We had our first taste of cerviche that day. Cerviche is raw fish and seafood marinated in lime or lemon with chili and garlic added. It was delicious but very spicy!
On our way back to the hostel, there was some sort of dance festival on so
we saw some traditional Andean dances and other dances from South America. And then we went back to the hotel and watched Dr. House. I never realised how much I like TV until this trip! It's just so nice to sometimes see something in English and chill for a while. We're liking chilling alot these days.
On Wednesday, we went to Huacas de Sol y de Luna using a various methods of transport including these funny red and yellow mini-buses, taxi and a colectivo. This is when I discovered that beeping is the most important part of Peruvian driving. Beep if you want to indicate, beep to get a possible passenger's attention, beep just for the fun of it!
Colectivos are a combination of a van and mini-bus and they can squeeze 18 people into then but they were not made for my long legs! The colectivo passed through little communities and through what seemed like someone's farm, eventually arriving at the Huacas de Sol y de Luna site.
Huacas de Sol y de Luna were built by the Moche, a civilization that existed from around 100AD to 800AD. Huaca del Sol is a pyramidal structure, made
of adobe bricks, and was the largest pre-Colombian structure in Peru. It's basically a giant sand pile now, partly because the Spanish Conquistadors mined it for gold.
The Huacas de Luna was more ceremonial and consists of five temples build on top of each other, basically burying the old temple when they built they new one. This has helped with preserving the structure. We were given a private tour which really was interesting, with the guide telling us all about Moche culture, sacrifices, how the site is being excavated, showing us the murals the Moches painted on the walls and the likes. It's a private site and they really are being careful and taking their time with the excavations which is impressive.
On Thursday, I went off to Trujillo on my own to sort our bus tickets (and get one for an American we had met) while Richard went surfing for a couple of hours. My long legs were the source of much amusement on the colectivo and two particular ladies had a great giggle at them. I had a wander around Trujillo for a while which is another colonial city.
I had hoped to visit the
Chimu site, Chan Chan, which can be seen on the way from Trujillo to Huanchaco but didn't get a chance because it closed quite early, but you can see a lot of it from the road. Before coming to Peru, I knew very little or nothing about the other civilizations, other than the Incas, that existed here in the past so I'm enjoying learning about them.
When I got back to the hotel, Richard and I went for some food and then got a really nice night bus to Huaraz. With a baño, obviously.
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