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Published: March 28th 2013
Temple of the Moon
Hard to get the scaleHuanchaco
Following Glen's Mom's advice to "stop being nuts" we arrived at a peaceful little surf town of 10,000 people. Friendly, calm place.
The hostel, McCallum Lodge was super. A family owned place that made every guest feel like part of their family. We met many travellers, and hung out with two Americans in particular.
The first two days we immersed ourselves in visiting historical sites with the 2 Americans, near a neighbouring city, Trujillo.
The first day trips back and forth were interesting - hectic, fast, and noisy - in these "combis", mini vans that act as buses and picked people up anywhere by yelling out the side door.
Anyway, we learned about the Moche civilization, (around 100 and 700 AD) who pre-dated the Inkas, and the Chan Chan. These temples, loosely named the Moon and the Sun, were discovered in 1991 and excavation began 1998 by private donations only. The very slow process due to lack of funds. We went through the Moon temple, and saw many forms of artwork (visual art was the only written language) and learned how 5 temples were built upon each other as successive generations
emerged. There are many mysteries about the Moche that are yet to be discovered. One thing the guide explained was about the sacrificial rooms. Two groups of male warriors fought for show, and the losers were the ones sacrificed. The high priestess would draw the blood of the sacrificed. The sun temple is barely excavated and a dangerous area, so our group did not go (not nuts mom).
The Moche eventually had a civil war and dispersed, many going towards Chan Chan.
The next day we explored four sites of Chan Chan. We just hired a taxi to take us to the sites and wait for The four of us. The actual chan chan site was immense and quite wondrous. This was the remains of a city of 100,000 people. We could imagine the markets, homes, temples, etc that once existed. Check out the pictures!
Huanchaco beach had a really beautiful surf (but cold) with very good surf instructors. Glen wished he had taken lessons here instead! The boats the fishermen use look like a banana and they ride the waves into shore at 4am.
Next, we are leaving the
coastline and heading into the mountains to Huaraz. Completely different landscape and temperature. The original people of Huaraz were the Recuay at about the same time period, with evidence they interacted with the Moche culture of the north.
We'll catch you in the mountains! Going to sleep at more than 10,000 feet!
G&R
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Mom & Dad
non-member comment
Great Blog
Hi Glen & Rosalyn, Well I must say we enjoyed this blog & I will sleep much better tonight! ha Seriously though it was great to hear that you stayed in some nice digs & continue to make some new friends. The Moche civilization & the ChanChan sound so remarkable & educational you two will have to prepare a presentation of all your experiences & travel around to different schools etc. with it. The pictures are fantastic as usual & we are happy that you two are safe & hopefully feeling better. Thanks for the great blog. Luv ya, Mom & Dad xo