Trujillo

It can not be time for the alarm to go off again. I think I just went to sleep. It is time to get ready to leave little Chiclayo and head south to Trujillo. My transportation today will be by bus.

After a trip to the morning breakfast buffet, it is time to check out and head for the bus. It took longer to get the elevator with my suit case than to go to the bus terminal. It is 2 blocks and across the street. But we are doing everything by car. So in we go. I gave my chauffer an extra tip (he has already washed his car from yesterday’s adventure). We have about 20 minutes to wait before they put me on the bus. My guide makes sure my luggage is in the “front luggage compartment” – it will be first off in Trujillo. Then it is time to board. I’ll miss this guide. She is hands down the best I’ve ever had.

The Empresa bus isn’t as nice as the Cruz Del Sur bus, but I have a seat at the front on top. I have a view of everything. Except the movie screen which is at a very uncomfortable angle. Doesn’t matter I’m enjoying the scenery. This area is dry dessert as well. So here I am going across the Pervian desert up and down hills and the movie playing is… Indian Jones and the Crystal Skulls.

We roll into Trujillo on Sunday afternoon, just after 11 am. It is relatively speaking, warm almost hot for me. I’m glad I have my hat.

I’ve arranged to tour the Temple of the Moon that afternoon. The guide informs me we will go straight there and then back to the hotel. No one bothered to check this with either my bladder or my stomach. But off we go.

The temple is on the outskirts of town on the opposite site. I get a bit of city tour along the way. Technically it is the temples of the Moon and Sun, but only the Moon has been excavated so far. The excavation was originally funded by the local beer distributor for 6 months. Four months into the excavation they found the first row of decorated wall. It was so well preserved, significant, and probably several other adjectives that the company decided to fund a dig there for as long as possible. Even though the distributor has been bought the company that purchased it has a foundation for humanitarian endeavors and has agreed to continue sponsoring excavations. Additional sponsors have signed up as well, but it will always have a reputation as the beer temple.

The site is fairly large and you work your way around the outer wall to inner courtyard. It is dry so the protective fencing is more to keep the sand from blasting the walls and fragile paint than really keep people out, (although it would do that fairly well too).

There is a few room visitor center, gift shop and snack stand. And more importantly - banos.

After an hour or so touring the site it was to the hotel. The hotel was just off the Plaza De Armes and around the corner from the major hospital in the city. The hospital was a noisy place and very busy.

My guide pointed me toward several restaurants and left. After unpacking and being quite hungry I set off to find these restaurants. One problem, they were all closed on Sunday. So hungry I found a drug store which sold ice cream sandwiches. My stash of crackers was running very low so I decided to see if the hotel knew any other places to eat.

There was a taxi driver who would take me to any where I wanted to eat. If it hadn’t been the same driver as the one who picked me up, I’d have passed and eaten the last of my crackers. But it was Raul so off into the Sunday evening I went. I figured he would get me back safe and sound because he wanted the next two days of work. I ended up at a Chiffa. Which is the Peruvian version of a Chinese restaurant.

My limited Spanish was no where near enough. One of the bus boys spoke enough English for me to order. I would have been happy to point, but they wanted a proper order. I really had no idea what I was getting. It turned out to be some thing like sweet and sour chicken. Very tasty and another huge portion. My hotel had a little fridge so I took my leftovers with me, much to the amusement of the staff. I had left overs just in case I didn’t find one of those restaurants the following night!

Then it was back to the hotel. The Los Conquisatores Hotel had some good points and some odd points. It is a business hotel with a really good computer room that was frequented by the guests. Some times all four computers were in use. It had a restaurant which was open for dinner (it was open when I got back from the Chiffa), but I could see after eating there why the desk manager had suggested going out. It was okay, but not good, and over priced compared to almost everything else I’d had.

My room had a built in desk and closet (lots of closet space) a small piece of sectional for sitting, the small fridge and a queen bed with 2 nightstands. The bathroom had a ½ length tub and shower. Not too bad, except the place reeked of mold. And in such a dry climate that is tough to manage.

The staff was very friendly and helpful.

So with my bags unpacked it was time to get a good nights sleep. Chan Chan and Huanchaco beach await.

Topping...for the Paracas info...and hoping for another installment..

Trujillo

Since I had toured the Temple of the Moon the previous day we didn’t have to start out until 9 am. The breakfast at the hotel was what I was becoming accustomed to as “business” fare breakfast: scrambled eggs, fruit, rolls, cheese, and either some sausage or bacon, and of course tea or coffee.

Looking at the calendar I know it is Monday morning, but when you’ve be traveling this long you begin to loose track of “real-time”. My guide picks me up at the hotel. We are starting with the Plaza del Armes just three blocks away so we walk. The sidewalks are full of business people. Traffic is restricted around the Plaza for the protection of the pedestrians.

The Plaza is a very pretty place. It is broad and the buildings are 1 to 2 stories high. They are all Spanish colonial architecture and have either been preserved or carefully restored. Many of these were the homes of the land owners in the area. As part of the tour I got a basic history lesson in the Peruvian Independence movement from Spain. Apparently much of the funding for one (and some times both) of the armies working for independence receive their financing from the families in Trujillo. As fate would have it during the political instability and flirtation with commune farming in the 80-90s many of the family lost their lands. Most of them had long ago diversified out of agriculture, but for those who didn’t the losses were traumatic and much of the real estate on the plaza began to change hands. Today very few of the buildings are private residences. Most are commercial establishments. There is one building on a corner which is completely out of character for the plaza. It’s modern construction triggered the preservation and historical requirements for the plaza. You can rebuild a building, but is façade must be in keeping with the original style of the plaza.

My walking tour included three of the buildings, one of which is now a branch of the Peru Central Bank. You entered through a guarded iron-gate and metal detector with some very serious guards. In addition to the marvelous architecture and some period furnishing they had a nice exhibit of artifacts from the area and early Peruvian currency.

We also visited the Cathedral. This poor building has been repeatedly damaged by earthquakes. Oddly enough each quake has coincided with the elevation of the church in overall Catholic church structure. The building next to is even a site because that is where the Pope stayed when he visited Trujillo. The only problem is I have no idea which Pope it was.

From there we walked down the main pedestrian mall, and visited three more buildings. All of which were excellent examples of period architecture.

Our car picked us up and whisked us away from the hubbub of the city plaza. Our next stop was the Temple of the Rainbow.

This small temple is believed to be representative of many in the area. It is a high adobe mound (nicely finished) with a carved decorated wall around it. In addition to being a temple with a store house, this would have been an easily defensible position. The view from the top of the mound where the wood temple would have been build was quite impressive overlooking modern Trujillo.

From there we moved on to one of the sites I was looking forward most to: Chan Chan. This huge site is over 900 acres and has multiple sites. However I was disappointed to find out only one was open to visitors. That being said it was still a large place to visit. (and get a good sunburn)

There is one complex for each ruler. When that ruler died he was buried in a temple portion of the complex. Even after death people would come to visit/pray/ask for advice from the departed ruler. The complex is divided into three sections. The outer courtyard was for ceremonies and receiving envoys and guests. There were assorted rooms and support places off of this courtyard. The second section was for religious observances. There were a myriad of little temples (mostly dedicated to the moon and sea) At least 28 for the moon alone, plus a large courtyard for other ceremonies. The third and final area was the ruler’s household. The most striking part of this was the open courtyard. It was originally built with a pool of water for the family (think swimming pool), but as the centuries past it filled up with sand. When this area was excavated archeologists just expected have to keep it empty of sand because the water table had lowered over the years. What happened is that as irrigation in Trujillo improved, the water table actually raise and the empty pit, filled with water. Today in the middle of this sandy waste, there is an oasis with birds, frogs, lily pads, reeds – and entire healthy pond ecosystem (think they actually added some fish to keep the algae down). At the back of the ruling household was the tomb of the ruler. His remains would actually be taken out of the tomb on a special day and carried throughout the city. – This reminded me very much of some of the ancient Egyptian traditions.

So a little tired and hungry we headed off to Huanchaco beach. It is a 15km drive. You go passed the national police academy, the airport and some very nice beach houses. Huanchaco beach itself is a nice little place. It has built up based on its surfing reputation. Even in the first part of spring there were several surfers out in the waves.

My guide let me select how much I wanted to spend on lunch and then took me to the preferred restaurant. I opted for the nicest. My fancy lunch was all of $14, including my Pisco Sour. I had a huge plate of FRIED seafood and sweet potatoes. I am sure my cholesterol was awful, but it was soooooo good. I had a second story ocean view and got to watch the surfers as well as the local fishermen on their reed boats.

After lunch we walked on the sand up to the pier and talked about Huanchaco beach and its growth.

From there it was back to the hotel for the evening. After a little nap (getting a great sunburn does that to me) it was time for a little email and a light dinner in the hotel restaurant. From there it was upstairs for part of a football (soccer) game and bed.

I have a free day tomorrow so with no schedule what so ever. I’m sleeping in!

Trujillo – continued

If I had to plan my trip again, I wouldn’t plan for a free day in Trujillo. I did a little walking around, but unless you are in the plaza or with in 2 blocks of it, the area deteriorates quickly. I also came to the conclusion that the front desk staff didn’t know how to read their own map. If I’d have followed the desk clerk’s directions I’d have been in a very bad part of town instead of at the archeology museum. As it was I felt very out of place and uncomfortable. And as a result I spent most of the afternoon at the hotel and ate there. That is also how I had my only bout of traveler’s tummy. My last meal at the hotel didn’t set well at all. However I had a chance to sort through all of my treasures, catch up on my journal and recover some more from my sunburn.

Departing Trujillo

Thanks again to my lovely little cell phone I confirmed my departure time for my flight. With my ticket being rebooked and scheduling changes I wanted to make sure I was at the airport at the right time. If I didn’t know air travel in Peru was rare, I would have known it after flying out of Trujillo. 2 Gates, walk out on the tarmac small airport.

Actually that was a good thing, because my plane ticket wasn’t right when I got to the airport and I had another very helpful desk agent sort my travel out. The good news is I was on the first flight out in the morning (meaning the plane had to fly in from Lima) and it wasn’t full. So between the computer, going to the back room, the computer, and back to the back room, I ended up with a window seat in row 5. I finally know how to board and it doesn’t matter because I’m in the first group.

So I start to head to the ladies room (still suffering from traveler’s tummy) went they call my boarding for the flight (Hello, there is no plane!) So I quick run to the bath room and to security. I as I was going through security here came the plane. By the time I was metal detected and bag x-rayed it was time to walk out the plane and board.

We took off early (no point in waiting everyone was on board) and headed off to Lima. We had our little plane snack of spice/fruit cake and bacon crackers. Completely uneventful. How nice.

Now having been through Lima’s airport twice I’m getting to be a pro. I retrieve my suitcase and head out in to the pickup area. There is my name on a sign. And I’m off. Since there aren’t many international flights arriving the chorus of Taxi, Taxi is much quieter.

By 11 am I am back to the Ducado. This time I have a room in the back building. The wonderful bellhop takes my bags as I check in. This time I go through the second floor eating area, through the patio and to the back. My room is on the second floor. I was expecting another little room. Much to my surprise and delight I basically have a one bedroom apartment. I have a living room with a galley kitchen and dinning table, nice sized bathroom, and a separate bedroom with a king-sized bed.

After my tummy issues I’m happy to get a nap in before my Lima city tour.

I think I’ll make Lima’s city tour its own entry. As much as people dis Lima, I enjoyed my time there.

Diane- I am also loving this report- I've avoided such detail in my own but you have managed to make all the details very interesting. Also, thanks for your response to my request for help with a tour agency. I posted a reply to everyone on that thread that we have booked with Gate 1.

I finally figured out why I am avoiding finishing my trip report. To me that means my trip is over and I had such a wonderful time in Peru I don’t want my trip to end. However there is a point when you must wrap up even the most wonderful adventure, if for no other reason than you can begin to plan the next one…..

Lima City Tour

My guide arrives promptly at 1 pm. My little siesta has done me a world of good. I am back in the middle seat of the mini van and ready to see the sites of Lima.

Our first stop is Parque del Armor (the Lover’s Park) it is a lovely spot overlooking the Pacific Ocean. We get out of the van and have a walking tour. The view with the parasailing, blue-gray ocean, and brilliant colored flowers is wonderful. My guide tells me the history of the park, translates the sayings on the walls and tells me all about the weddings and events that take place there. She is quite the romantic. As we walk towards Larcomar we come to a bridge, it has high walls to keep distraught or jilted lovers from jumping over a hundred feet in to the traffic below. On that happy note, it is back into the van and headed into the San Isidro neighborhood. This area is filled with large old houses, and more stories. We arrive at Huaca Pucllana, an archeological site right in Lima. This culture had a different way of stacking adobe bricks to achieve their pyramid structure. They also have displays of how the mud bricks were made and formed. They also have a display of how pottery was sacrificed for the gods. It is a nice site. There is an exclusive restaurant at the site, the profit from the restaurant goes to fund the continuing excavation.

From there it is on into colonial Lima. My guide is very fond of the architecture and as we go along the city streets I am treated to an entire discourse on colonial balconies and the cultural impact on women and how women existed in the colonial society.

While we were in central Lima I became completely confused at to which building was which. I know we went around the Plaza Mayor and the Congress Building and the Presidential palace.

We got out at the San Franciscan Monastery. That was worth the tour of Lima right there. It is both striking and heart breaking at the same time. It reflects the one time wealth and power of the church in Peru. The paintings and decoration are elaborate, complex, and grand. It also reflects the struggles of Peru. As people have moved away from the church and fewer men join the monastery the building has declined. The frescos which were damaged by earthquakes suffer in disrepair. A bank has adopted a section of fresco and has restored it. There is a magnificent library. If you love books this place will make your heart sing and cry at the same time. It is a wonderful room filled with thousands of old manuscripts. As the conquistadors conquered the indigenous people the Jesuits documented the events. Captured a bit of the native cultures. In many cases these documents are the only remaining record of those traditions and people. And now with the increased humidity in Lima they are slowly molding and rotting away. There are no funds to protect them. Even today scholars wishing to study the documents have to wear masks, and protective gear to access them. All too soon this knowledge will fade in to nothing. It makes my heart sad to even think about that room. This is also the location of the more famous catacombs. I’m not much for catacombs (I nearly came out of my skin in Assisi) and this place was no different. If you don’t mind tunnels this is fine. If you don’t like tunnels and like the dead even less, take the short route.

From there we walked around the corner to another park. Part of the old fortification wall has been excavated above the banks of the Rimac river.

Now it is the start of rush hour so it is time to head back to the hotel. Tomorrow I have an all day excursion with this guide and driver to Caral.

Once back to the hotel I stop by the little shop and pick up some water and oranges for the trip tomorrow. There isn’t a place to buy lunch so I’ll supplement my supply of snacks to make a lunch. I also bring some to share with my guide and driver.

After traveling so much it is time to catch up on my journal, figure out who I still need gifts for and head off to bed.

Caral:

Pick up is at 7 am. I haven’t slept well, another guest with several small children had a noisy night. I think the entire hotel was kept up with their screams of protest about going to bed. The joys of travel.

At any rate a cup of tea and it is out the door. They guide has asked if her son can come as well. He hasn’t been to Caral in 7 years and he would like to go. As far as I am concerned the more the merrier. So in the van we go.

This time we are going through Lima at morning rush hour. That is an interesting adventure. I wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise of what that is like by trying to describe it.

It take about 2 hours to move out of the city and another hour on the open road to reach the turn off for Caral. It is an amazing archeological site which really deserves better publicity. It is still a challenge to get to. There are two roads in. The front road goes over a shallow ford in the river in the valley. During the rainy season this is impassible. The second route is through a Japanese owned chicken farm. This was our entry route. They disinfect the car before we drive through. It is a rocky, rutted, horrible road. I was very well shaken by the time we arrived 30 minutes of that was enough for me. I felt sorry for the driver. His arms had to ache trying to control the bouncing vehicle.

But it was worth it. The local populate finally convinced the authorities that there was something under all of the hills in the valley and the city was “rediscovered” in 1994. It was almost at the end of that first dig when they found more than just stone. They found a basket that had been used to hold smaller rocks in position while larger rocks were used around it. They carbon dated that plant material. 5000 years old. This site was contemporary with Old Egypt and Ancient China. This was 2000 years earlier than most archeologist believed cities existed in the Americas. In its own quiet way this was as earth shattering as the discovery of the Lord of Sipan’s tomb. There is one site under excavation. They have found 9 pyramids and several other temples. Plus a variety of housing and smaller buildings. More importantly they have identified 7 other potential sites in the river valley as most likely also being ancient cities. If you love archeology this is the type of place that gives you goose bumps.

The government is working on making the site more accessible. Last year they improved the road to the river and they hope to have a bridge done there in the next year or so. It was a much quicker way to leave the site and not nearly as bone jarring. They have a nice visitor’s center and good signage around the site. My guide translated for the site guide. I was happily impressed. There were only about 30 people at the site so you felt like you had the place to yourself. I suspect it was because we were there on a Friday.

The ride back was uneventful. I got the guides’ point of view on the no-so shanty, shanty town on the outskirts of Lima, the upcoming middle class, the current politics, you name it she had an opinion.

We got back to the hotel at about 5 pm. It was time to venture out for dinner and plan my last day in Peru.

My last day in Lima. After 16 days it is time to go home. I toured the Gold Musuem at the Locamar Mall, ate lunch overlooking the ocean. Found the large grocery store in the neighborhood and stocked up on all the bring backs I had promised people. I have Inca cola, several bottles of wine, Pisco, salted corn nuts, chocolate with a picture of MP on it, some other candy for the assorted kids. It was a long walk back to the hotel with my grocery sacks. I met with the travel agency reps. They had brought me a very nice book on Peru as a thank you. I had a nice time sharing with them about my trip. Everything from how well I like the hotels, to the various guides, to the restaurants, etc. They asked and I shared. That night it was back to Locamar for one last meal. I ended up at Tony Romo's more for the view than the food. It was a nice way to end my trip.

Then it was back to the hotel to pack. The driver would be there at 5:30 am. With the traffic in Lima that didn't seem early enough, but these people move travelers around all of the time. They know how long it takes.

5:30 and I've checked out. The driver is punctual and we are off to the airport. I am right on time for my check in. It is time to day Good Bye to Peru. I've had a wonderful time.

All flights home were fine. The biggest adventure was trying to find the passport and customs at MIA. I think I walked the entire lenghth of the airport. It actually felt pretty good after sitting for 5 hours.

It was nice to see home when I got there. But I loved Peru. It is one of those places I will return to. I have my list of things I missed. :)

Thanks for returning. I got a lot out of your report including some better explanations of the north coast archaeological sites (I made it to Chan Chan, Temple of the Moon, El Brujo, and the two museums in Lambeyeque). Some day I will also finish my trip report. I agree that the archaelogical sites to the north of Lima deserve more attention. They do need to improve the tourist infrastructure but I think that is underway.

Welcome back. I was wondering how it turned out. I'm also thinking about doing a day trip to Caral.

I enjoyed Caral even though they don't have a lot of infrastructure. You need a guide or driver to get there (it isn't very well marked) and if you don't speak spanish a translator as well.

One of the things I really liked is they hire people from the local village and train them for the archeological and site support jobs. There are very few people outside the valley who work there. So in its own way Caral is taking care of the people of the valley again.

Here is the link to my pictures. They go in the order of the trip report.

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/w...AcNHDhy5aM2Lmw

Wow, Diane, what a detailed report, with the awesome slide show, feel like I've already been to Peru. What a great appetizer for our trip to the Galapagos and MP next week. It now feels real and the excitement is just fired up after reading about your trip.

Packing question? What kinds of footwear? Just day hiking or will you need nice casual for dinners? How nice is the casual dinner dress? Are we OK with capris and shorts, or will we need long pants? I can't wait to try the pisco sour - it sounds lethal, but fun!!

You'll get some differing opinions on footware. To me safety is the most important part. Skip the flip flops except for the hotel and plane. Tennis shoes will be fine for all but the most serious hiking and if needed do dry well over night.

Unless you are going to the fanciest of restuarants you should be find with capris and shorts. Remember it is "winter" down there so it will be quite cool in the evenings. You will want to have long pants when you are in MP and Cusco. I strongly recommend at least capris if not long pants at MP. They have some vicious little bugs and giving them less area to bit is a great thing.

Pisco sours are fun. They taste a bit like a margarita, but with a whole lot more kick. And it doesn't feel that way when you sip.

Have a wonderful time.