Leaving Lima, our cruise next stopped at the port of
Salaverry, just outside of Trujillo Peru. We
had arrived at a true desert, with an
average yearly rainfall of about 3mm. Salaverry is another active freight port,
and the town has an active fishing industry. When I went out to our balcony to
look around I noticed a lot of people and tuktuks on a nearby pier. At first I
thought they had come out to look at the docking cruise ship. But further
investigation showed that they were there to buy the haul from the local
fishermen.
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The Amazing Ms D. enjoying the warm wather |
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The Salaverry fishing fleet |
Huaca del Sol and Huaca de la Luna
The main attractions in Trujillo are the thousand-
year-old
temples from the
Moche people. The
Moche civilization existed in what is
today Northern Peru from 100 AD – 800 AD. They were an agricultural society who
existed in a desert by building a series of canals to bring water down from the
Andes Plain. Many of those canals are still in use today. The drive from
Salaverry to the temples passesthrough
an active farming community with an irrigation canalalong
the side of the road.
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Cerro Blanco |
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Irrigated farmland |
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These are the taxis that many people use to get around |
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The water along the road is the irrigation canal |
Huaca del Sol
(Temple of the Sun) and Huaca de la Luna
(Temple of the Moon) sat at opposite ends of city called Cerro Blanco, the nearby volcanic
peak.The
Huaca del Sol was severely damaged by looting Spanish soldiers during the
1700’s, but the Huaca de la Luna was
buried by the Moche and seems to have escaped much damage. Today it is an
active archeological dig, and in very good condition. The temple contains
several levels that were built over
successive centuries. It was a place of ritual battles and sacrifices.
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Huaca del Sol |
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Huaca de la Luna |
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walking up the hill to the entrance |
Visiting the
Temple of the Moon is
not an easy walk. As I said, this is a desert climate, hot and dry. The
entrance to the temple is at its highest level, so it is a somewhat steep walk
up the side of the mountain from the bus parking lot. The gain in height is
probably about 100 feet (33m).
The guide
on baird the ship listed this trip as a 2 out of 3 in strenuousness, and that
was pretty close. Several people we spoke to afterwards had to stay in their
bus as they could not do walk up and down the hills and ramps.
The temples are made from adobe bricks, and they reminded me of the many abandoned villages, like Wupatki in Arizona. Most
of the
temple is covered by a roof to protect to the excavation from the sun and wind.
Once inside we saw the benefit of having
buried the temple – the carvings on the walls were very well protected. They
were so protected that we could still see the original coloring.
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Adobe bricks are clearly visible |
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Presentations of the god Ayapec. The colors are original |
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Sacrificial Altar |
After walking around the highest level of the temple, and
having a good look out across the plain to the Huaca del Sol, we walked down to the side of the exterior wall.
Here we could again see the different carvings and decorations that were
created as the temple was built. It was truly awe inspiring to stand at the
bottom of the wall. Very similar to standing at the bottom of the Parthenon or
the Roman Coliseum. There is spirit of
place, a feeling of being someplace so ancient and so important to the
society that created it. I stood in the shadow of this 100 foot tall wall,
covered from bottom to top with hundreds of carved icons. It took my breath
away, but I really could not imagine the kind of awe that must have been felt
by the Moche people 1500 years ago, or the people they defeated, who were brought
to this temple to be sacrificed.
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exterior wall of the temple |
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Figures on the bottom row represent prisoners of war |
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The Mural of the Myths |
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The Two-Headed Spider |
Trujillo, Peru
Trujillo Peru was founded in 1534 as a base for Spanish
conquistadors. The Spanish chose this site because it was near several Chimu
settlements, and the Spanish formed an alliance with the Chimu against the Inca
Empire. Trujillo was also the first city in Peru to claim independence from
Spain, in 1820. Today Trujillo is the second largest city Peru with close to
one million people in the metropolitan area.
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We rode on the Panamerican Highway |
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There some very brave drivers |
The area around Trujillo produces sugar cane, rice and
asparagus using the same canals that were built by the Moche people close to
2000 years ago. Most of the buildings in the center of town were built in the
late 18
th and early 19
th century. This includes the housethat
today is home to the National Bank of Chile, on the Main Square,
Casa Urquiaga. This was a very typical
Spanish-style home. We entered into a courtyard, and then passed through two
visiting rooms to an inner patio. Around the patio were the family’s bedrooms
and dining room. Further back were the servant’s quarters and the kitchen. This
house was also the governor’s home and home to Simon Bolivar during the
struggle for Peru’s freedom from
Spain.
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Entrance Patio |
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Ladies visiting room |
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Passage from the interior patio to the servents quarters |
The main plaza itself is a nice enough public space. There
are lots of trees for shade. But it was nothing special. Unfortunately we did
not have time to really explore the center of Trujillo. The Temples here are must see in my opinion. In fact, we will be coming back to Peru. There is a lot to see here, from the Moche and Inca ruins and people to the modern history of Spain and Peru today. We need much more than the two days ashore we had on our cruise.
Loved this post on Trujillo! Great photos. We always hear a lot about the Incas but not alot about the Moche and Chimu people, so your blogs are wonderful to read. Trujillo, Peru is now on my bucket list!
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