Franciso Pizarro found his favorite city in the midst of a barren and sand dune ridden desert. He founded the town of Trujillo because he enjoyed the access it gave his troops to the supply lines of the Andes and the food. We stayed at the Strenua- Las Quintanas a nondescript lovely place ten minutes out of the center of the Historic center. Trujillo was the logical next stop for us on our journey to avoid a ridiculously long bus ride to Lima.
The city is beautiful despite being destroyed completely multiple times due to earthquakes and fires. They have restored the colonial charm and polished the main square to gleam in the sunlight. It is a nice departure from the often rubbish ridden city squares that we've seen in the other cities. The beach (2.5 miles from the center), on the other hand, was complete crap.
Rob was certain that the city would be nothing other than a stopover, but I had been doing my reading and found that this area has historically been an important trade center for seven different cultures over the past three thousand years.
I Suggested we hop in a cab 10k to the north of the city to the ruins of Chan Chan. The complex of Chan Chan is 15 acres today, and once was much larger when it was the capital city of the Moche culture. The entire city is made of adobe which makes it the largest adobe structure in the world, by a lot. Regrettably El Nino is visibly affecting the complex and slowly melting the walls back into the sand. Adobe was the perfect construction material for this arid region but has recently seen unusual rainfall due to the phenomenon.
The walls are still strong; they are 30 feet tall in some areas and 10 feet thick. UNESCO has declared the area a world heritage site which allows it access to funding for roofing and some reconstruction. The Incas brought the proud Chamu to submission not by breaching the walls, but instead, by cutting off water to the city by diverting an entire river.
After lunch, sunscreen and air conditioning we went 13km south of the city for more ruins I had read about. Huacas del Luna y Sol were built by the Moche for religious ceremonies. The Huacas are really just huge mountains built by millions of bricks. The weather has also started to melt these structures. They once stood tall in the desert with a plaster facade that was neatly decorated. Dunes protected the facade from the elements as they piled up and slowly covered and hid the frescos. The restoration has started removing the dunes and once again exposing the magnificently colored and detailed reliefs.
