Given this opportunity to settle in one place for a while I am going to try getting the blog up to date about our past three weeks in South America. We have been to so many places and much has transpired since I last posted, but I’m going to more or less keep my postings in chronological order. After spending two weeks in Quito and Guayaquil we were bored with Ecuador and eager to get to Peru. Our plan all along was to go to Macchu Picchu somewhere I have wanted to visit for many years, but unfortunately torrential rains in the early weeks of February made that impossible. Since our Cuzco/Macchu Picchu plans had fallen through we spent a few days in Lima then traded in our tickets from Cuzco to Trujillo in Northern Peru to spend a few days getting some sun and relaxing on the beaches of Huanchaco. Huanchaco was the perfect place to unwind after two weeks of hectic travel, the weather was perfect, beaches were beautiful and the food was fantastic. Everyday we would sleep in and have a leisurely breakfast followed by sunning and reading by the pool. In the afternoon we would walk along the beach making out way towards our favorite lunch spot, Big Ben, yes, like the clock tower in London. Apparently Big Ben is the president of Peru’s favorite place to eat according to wikipedia, and we have to agree with him, it was defiantly our favorite restaurant in Peru. Everyday we would have amazingly fresh and flavorful Peruvian seafood dishes. Such as Cebiche Mixto, Causa de Congrejo y Chicharon Mixto. We never thought we could get sick of seafood or cebiche, but after 5 days we were craving some new flavors!
Huanchaco is a surfer/beach town famous for its waves and traditional forms of fishing using read boats called “Caballitos de Totora” which have been around since the times of the Moche and Chimu kingdoms starting around 100 C.E. Still today men go out every morning riding the surf to go catch fish in the same manner as their ancestors practiced for thousands of years. The boats are made from reeds and they paddle with a large bamboo stick and are still made the same way that they have been for thousands of years using the same design and basically the same materials as their ancestors.
Taking a break from the beach we visited the ruins Huacas del Sol y La Luna on the outskirts of Trujillo. Only the Huaca del Sol is open to the public for visits. They have only been unearthed since 1994 and are still in the excavation process, which we saw going on during our visit. The Huaca del Sol represented the ceremonial grounds/temple of the Moche culture. Moche people practiced human sacrifice and many skeletons have been found during excavation, only young men were sacrificed to the gods. The Moche were famous for their structural engineering, irrigation techniques, ceramics and fine metal work, especially with gold. The Moche kingdom ruled Northern Peru from approximately 100 C.E. to 800 C.E.
Above picture "Frieze" with a representation of the decapitator, apparently the god of water.
After 5 days in Huanchaco, we were ready for life back in the big city of Lima. We boarded a Cruz del Sur bus at 8:45 from Trujillo bound for Lima. Let me tell you, Cruz del Sur is NOTHING like any buses in the states. We were fed multiple times during our journey, had reclining leather seats, were shown many movies, and we even got to play bingo. We sat at the very front of the 2nd level and thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful views of Northern Peru and the Peruvian coastline.
Next Updates to Include Lima and Southern Peru!
Till Next Time,
Smiley and Sophie
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