Trujillo and Huanchaco, Peru

Hardest thing: Convincing Rebekah to come to Lima (a city that she has already travelled around extensively!) with Eeva and I, Actually...that was prob the easiest thing!!

So the original plan was that Eeva and I travel South to Trujillo, check out a few ruins near the city, get a bus to Huaraz to do some trekking in the mountains and then after all that was said and done, grab a bus to Lima. While we were doing that, Rebekah (who travelled extensively around Peru two years ago) was meant to grab a bus in the opposite direction to Tumbes, then another to Guayaquil and finally end up in Quito (after a glorious 38 hour journey no less!!)

However, there was a slight change to our foolproof plan...as we stood on the side of the road waiting to hail down a bus for Rebekah, we were informed by the bus company that the bus was indeed full...this meant that Rebekah would have to spend a night in Guayaquil (not the prettiest of places) as she would miss her Quito connection. So....why spend a night in Guayaquil, when you can spend an extra night in Mancora...and more to the point, why travel North when you can travel South!!

So...after (not much) persuading a new plan had been formulated....
Eeva would head to Trujillo (7 hours South) that evening, Rebekah and I would spend an extra night in Mancora and join her two days later. From there, the three of us would grab a bus straight to Lima and make the most of our own personal city guide...perfect!

Trujillo and Huanchaco:
Arrived bright and early in the morning after a fairly uncomfortable bus ride. Grabbed a taxi to Huanchaco, (another beach town with great surf, though it was a bit on the chilly side!) head straight to the hostal where Eeva was staying...had a joyful reunion and hit the town for some brekkie. The rest of the day was spent milling around and eating and wandering around aimlessly and eating...and eating...and....yeah, you see where this is going...!

Trujillo in home to the largest Pre-Columbian city in South America, Chan Chan which covers an area of approximately 20 sq. km, Chan Chan was constructed by the Chimor (the kingdom of the Chimú), a late intermediate period civilization which grew out of the remnants of the Moche civilization. The vast mud city of Chan Chan was built between c.850 and c.1470 and was the imperial capital until Chimor was conquered by the Inca in the 15th century. It is estimated that 30,000 people lived in the city of Chan Chan.

Chan Chan was added as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1986. The city is severely threatened by erosion from El Niño, which causes heavy rains and flooding on the Peruvian coast. Present-day visitors to Chan Chan can enter the Tschudi Complex, believed to be one of the later citadels built in the city. There are also several other Chimú and Moche ruins in the area around Trujillo.

So...while Eeva was doing the cultural thing and visiting Chan Chan and some other ruins nearby, Rebekah (who had already seen the ruins) and I were making nuisances of ourselves (seems to be the long running theme here!) We managed to do one productive thing with our day and buy our bus tickets to Lima for the following morning.

And here endeth a truly wonderful 24 hours in Trujillo/Huanchaco! (Bet yáll are glad you bothered to read this posting!)

PS For a more interesting read, you could always look up the history of the ruins of Chan Chan (the extract above is courtesy of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page!!) and the Huacas del Sol y de la Luna which I didnt visit!