Huanchaco - Peru, 17th - 19th April 2011

Cigar-shaped totora boats. Also called caballitos (little horses)

Huanchaco

Huanchaco is a small beach town on the outskirts of Trujillo in northern Peru. We stayed in a hostel called 'Chill Out' which didn't really live up to my idea of 'chilling out' but it was a lot of fun. It is owned by a lovely couple who go out of their way to make you feel welcome, it also has a lively bar and is a great place to meet people. We stayed for a couple of days, did some surfing and also went on a fascinating tour to various archeological sights around Trujillo.

The excavation and restoration of Huacas del Luna

Restoring the ancient engravings of Tellytubbies was a long process

The huacas del Sol. Closed when we visited. Typical.

The first sight we visited was the huacas del Sol y la Luna ruins (temples of the sun and moon). They were constructed by the Moche people who pre-dated the Incas. We could only walk around the temple of the moon as the other was going to be excavated later on this year but it was fascinating to see the carvings still intact and in such detail.

Our next site was huaca Esmeralda which was constructed by the Chimu people (also pre-dating the Incas), this also had huge intricate carvings.

Our final ruins were also made by the Chimu people and was a huge archeological sight called Chan Chan, I was told that it was the biggest ruins in Peru. We had a tour around the palace complex and saw where the King lived and where the (human and animal) sacrifices were performed usually as a way of placating the gods during bad weather.

The hairless Inca dogs have a higher body temperature and are used to treat people with arthritis. Fact.

Amazing honeycomb walls at Chan Chan

Some girls arses