Saturday, April 05, 2008
Chan Chan
Hola,
More of the same today, but this time we did the beach with a big umbrella to protect tender sunburned shoulders. I am practically addicted to Huanchaco and could have easily forgotten my bus tickets to Lima and stayed for more days, but Mercedes promises me fabulous hiking to mountain lakes further south, and I guess that is lovely, too. We had some kind of nasty seafood for lunch, which also helps encourage me to leave the beach. Also, it is not sustainable to buy four new sets of shell jewelry every day, no matter how cheap and clever they are. So we are back in Trujillo, waiting for our bus back to Lima.
We did manage to stop buying jewelry and headed to nearby Chan Chan, a major pre Incan civilization and the largest adobe settlement in the world. It was ravaged and dissolved by El Niño, but still impressive with acres of high walls and beautiful, strong engravings and windows. I ponied up for a guide, which made all the difference and luckily there was cloud cover so labyrinths of sand mazes was a delight and not torture. There is so much history here it baffles the mind...Peru has many times more history and complexity to its past than the US. I would HIGHLY recommend Trujillo and surroundings to anyone who comes here. The weather is much nicer than Cusco, it is more authentic and there are lots of cool things to do and more ways to relax. We saw an impromtu performance of the national Marinara dance last night and I was beyond charmed.
I was going to write a lot about comparing and contrasting South American countries, but think I will save that for the end of my trip. I feel right now, though, that if I had to sum up Peruvians, I would say they are the most decent people I know, using the highest complementary form of the word. More from the tall mountains of Cordillera Negra y Blanca soon!
More of the same today, but this time we did the beach with a big umbrella to protect tender sunburned shoulders. I am practically addicted to Huanchaco and could have easily forgotten my bus tickets to Lima and stayed for more days, but Mercedes promises me fabulous hiking to mountain lakes further south, and I guess that is lovely, too. We had some kind of nasty seafood for lunch, which also helps encourage me to leave the beach. Also, it is not sustainable to buy four new sets of shell jewelry every day, no matter how cheap and clever they are. So we are back in Trujillo, waiting for our bus back to Lima.
We did manage to stop buying jewelry and headed to nearby Chan Chan, a major pre Incan civilization and the largest adobe settlement in the world. It was ravaged and dissolved by El Niño, but still impressive with acres of high walls and beautiful, strong engravings and windows. I ponied up for a guide, which made all the difference and luckily there was cloud cover so labyrinths of sand mazes was a delight and not torture. There is so much history here it baffles the mind...Peru has many times more history and complexity to its past than the US. I would HIGHLY recommend Trujillo and surroundings to anyone who comes here. The weather is much nicer than Cusco, it is more authentic and there are lots of cool things to do and more ways to relax. We saw an impromtu performance of the national Marinara dance last night and I was beyond charmed.
I was going to write a lot about comparing and contrasting South American countries, but think I will save that for the end of my trip. I feel right now, though, that if I had to sum up Peruvians, I would say they are the most decent people I know, using the highest complementary form of the word. More from the tall mountains of Cordillera Negra y Blanca soon!
# posted by Rachel Jabaily @ 6:54 PM 
