🇺🇸 Chan²

The ride from Loja, Ecuador to Trujillo, Peru was one of our longest and perhaps least comfortable trip to date. We knew we were in for an overnight ride to get to Piura, in northern Peru, and once in Piura we were hopeful we would catch a morning bus to Trujillo, getting us to our destination sometime in the early afternoon the next day.

At 10pm we crawled into the comically cramped seats of the bus that would be taking us across the boarder. At $8 a piece for the 8-hour ride, we weren’t expecting luxury, but still it came as quite a surprise when the pair in front of us reclined their seats completely suddenly putting us in the company of the two chatty ladies in front of us, their headrests literally in our laps (this coming from someone who does not use the word literally when meaning figuratively). We laughed it off at first but the comedy wore off with the passing of the 3^rd and 4^th hour with little hope of a position change, and we were grateful when we reached the boarder, giving us an opportunity to stretch our legs for the hour or so it took us all to pass through both Ecuador and Peru customs. The night was warm, the stars bright, and the customs officers in their underwear, stuck in their small office with only the hum of the fan and the dramatic music of a telenovela playing from a small TV to keep them company. A stray dog barked at us, scaring away the first cat of Peru I had spotted and was trying to coax toward us. And we were given the green light to enter Perú.

Often when one gets off one of these long-distant buses, the first greeting is a swarm of taxi-drivers pushing their services on you. This ride was no different: bleary-eyed from sleep but also fighting the hot sun already burning strong overhead, we made our way through the mob, eyes half open, to an ATM to take out our first Peruvian Soles, and then to the next bus station where we found out the next available bus wouldn’t be leaving until 2pm. Though it wasn’t the fast exit we had hoped for, we purchased our tickets and spent the morning working on blog photos because we’re thrifty with our time like that. December on the Peruvian coast means summertime is coming and consequently it was hot. To wrap this trip up, we rolled into our hostel in Trujillo at 9pm after nearly 24 hours of travel, ate, and I uncharacteristically slept for 12 hours straight.

The one fun bit of the journey was that we scored upper level, front-row seats in the bus to Trujillo, getting panoramic views as we zipped through the Peruvian desert. It turns out that sand blows across the road much like snow.

In Trujillo we visited two large ruins sites in the desert, the ruins of Chan Chan, and the ruins of Huacas del Moche.

Chan Chan was the largest pre-Colombian city in South America and capital of the Chimú Empire that lasted from about 900 until 1470 when they were defeated by the Inca Empire.

Rainbows were clearly important, a connection between Earth and the sky.

Cue Mario Kart music

Located about a mile from the ocean, fishing was also very important to the Chimú

Walls with a fishing-net design

Many walls spread across the 20km² site rose over 30 feet tall

Trujillo’s Cathedral

Plaza de Armas

Peru’s hairless dogs, hideous in appearance, docile in nature. They are thought to alleviate symptoms for people with arthritis, their black skin allowing the dogs to soak in the sun rays by day and radiate the heat by night, snoozing next to the afflicted.

The Huacas (sacred temples) del Moche, still in excavation, are thought to be important ceremonial centers for the Moche culture (400-600AD). Temples were built one on top of another and we were able to see several layers of wall.