Trujillo

24 February 2011 By Lena 1 In Peru, Trujillo

Plaza de Armas , Trujillo

After Iquitos, Trujillo would be our last stop of our Peru trip before Lima. I had been looking forward to this town on the north coast of Peru forever: Warm weather (not so humid, as in the Amazon), beautiful beaches, always sunny, charming colonial buildings, and ancient ruins all in the surrounding area.

Sunset over Trujillo

We arrived in Trujillo towards evening after a rather exhausting bus ride. The day before we arrived in Trujillo we had some problems at first to find a room in our budget. In these moments you realize to which cities the tourists are traveling in Peru. Finally we did find however, a somewhat run-down hostel, but one with a very nice view of Trujillo's stunning churches. The architecture in Trujillo took us the rest of the day under its spell. The entire city center is just beautiful to look at. Old colonial buildings in strong colors and Trujillos churches draw one to wander for hours with nothing to do but to take photos and soak up the wonderful weather.

Colonial Architecture

We were in Trujillo such a short time, but we did not want to miss to spend a day on the nearby beach at Huanchaco.. Since from the past vacations in my life I am used to lazy days on the beach, I've missed these kind of days on our Peru journey. To just do nothing all day except lay in the blazing sun, feel the sand under your feet, and from time to time take a jump into the cool water. Since Peru is located on the Pacific coast the water is cold, but nothing takes away from the long-awaited feeling of being at the beach. I could have spent plenty more days in Huanchaco. Which, as it turned out in the end, we should have done!

Huaca de la Luna

The ruins around Trujillo shouldn't be missed. It was actually very refreshing for once to see some ruins other than the already well-known Inca Ruins.. Two ruins lie in the vicinity of Trujillo: Chan Chan and Huanca de la Luna y Sol. Huanca de la Luna was indeed very impressive. It was built by the Moche culture, which was later conquered by the Incas. In Huanca de la Luna, many of the colorful Friezes, often representing abstract figures and animal forms, are remarkably well preserved, because they were buried for centuries under the desert sand.

Adobe Friezes at Chan Chan

Chan Chan is impressive mainly because of its enormous size.. Chan Chan covers a huge area, most of which is still buried under the hot desert sand. The only area which is accessible to visitors, is the Tschudi Temple. However, you get an idea of the former size Chan Chan, since it is at least half an hour to the Tschudi Temple from the road, and one passes many half excavated ruins along the way, which were all at one time part of the city.

We would have liked to stay longer in Trujillo. We could have easily spent our last days in Peru simply wandering around in the city, eating ice cream on the Plaza de Armas and lay lazily on the beach. Our desire to see more of Peru ultimately lured us far too soon from Trujillo. This ended up being fine, however I count Trujillo as one of the highlights of our Peru trip, and look forward to the next time, when I get to visit the city again. Perhaps as a starting point to the many beaches of the north coast of Peru on our next trip…?!