Ruins of the Pre-Incas

Trip Start Apr 02, 2008
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35
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Trip End Jul 31, 2008


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Residencial Munaywasi

Flag of Peru  ,
Wednesday, June 25, 2008

We visited the city of  Trujillo as there are numerous pre-Inca ruins near-by as we both felt it was important to see more than just the typical Inca ruins. We visited Huacas del Sol and del la Luna, two hugh and fascinating Moche pyramids made from adobe bricks (i.e. made out of dried mud). Before the Spaniards destroyed most of Huacas del Sol it was the largest man-made structure in the western hemisphere, at 45 m high, and the only way they managed to destroy most of it was by diverting the course of a near-by river to run over it. Also, in Huaca de la Luna there are extensive polychrome moulded decorations of geometric patterns, deities and sealife.

We also got to the Huaca El Dragon (a temple with dragon decorations) and the impressive Chan Chan, an old city in which there were nine hugh compounds built by the Chimu tribe for their kings. Each compound (also made from adobe bricks) is surrounded by a 9 m high wall and contains many rooms and corridors including a large open court area, many store rooms, a burial place for the king, and a huge walk-in well full of sacred water. There is extensive work trying to preseve some of the more detailed work.

Finally we finished the day with a trip to Huanchaco. This is a little fishing village most well known for the narrow pointed fishing rafts called ´caballitos´ (little horses) which are made from totora reeds, and which the fishermen ride a bit like surfboards. These are traditional boats, and pictures of the caballitos have been depicted on Mochica, Chimu and other cultures pottery.
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