The Mud City of Chan Chan
Trip Start
Oct 17, 2006
1
8
40
Trip End
Mar 04, 2007
We drove to Huanchaco and went out to a pool bar for some drinks as it was 2 of the guys on my tour's birthdays. The next day we went to Chan Chan, a pre Inca city made entirely out of mud bricks, so much so that initally when we drove past I didn't realise it was there! We visited one of the palaces - each ruler built his own palace and was buried there when he died. The walls of the palace were incredibly thick and surprisingly well preserved. A lot of them had carvings of fishes, otters or geometric patterns, some of which wre orignal whilst others had been restored. We also visited the Temple of the Moon, which is also pre Inca and is currently being excavated so new paintings are being discovered every week. There were lots of colurful paintings on the walls. Inside they were mostly of geometric patterns but outside they were of warriors and various animals, including a lizard which had been uncovered only days before. The other highlight of Huanchaco was that I tried cerviche - raw seafood 'cooked' in lemon juice, which was ok but a bit sour.
