For the majority of people here in Peru, this past week was a short one because of the Peruvian Independence Day fell on a Thursday. This Spanish institute we picked was no different, so it wasn't a good week to start classes.  Instead, we decided to head as far up the north coast of Peru as possible to catch some warmth because we haven't seen the sun since we arrived to Lima.  It probably wasn't the best time to travel either, as everything was booked solid. Luckily we managed to snag two seats on a bus going north to Trujillo, about 9 hours north.  Our final destination was Huanchaco, a small surfer haven full of hostels less then 20 minute from Trujillo.

We spend our 3 days there posted up on the beach and soaked in the rays.  This town is well known with Peru for its use of a reed boat called a caballito (little horse) by fishermen.  Today they are still used, but I think more for tourism then for functionality.  After 3 nights here, Elizabeth was done with cheviche and seafood for a while.






On our final day, we spent the day in Trujillo, where we visited two ancient ruins.  The first was Chan Chan, a Pre-Columbian adobe city used by the Chimu between 850 AD and 1470 AD as their imperial capital. It was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987. Because it's an adobe structure, it's under constant threat from the elements and it currently undergoing repairs. At its peak, it's believed that at many as 30,000 people lived in and around walled city of Chan Chan




The second was Huaca de la Luna (Temple/Shrine of the Moon) built and used by an earlier civilization, the Moche, between 100 and 900 AD.  We were both truly impressed with our interesting these ruins where.  The temple as it stands today is 5 layers high.  When the main priest of the time died, they would cover the temple completely and rebuilt a new temple above.  This was an archaeological blessing as it left 4 layers below that were saved from the Spanish conquistadors, grave robbers and the elements.  The civilization had no written language, but they painted their traditions on the many pieces of pottery found withing the lower layers. They had a very strange fascination with beheading, as their believed they pleased their god with the live sacrifice that ended with separation of the head from the body.